This week, ESPN released its ranking of the top 100 NFL players for this season, with more than 50 ESPN experts rating players from one to 100 based on how good they expect them to be during the 2022 campaign.
Several former Clemson standouts made the list, starting with Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell at No. 46.
Terrell is coming off a breakout 2021 season that saw him earn second-team All-Pro honors after tallying 81 total tackles (52 solo), a sack, a forced fumble, 16 passes defended and three interceptions in 16 games (16 starts).
A two-time All-ACC selection at Clemson, Terrell didn’t allow more than 32 yards in coverage in a game last season, allowed fewer than 20 yards in 13 games last season and also recorded the lowest passer rating allowed (47.5) and the lowest completion percentage allowed (43.9), according to PFF. Additionally, per PFF, the Atlanta native and 2020 first-round draft pick yielded only 200 yards over the course of the entire season.
“Terrell emerged as one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL last season,” ESPN’s Michael Rothstein wrote. “Rarely targeted, Terrell allowed three touchdowns. This season, he has been looked at as a leader and a face of the Falcons, as the club moves on from the Matt Ryan era.”
The next-highest ranked former Tiger on the list is Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams, who checks in at No. 80.
Williams, who signed a three-year, $60 million contract extension with the Chargers this offseason, recorded career highs with 76 receptions and 1,146 receiving yards in 16 games last season, to go with nine touchdowns (one shy of his career high of 10 in 2018).
“Williams is a quarterback’s dream: Throw the ball up, and let him go get it,” ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry wrote. “At 6-foot-4, Williams has an unmatched ability to go against any defensive back and win a 50/50 ball, and it showed as he accumulated 1,146 receiving yards last season. Another season with quarterback Justin Herbert will continue to benefit the sixth-year receiver.”
Former Clemson and current Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins came in four spots behind Williams at No. 84 on ESPN’s list.
Over the first two seasons of his NFL career, Higgins has tallied a total of 141 catches for 1,999 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“A big jump in physical development led to a Year 2 leap for the 2020 second-round draft pick,” ESPN’s Ben Baby wrote. “Higgins made the most of his height and his 6-foot-4 frame, especially in tight windows. From Week 11 until the end of the regular season, Higgins led all receivers in total EPA on targets of 1 yard of separation or less, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. His ability to play the ball in the air and create space against defenders early in routes should lead to another big season.”
Another former Clemson receiver, DeAndre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals, made ESPN’s list at No. 96.
Hopkins played only 10 games last season due to a hamstring injury and then a season-ending MCL injury that he suffered in Week 14 in December, and he will have to sit out the first six games of this season as he serves a six-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
However, the five-time Pro Bowler had missed a total of just two games in the first eight years of his NFL career prior to last season. Hopkins finished the 2021 season with career lows in catches (42) and receiving yards (572), but still led the Cardinals with a team-high eight receiving touchdowns.
“When Hopkins is on the field, he’s one of the toughest receivers in the NFL to defend,” ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss wrote. “His hands, catch radius, ability to make plays along the boundary and subtle quickness put him in elite company. However, it’s how defenses have to prepare for Hopkins that’s one of his strongest weapons. Just look at the end of last season when he wasn’t on the field. Arizona went 3-5 in the eight games he missed last year because of injury, including 1-4 in the last five. He’ll miss the first six this season because of a suspension.”
Former Clemson and current Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett also cracked ESPN’s ranking of the top 100 NFL players for 2022, landing at No. 98.
During his NFL career so far, Jarrett has seen action in 110 games with 95 starts while totaling 359 tackles (198 solo), 26.5 sacks, 54 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and 89 quarterback hits. He helped the Falcons to a Super Bowl appearance at the end of the 2016 season.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Jarrett signed a three-year contract extension with the Falcons this offseason and is entering his eighth season with the Falcons in 2022.
“He has been a team stalwart and is a commanding presence on the front of the Falcons’ line, even as the team transitioned defenses last season under coordinator Dean Pees,” Rothstein wrote. “Jarrett had 59 tackles, 12 quarterback hits and one sack last season but consistently faced double- and triple-teams from opposing offensive lines — in part because he was by far the most impactful front-seven defender Atlanta had.”
–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
