Tag: NFL 100

7 Cowboys in NFL 100 list, where will Micah Parsons land?

Numbers 100 through 21 have been revealed and the only question left is where the Cowboys’ best player will end up. A look at the seven members and how they earned their rankings. | From @KDDrummondNFL

Last December, seven different Cowboys were named to the 2023 Pro Bowl, based on their performance during the season. Dallas marched to a second consecutive 12-win campaign and to do so meant that there was plenty of individual talent leading the way on the team effort. As the Pro Bowl is a mixture of fan, player and coaches vote, it’s no surprise the NFL 100 list comprised of player opinions, would somewhat mirror the Pro Bowl.

The only question is where players would land within the ranking and if there would be any surprises. Not surprisingly, kick returner Kavontae Turpin did not carry his Pro Bowl nomination over to the top 100. Turpin didn’t do much else last season, as he missed the installation portion of the offseason and wasn’t much of a contributor on offense. He was replaced though, as Dallas still managed to get seven players in the list, and now that No.s 100 through 21 have been revealed, the last remaining question is how high will edge rusher Micah Parsons land.

NFL Top 100: RB Nick Chubb lands in the top 50

Somehow, Chubb fell in the rankings this year and is behind a running back he had 100 yards more than last year:

The NFL is finishing up its list of the top 100 players in the league as voted on by the players. The first half of the list included three members of the Cleveland Browns:

  • CB Denzel Ward
  • OL Wyatt Teller
  • OL Joel Bitonio

While their rankings may not have done them justice, it was impressive for the team to have three of 50 players make the list. The next, obvious question was which Browns players would show up in the top half of the list?

The first name is one that we don’t hear a lot from but who speaks loudly with his work ethic and play on the field. RB Nick Chubb came in ranked #33.

Cleveland’s social media quickly shared this video of players around the league talking about how great Chubb is:

As pointed out by Dawgs By Nature, Chubb averaged 5.5 yards per carry and dropped in the rankings. Somehow Minnesota RB Dalvin Cook ranked two spots above Cleveland’s running back despite having 100 yards less rushing last year.

Interestingly, the end of the video notes that Chubb is the second highest-rated player on the Browns which means only DE Myles Garrett is left to make the list. It will be interesting how high Garrett is ranked and how many non-quarterbacks are ranked ahead of him.

Come back here to The Browns Wire to find out where Garrett finishes.

[pickup_prop id=”24666″]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbw33aqtym0ft0g player_id=none image=https://brownswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

The 101 best players in the NFL today, Nos. 101-51

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield list the 101 best players in the NFL today.

Midsummer of every year is when we all make lists in this business. We’re not quite at the point of training camps in full bloom, free agency and the draft has eased off from a newsworthiness angle, and there’s still a need for clickable content. Ergo, we’re all ranking the NFL’s players in all possible ways.

Here’s how we’ve done it at Touchdown Wire over the last few seasons. Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield begin by ranking as many players as possible at as many positions at possible. This year, we ranked players at quarterback, running back, slot receiver, outside receiver, tight end, offensive tackle, offensive guard, center, interior defensive line, edge defender, linebacker, slot defender, outside cornerback, and safety.

We’ll get to long snappers next year, we promise.

The NFL’s top 13 safeties

The NFL’s top 12 slot defenders

The NFL’s top 12 outside cornerbacks

The NFL’s top 11 linebackers

The NFL’s top 11 edge defenders

The NFL’s top 12 interior defensive linemen

The NFL’s top 12 centers

The NFL’s top 11 offensive guards

The NFL’s top 11 offensive tackles

The NFL’s top 12 tight ends

The NFL’s top 11 slot receivers

The NFLs top 16 wide receivers

The NFL’s top 11 running backs

The NFL’s top 12 quarterbacks

What this allows us to do when it’s time to rank the NFL’s best players in a year, regardless of position, is to avoid overloading our list with certain positions. Because we’re limited to 12 quarterbacks (or however many Mark decides to list in a given year), we can’t throw 20 quarterbacks in the 101 at the expense of other positions.

All 12 of Mark’s quarterbacks made the top 101 list, because quarterback is the most important position, but we’re not going to throw Jimmy Garoppolo or Jared Goff in here just because. We also have 12 outside receivers, 11 outside cornerbacks, nine safeties, eight edge rushers, eight interior defensive linemen, seven linebackers, seven offensive guards, seven offensive tackles, seven running backs, six tight ends, three centers, three specific slot defenders, and one specific slot receiver. 

Perhaps that tells you which positions we think are most important in the NFL today, if nothing else. 

The methodology for this list (and all our positional lists) was this: We took what we remembered from the 2021 season and what we accentuated with offseason tape study. Then, we pored over the advanced metrics at Sports Info Solutions, Pro Football Focus, and Football Outsiders. From there, we put together our positional lists based on additional tape study, just to make sure the numbers, and our memories, aligned with what the tape told us over the summer.

Sometimes, it did, Other times, not so much. 

There are also all kinds of new players on this Top 101 list that weren’t here last year – a massive influx of young players who are seeing the light come on. Occasionally, that happens in a player’s rookie season. More often, it’s a multi-year process for a player to reach the elite at the highest possible level of football. Either way, it bodes well for the future.

As for the guy up top… well, we’ve seen him quite a bit before. But to avoid your phone blowing up when you’re trying to read this, we’ve split the Top 101 into two parts: Here are the players we ranked from 101 to 51, all their important metrics, and the most compelling tape examples we could find to prove their excellence. We’ll put up our top 50 players tomorrow.

So here, without further ado and in two parts, are Touchdown Wire’s 101 best players in the NFL today. 

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Sports Info Solutions, Pro Football Focus, and Football Outsiders unless otherwise indicated).

Nick Chubb and Myles Garrett rank in the top 30 in the 2021 NFL Top 100

Chubb and Garrett each moved way up in the 2021 NFL Top 100

The NFL Top 100 on the NFL Network has progressed all the way through to the top 10. Two more Browns players cracked the rankings in the latest release.

Browns RB Nick Chubb ranks at No. 26 while DE Myles Garrett comes in at No. 16 overall. The rankings are determined by anonymous polling of fellow NFL players.

[lawrence-related id=63417]

Chubb moves up from No. 36 in the 2020 edition. He’s the fourth-highest running back on the list, behind Dalvin Cook, Alvin Kamara and Derrick Henry.

Garrett skyrocketed 74 spots with a superlative 2020 season. He is the highest-ranked defensive end on the list and trails just three other defensive players on the overall list. The final 10 will be revealed on the NFL Network on Saturday night.

Baker Mayfield, Jarvis Landry make early appearances in the NFL 100

Browns QB Baker Mayfield and WR Jarvis Landry make early appearances in the NFL 100

The NFL Network is releasing the members of this year’s top 100 players list, more commonly known as the NFL 100. Two Cleveland Browns players made appearances on the first part of the list, and it’s a lower-than-expected ranking for both Jarvis Landry and Baker Mayfield.

Landry is the first Browns player to show up on the list. The veteran wideout checks in at No. 94 in the polling, which is compiled in anonymous balloting of fellow NFL players. It’s the sixth year in a row Landry has made the list but also the lowest “Juice” has been ranked since 2016. He fell 33 spots from the 2020 edition.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield slots in at No. 71 after not making the list in 2020. Given how well Mayfield meshed with new Browns coach Kevin Stefanski last season and his volume of clutch performances, it seems low for Mayfield. It’s understandable considering the regression he suffered through in 2019, but if Mayfield leads the Browns to more postseason accomplishment in 2021, he’ll be much higher on the 2022 edition of the NFL 100.

T.J. Hockenson cracks the NFL Top 100 players for the first time

It’s the first time on the NFL 100 for Hockenson. It’s not likely to be the last…

T.J. Hockenson is starting to gain more acclaim around the nation. The Lions tight end cracked the NFL Top 100 for the first time in 2021.

Hockenson checks in at No. 93 overall on the list, which is voted upon by players on anonymous balloting. It’s the first time Hockenson is on the list, and it follows up a second season where he earned the first Pro Bowl nod of his career.

Based on the notes on NFL.com, it won’t be the last time we see Hockenson on the list.

The former Iowa standout completed his second year with a career-high six receiving touchdowns and a Pro Bowl appearance. Second in Lions’ targets (101), receptions (67) and yards (723), Hockenson’s trajectory conveys a promising future for the tight end position in Detroit. New head coach Dan Campbell (former TE coach for New Orleans) could help turn the 23-year-old into the next big name at the tight end position.

Hockenson is the first Lions player on the list, which will continue to be revealed over the next week.

[lawrence-related id=64289]

Lions being shut out on top player lists should not be a surprise

The Detroit Lions being shut out on top player lists like the NFL 100 should not be a surprise

Not a single Detroit Lions player made an appearance on the NFL 100 list from the NFL Network. There aren’t any Lions on Touchdown Wire’s list of the top 101 players in the NFL, either.

It’s a disappointing development. It’s an unfortunate slight for a couple of worthy Lions players. But it most certainly is not a surprise.

The lack of respect for individual accomplishment is part of the price of playing on a team that has won just nine games in two seasons. In popularity contests, being on national TV celebrating great feats is a much easier path than toiling away in relative obscurity on the television network’s “D” team during a 3-win campaign.

But the plain fact is, the Lions do not have a star-studded lineup. The Madden 21 player ratings reflect it, too. Detroit has the lowest highest-rated player of any team.

Personally, I would include Trey Flowers in the top 101 players. A healthy Matthew Stafford absolutely belongs there too. Frank Ragnow is closing in quickly, and I expect Tracy Walker to merit legit consideration if he keeps up his impressive career arc.

But I watch every play of every Lions game, most of them multiple times. The other NFL players, who are the voting bloc for the NFL 100, don’t do that. The analysts who concoct other such lists don’t do that either, with very few exceptions.

Don’t mistake that national lack of respect as anything personal toward the Lions players. It’s the cold reality of playing for a losing team in relative media anonymity.

Dawgs in the NFL: Nick Chubb ranks No. 36 on the NFL 100

Former Georgia star running back Nick Chubb is making his mark on the NFL. He is ranked No. 36 on the annual NFL 100. Details here!

Former Georgia star running back Nick Chubb is the second most prolific rusher in Georgia football history with 4, 769 yards and is now making his name heard with the Cleveland Browns of the NFL.

Chubb was recently rated No. 36 in the annual NFL 100 which ranks the 100 best players in the league. Chubb was drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the No. 35 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft where he rushed for 996 yards with eight touchdowns in his rookie season.

2019 was a break-out year for the Cedar Town, Georgia native. Chubb rushed for 1494 yards (2nd in NFL) with eight touchdowns, which earned him a 2019 Prow Bowl invitation and the Brown’s offensive MVP.

Additionally , Pro Football Focus (PFF) rated Chubb as the best running back in the NFL over the past two seasons.

“Chubb has been the best rusher in the NFL since being drafted in the second round by the Browns in 2018. He is the only running back with a PFF rushing grade north of 90.0 over that two-year stretch, and he joins Derrick Henry as one of just two running backs to average over 4 yards after contact per attempt on 100 or more carries. You won’t find any negatives on Chubb’s resume in the broken tackle department, either. No matter which way you cut it, bringing this man to the ground is not an easy task.”

 

 

 

 

Jarvis Landry lands at No. 61 on the NFL 100

It’s the fifth straight year Landry has been in the Top 100

Jarvis Landry continues to collect the accolades and respect of his peers around the NFL. The Browns wide receiver was voted the No. 61 player on the 2020 edition of the NFL 100 from the NFL Network.

Landry jumped up to 61 from his spot at No. 84 a year ago. Not bad for a guy who played with a painful hip injury that needed postseason surgery.

“Juice” earned a Pro Bowl nod for the fifth consecutive season with a career-high 1,174 receiving yards on 83 catches. The 14.1 yards per reception was the best of his career by two full yards.

Landry is the second Browns player to make an appearance on this year’s NFL 100. Defensive end Myles Garrett checked in at No. 80.

[protected-iframe id=”edfe29edbd448fa30798a19f6d9fb6e3-105974707-80829973″ info=”twsrc%5Etfw” class=”twitter-tweet”]

Texans DE J.J. Watt lands at No. 45 on NFL Network’s Top 100 Players list

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt found a spot on the NFL Network’s Top 100 Players list at No. 45 overall.

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt has placed No. 45 overall on the NFL Network’s Top 100 Players list.

The appearance is Watt’s eighth on the NFL Network’s list that is voted on by the players.

The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year played only eight games as his season was cut short with a torn pectoral muscle in Week 8. Watt returned from injured reserve for the Texans’ playoff run, producing two tackles, 1.0 sack, a tackle for loss, and a pass breakup in Houston’s two postseason games.

Watt collected 24 tackles, 4.0 sacks, four tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries in his eight games with the Texans last year. The most impressive stat was his quarterback hits at 21. Cameron Wake was the only other player who played nine games or fewer and collected double-digit quarterback hits, and the Tennessee Titans edge rusher only had 11.

Entering his 10th NFL season after the Texans selected him in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft, Watt still yearns to deliver a Super Bowl for Houston.

“You play the game to win the Super Bowl,” Watt told reporters on May 27. “That’s the goal. That’s the driving force. It’s among many things, obviously, but that’s always number one, is to help your team, help your city get to that game and to win it. For me, motivation is not hard to come by. Whether it’s just personal intrinsic motivation every day, training, trying to get better, trying to compete against yourself, whether it’s competing on the field against other players and other teams, whether it’s finding motivation whatever way you need to. There will never be a shortage of motivation for me.”

In 2019, Watt was part of a Texans back-to-back as he placed No. 12 overall and receiver DeAndre Hopkins went ahead at No. 11. That Watt has fallen as far as No. 45 indicates the pectoral muscle impacted his standing with his peers, but not enough to keep him off the list.