The 101 best players in the NFL today

Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and Aaron Donald lead Doug Farrar’s and Mark Schofield’s list of the NFL’s top 101 players.

20. Cameron Heyward, IDL, Pittsburgh Steelers

(Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports)

Heyward was one of the table-setters on the NFL’s best defense in 2020, and he did so relatively quietly, because he had just four sacks. But that doesn’t tell nearly the entire story — overall, Heyward had 14 quarterback hits, 45 quarterback hurries, and 32 stops. Throughout his estimable career, Heyward has been a force no matter where he lines up — he had 32 snaps in the A-gap, 456 in the B-gap, 243 over the tackles, and 114 outside the tackles in 2020 — and he’s always been tough to stop wherever he shows up. Heyward’s combination of quickness off the snap, pure power, and pass-rush moves has put him in the running for the most dominant interior defensive lineman in the NFL (Non-Aaron Donald edition).

19. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

(Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports)

In addition to the “this freakin’ guy” metric — more on that in a minute — another method I use to try and categorize quarterback play is by trying to get into the mind of a defensive coordinator facing them. What will keep me up at night? Are there things that I would want to try and take away from this quarterback and his offense? What will we have to do on critical third downs to try and account for the quarterback’s talents?

Applying that to Lamar Jackson illustrates just how dangerous he is as a quarterback in today’s NFL. Sure there might be better pure passers in the NFL today, but Jackson’s ability to threaten defenses with both his arm and his legs makes him so difficult to gameplan for.

For example, take a third-and-6 situation. Which QB would you rather face: Jackson or Tom Brady? Sure you know what Brady can do from the pocket, but you probably do not feel the need to “spy” him and/or dedicate a defender to his threat as a runner. But with Jackson? That is certainly a consideration, and anytime you are devoting resources to what a QB can do with his legs, you are likely weakening what you can do in coverage.

Just imagining facing Jackson as a defensive coordinator keeps me up at night, and I’m just a chucklehead that watches these games from his couch:

That clip from the playoff game is what should get Baltimore Ravens fans excited about the future. The more Jackson demonstrates that he can effectively manipulate the pocket and pick apart defenses as a passer, the more dangerous he will be.

18. Trent Williams, OT, San Francisco 49ers

(Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

Not a bad situation for the 49ers — just as former franchise left tackle Joe Staley was announcing his retirement, Kyle Shanahan’s team was able to trade a couple of mid-round picks to the then-Redskins for Williams’ services. Williams sat out the entire 2019 season due to friction between himself and his former team, but it didn’t take him long to hit the ground running in his new home. Williams allowed three sacks in his first four games back in action, but gave up just one after that, along with three quarterback hits and nine quarterback hurries from Week 5 on. Williams has been a superlative pass-protector for years, but what sets him apart is his movement skills and commitment to demolition in the open field. As they gave him a six-year, $138.06 million contract this offseason, it’s clear that the 49ers agree.

17. Marlon Humphrey, CB, Baltimore Ravens

(Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports)

Marlon Humphrey spends the majority of his time in the slot for the Baltimore Ravens. Last season, for example, he saw 554 snaps inside and 420 on the outside. But his ability to play in both alignments — and at such a high level — makes him a necessary inclusion on this list.

Humphrey is a pass-defending machine, who has notched double-digit pass breakups in each of the last three seasons. He has great feel for the position, knowing when to drive on routes or to peel off defenders to help elsewhere in the secondary. When evaluating him one must also remember that the Ravens play a ton of man coverage, so his versatility in the inside and on the outside in such a scheme makes what he does so much more impressive.

Last season, he allowed 46 slot catches on 72 targets for 392 yards, 167 yards after the catch, one touchdown, no interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 82.6. Humphrey is especially effective in man and match coverage, as he showed on this Baker Mayfield attempt to receiver Rashard Higgins — Humphrey trails Higgins’ route all the way through, and just shuts it down.

16. DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Arizona Cardinals

(Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

One of the terms that gets thrown around in wide receiver evaluation is “winning at the catch point.” Now, you might think you know where I am going with this, as that trait is certainly a calling card with DeAndre Hopkins. But no, I am not talking about the Hail Murray play in Arizona’s win over the Buffalo Bills.

I’m talking about moments like this:

I love everything about this play from Hopkins. First, the route, as he shows an outside move and sells it by looking to the outside, getting the cornerback to turn his path ever so slightly to the boundary. From there Hopkins accelerates upfield, and when the throw is high and the backside cornerback looks to replace the safety in the middle of the field, the receiver skies above everyone to make the catch.

Winning at the catch point.

The ability to beat press is another trait that evaluators salivate over, and here is an example of Hopkins doing just that:

Not only does Hopkins have the upper body strength to shrug off the press with an arm swipe, he then subtly uses an arm bar at the top of the route to get separation and pull in the throw.

In the year ahead I’ll be looking to see if Kliff Kingsbury moves him around in the formation. Late in the year Steven Ruiz of For the Win pointed out that the Cardinals were much too static with Hopkins’ alignments. Down the stretch it seemed like they were making the necessary adjustments:

If that continues into 2021, the Cardinals could be very dangerous.

15. Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills

(Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports)

Last season, Buffalo Bills passer Josh Allen took “the leap.” In his third year in the NFL — a season often termed critical by QB guru Bill Walsh — Allen led the Bills to the AFC Championship game and demonstrated that he can be among the elite quarterbacks in the league.

Beyond the ridiculous throws, the athleticism, and everything else Allen brings to the table the most notable aspect of his season was how he adjusted to the adjustments. After carving up man coverage early in the year Allen scuffled a bit in games against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tennessee Titans facing zone coverage looks. But he and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll made the adjustments to those coverages and by season’s end, Allen was just as impressive against those schemes.

Enjoy some of Allen’s more impressive moments from 2020 in these following breakdowns:

With Buffalo getting the band back together for 2021, there is every reason to believe that Allen will have another strong season.

14. Tyrann Mathieu, DB, Kansas City Chiefs

(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

You could put Mathieu on a few top defensive lists, as he has proven to be one of the most effectively versatile defensive players in the NFL. He certainly merits high praise for his work as both a free and strong safety — last season, Mathieu played 60 snaps on the defensive line, 399 in the box, 287 at free safety, 414 in the slot, and 25 at outside corner. Mathieu also allows defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to run all kinds of coverage disguises because Mathieu is so adept at moving from position to position pre- and post-snap. In 2020 overall, Mathieu allowed 45 catches on 69 targets for 581 yards, 257 yards after the catch, four touchdowns, seven interceptions, two pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 71.3. Mathieu’s breakneck play style will lead to the occasional big play allowed, but when you can bait a quarterback as Mathieu does to Baker Mayfield here… well, the Chiefs will take that all day.

Depending on how he’s deployed on a week-to-week basis, you could make the argument that Mathieu is not only one of the best safeties in the NFL, but also one of the best slot defenders. Mathieu has a rare combination of overall athleticism, quickness to the target, and on-field acumen that makes him a dangerous defender wherever he’s lined up, and this was the case once again in 2020. On 238 coverage snaps in the slot last season, Mathieu allowed 22 catches on 33 targets for 295 yards, 127 yards after the catch, one touchdown, three interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 67.1. Denver’s Drew Lock, who made the list too often when it was time to determine the worst NFL quarterbacks for every type of throw, should probably add “Anything thrown in the general vicinity of Tyrann Mathieu” to that resume, as Mathieu picked off three Lock passes last season, including this slot pick in Week 7 in which receiver KJ Hamler had the ball for a second, and Mathieu then made the ball his own.

This kind of versatility — where you have one player among the best at two wildly different positions from a skill set perspective — is exceedingly rare, and tremendously valuable in an era when defensive backs are asked to do more than ever before.

13. David Bakhtiari, OT, Green Bay Packers

(Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis-Imagn Content Services, LLC)

The Packers proved their commitment to the idea of Bakhtiari’s value last November when they signed him to a four-year, $92 million contract extension, making him one of the highest-paid players at his position in the league. The Packers really discovered Bakhtiari’s value late last December, when the eight-year veteran, three-time Pro Bowler, and two-time All-Pro suffered a torn ACL, which meant that he was unavailable for Green Bay’s playoff run. The effect of Bakhtiari’s absence in the postseason showed up right away — Aaron Rodgers was pressured on 23.7% of his dropbacks in the regular season, and 27.8% in the postseason, including five sacks and 15 total pressures on 52 dropbacks against the Buccaneers in the NFC Championship game.

Bakhtiari should be ready to go for the 2020 season, and his return to form is of crucial importance to Green Bay’s future success, especially if Rodgers is no longer part of the plan. Last season, Bakhtiari allowed just one sack, no quarterback hits, and eight quarterback pressures on 446 pass-blocking reps, and if you want to understand his ability to choose violence as a run-blocker, especially upfield and to the perimeter… well, here are some outstanding examples. Bakhtiari’s rare combination of strength, leverage, technique, agility and quickness in space make him the best offensive tackle in the game today.

12. Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas Cowboys

(Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports)

Prior to his season-ending injury, Dak Prescott was becoming a must-watch at the quarterback position. In just five games Prescott threw nine touchdown passes, and his Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt (ANY/A) of 7.72 ranked him sixth among NFL passers last season.

What stood out to me watching him in 2020 was his anticipation. In his phenomenal book “Eyes Up,” former coach Terry Shea makes the point that anticipation is what makes a good quarterback a great quarterback:

Prescott was in the process of making that leap just before his injury, which has me very excited for his 2021 campaign. In this video breakdown you’ll see one of my favorite anticipation throws of the entire 2020 season, as he threads the needle between multiple defenders in the middle of the field:

That ability makes Prescott one of the game’s best.

11. Jaire Alexander, DB, Green Bay Packers

(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

When you think about cornerbacks that had career-best years in 2020, the list begins with Jaire Alexander of the Green Bay Packers. After allowing NFL passer ratings of 94.0 in 2018 and 92.0 in 2019, Alexander allowed a career-best NFL passer rating of just 54.3 last season. He was targeted 76 times, allowing just 37 receptions for 353 yards and a mere 9.5 yards per reception all career bests.

Alexander also notched three interceptions, another personal best, and broke up another 14 passes, tying his mark set back in 2019.

He also notched a pair of interceptions against Tom Brady in the NFC Championship game, and his sticky coverage on Mike Evans led to a third:

For many, Alexander’s 2020 campaign makes him the top cornerback in the league. Given what he shows on film, that is a very defensible position.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11