Ranking players, particularly in a league as diverse as the NFL, is a subjective and often fruitless exercise. But it’s July and the preseason doesn’t start for a few weeks, so here we are.
Lining up the NFL’s stars is a proud offseason doldrum tradition. ESPN does it, CBS does it — and, most famously, the NFL itself does it. So, in true American fashion, we saw a crowded marketplace and said, “us too.”
Our list isn’t scientific. It’s just two football writers, submitting weighted lists of their top players, then comparing and aggregating scores to create a consensus among a very small sample size. Last season’s performances, as well as age and potential, heavily weighed in a player’s favor. Those scores gave us a proper 100 players — with three tied for the final spot, pushing the list to an untidy 102. Those scores also allowed us to separate the field into rough tiers, ranging from the incredible to the merely very, very good.
So who stands atop our top 102? The answer will (not) surprise you!