NFL Released Top 100 Players Of The League: But What Was Wrong With The Voting?

Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, was named the greatest player in the NFL on Monday night, according to the NFL Network’s annual list of the top 100 players in the league.

Mahomes, who recently won his second Super Bowl in four seasons, has now been crowned the NFL’s best player twice.

Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings, Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles, Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers, and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs made up the top five.

Top 100 NFL Players of 2023: Complete list

  1. Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
  2. Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings
  3. Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles
  4. Nick Bosa, DE, San Francisco 49ers
  5. Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
  6. Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
  7. Tyreek Hill, WR, Miami Dolphins
  8. Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills
  9. Micah Parsons, LB, Dallas Cowboys
  10. Chris Jones, DT, Kansas City Chiefs
  11. Aaron Donald, DT, Los Angeles Rams
  12. Josh Jacobs, RB, Las Vegas Raiders
  13. Davante Adams, WR, Las Vegas Raiders
  14. Trent Williams, OT, San Francisco 49ers
  15. Fred Warner, LB, San Francisco 49ers
  16. Stefon Diggs, WR, Buffalo Bills
  17. Maxx Crosby, DE, Las Vegas Raiders
  18. Minkah Fitzpatrick, S, Pittsburgh Steelers
  19. George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers
  20. Myles Garrett, DE, Cleveland Browns
  21. Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
  22. A.J. Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
  23. Sauce Gardner, CB, New York Jets
  24. Roquan Smith, LB, Baltimore Ravens
  25. Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans
  26. Jaire Alexander, CB, Green Bay Packers
  27. T.J. Watt, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers
  28. Dexter Lawrence, DT, New York Giants
  29. Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns
  30. Derwin James, S, Los Angeles Chargers
  31. Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants
  32. Justin Herbert, QB, Los Angeles Chargers
  33. Matt Judon, LB, New England Patriots
  34. CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys
  35. Christian McCaffrey, RB, San Francisco 49ers
  36. Jalen Ramsey, CB, Miami Dolphins
  37. Jason Kelce, C, Philadelphia Eagles
  38. Khalil Mack, LB, Los Angeles Chargers
  39. Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
  40. Quinnen Williams, DT, New York Jets
  41. Lane Johnson, OT, Philadelphia Eagles
  42. Kirk Cousins, QB, Minnesota Vikings
  43. Demario Davis, LB, New Orleans Saints
  44. Jaylen Waddle, WR, Miami Dolphins
  45. Cameron Heyward, DT, Pittsburgh Steelers
  46. C.J. Mosley, LB, New York Jets
  47. Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams
  48. Haason Reddick, LB, Philadelphia Eagles
  49. Patrick Surtain II, CB, Denver Broncos
  50. Cameron Jordan, DE, New Orleans Saints
  51. Aaron Rodgers, QB, New York Jets
  52. Jonathan Allen, DE, Washington Commanders
  53. Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  54. Brian Burns, DE, Carolina Panthers
  55. Tony Pollard, RB, Dallas Cowboys
  56. Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas Cowboys
  57. Jordan Poyer, S, Buffalo Bills
  58. Jeffery Simmons, DT, Tennessee Titans
  59. Justin Simmons, S, Denver Broncos
  60. Trevon Diggs, CB, Dallas Cowboys
  61. Deebo Samuel, WR, San Francisco 49ers
  62. Bobby Wagner, LB, Seattle Seahawks
  63. Grady Jarrett, DT, Atlanta Falcons
  64. Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers
  65. Darius Slay, CB, Philadelphia Eagles
  66. Jared Goff, QB, Detroit Lions
  67. Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, Detroit Lions
  68. Zack Martin, OG, Dallas Cowboys
  69. Matt Milano, LB, Buffalo Bills
  70. Joey Bosa, LB, Los Angeles Chargers
  71. DeForest Buckner, DT, Indianapolis Colts
  72. Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens
  73. Budda Baker, S, Arizona Cardinals
  74. Garrett Wilson, WR, New York Jets
  75. Trey Hendrickson, DE, Cincinnati Bengals
  76. Tariq Woolen, CB, Seattle Seahawks
  77. Geno Smith, QB, Seattle Seahawks
  78. Talanoa Hufanga, S, San Francisco 49ers
  79. Dre Greenlaw, LB, San Francisco 49ers
  80. Mark Andrews, TE, Baltimore Ravens
  81. Christian Wilkins, DT, Miami Dolphins
  82. Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Miami Dolphins
  83. Terron Armstead, OT, Miami Dolphins
  84. Za’Darius Smith, DE, Cleveland Browns
  85. Laremy Tunsil, OT, Houston Texans
  86. Justin Fields, QB, Chicago Bears
  87. Chris Lindstrom, OG, Atlanta Falcons
  88. Aidan Hutchinson, DE, Detroit Lions
  89. Marshon Lattimore, CB, New Orleans Saints
  90. DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Tennessee Titans
  91. Dalvin Cook, RB, free agent
  92. Marlon Humphrey, CB, Baltimore Ravens
  93. Eric Kendricks, LB, Los Angeles Chargers
  94. Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington Commanders
  95. Jamaal Williams, RB, New Orleans Saints
  96. Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars
  97. Harrison Smith, S, Minnesota Vikings
  98. Tristan Wirfs, OT, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  99. Demarcus Lawrence, DE, Dallas Cowboys
  100. DeVonta Smith, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

What Was Wrong With The Voting?

Some Top 100 mainstays from the ’22 list completely vanished from this year’s collection owing to retirement (Tom Brady, No. 1 in ’22), egregiously poor performance (Quenton Nelson, No. 28 in ’22), and injuries, though the latter category was not treated equally. Why did Joey Bosa (No. 30 in ’22; played in five games last season; was ranked No. 18 in ’22) drop merely 40 positions yet Shaquille Leonard (No. 18 in ’22; played in three games last season) fell completely out of favor?

Of course, not every above-average athlete with a league pension can fit in. This is not the “Top 167 presented by Good Enough.” But the players’ inconsistent dismissal of their siblings’ abilities continues to be perplexing and, dare I say it, unscientific.

In the top 40, there are more running backs (six) than quarterbacks (five) and ten tailbacks make up the top 100, including five ahead of Herbert, who just agreed to a $262.5 million contract deal. Three of the five—Josh Jacobs (12), Austin Ekeler (21) and Saquon Barkley (31)—actively campaigned for more salary this summer. Barkley and Ekeler will have significantly better terms for 2023, while Jacobs won’t even be in Las Vegas for training camp and will likely play on the $10.091 million tag (barring a rare Saquon-like adjustment). There is a problem.

From Mahomes to Trevor Lawrence (No. 96), there are 14 signal-callers scattered throughout this year’s Top 100; only wide receivers (of which there are 16) received more love. The top five are very clear-cut, with QB5 Justin Herbert (No. 32) in limbo between superstar and Pro Bowler, but it becomes murky after that. While Rodgers didn’t even have a wide receiver in the Top 200 at his disposal last season, Kirk Cousins has the advantage of throwing to the No. 2 talent in football. What are we to make of Lamar Jackson’s (No. 72) positional disadvantage to the quick Jared Goff (No. 66)?

For the hog mollies, every year means another setback. Only eight NFL offensive linemen—five tackles, two guards, and not a single center without a podcast—made the Top 100 list this year. Trenchmen are often ignored in this drill, but this year’s situation is so awful that Baldy loses it. Here are the three second-team All-Pros (the aforementioned Humphrey and Thuney as well as Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas) and the lone first-team All-Pro on offense or defense to miss the Top 100 this year (Browns starter Joel Bitonio). It appears that none of the participants in the voting pool went to TEU.

With a 14-3 regular-season record and a sixth consecutive participation in the AFC title game, the defending Super Bowl champions only have three of the league’s top 100 players on their roster, at least in their own estimation. Stranger still, all three of them (Chris Jones at No. 10, Mahomes at No. 1, Travis Kelce at No. 5) are in the top 10. The Chiefs were “top-heavy” enough to finish the season as the best team in the NFL in 2022. (Huh!) Who from the championship team from Kansas City was overlooked and left out of this year’s drill? Consider center Creed Humphrey and left guard Joe Thuney, two second-team All-Pros on the line that successfully fended off Philadelphia’s aggressive pass rush in Super Bowl LVII.

 

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