The NFL’s list of the top 100 players in the league has recently been released, commemorating the 100 best/most valuable players in the NFL according to the players.
To be completely honest, I could care less about the Top 100 list. It’s voted by the players, sure, but to me it’s just a silly, meaningless list that doesn’t truly list the value of players.
To me, the list is similar to player ratings in the Madden NFL video game series. The ratings are laughable and I doubt most people take them seriously. However, I would like a representative from Electronic Arts Sports to explain to me why Buccaneers tight end (TE) Rob Gronkowski is a 95 overall after not even playing last season.
But now I’ll delve into the top 100 list itself, sticking primarily with the quarterbacks (QB). Some of the most egregious rankings are in this category.
QB rankings this year go as followed: Kyler Murray (Cardinals, #90), Josh Allen (Bills, #87), Ryan Tannehill (Titans, #68), Kirk Cousins (Vikings, #58), Dak Prescott (Cowboys, #46), Jimmy Garappolo (49ers, #43), Deshaun Watson (Texans, #20), Aaron Rodgers (Packers, #16), Tom Brady (Buccaneers, #14), Drew Brees (Saints, #12), Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs, #4), Russell Wilson (Seahawks, #2) and Lamar Jackson (Ravens, #1).
There were some pretty big snubs from the QB list this year, most notably Eagles’ Carson Wentz, Patriots’ Cam Newton and Colts’ Phillip Rivers. To an extent, I can understand why Newton and Rivers didn’t make it on the list. The former was injured for most of last year and the latter didn’t play all that well either.
However, how is Wentz not on the list? He wasn’t even in the 101-110 rankings either. That’s some major disrespect for a guy who carried a broken down team to the playoffs. The QBs from Garappolo to Murray should all be behind Wentz.
The two really baffling selections before Wentz are Prescott and Garappolo. First off, Dak couldn’t lead an immensely talented Cowboys team to the playoffs in a pitifully weak NFC East, finishing 8-8. Garappolo didn’t even do that much on the 49ers this year, since the 49ers 2019 offense can be attributed to mainly the running game and TE George Kittle.
Watson is ranked to low (really should be in the top-15 if not top-10, and Rodgers is ranked a little too high (should be in the 20s or 30s). But the primary point of concern is giving Jackson the edge over Wilson and Mahomes.
Jackson is a top-five QB in the league, that I agree on, but he shouldn’t be ranked over Wilson or Mahomes, who are proven Super Bowl winners. Jackson, for all he’s worth, still can’t even win a single playoff game.
Wilson deserves to be higher than Jackson due to the circumstances surrounding Seattle’s team in 2019. As a Seahawks fan, I’ll admit that without Wilson, the Seahawks don’t finish with a record better than 5-11 last year. Wilson was the Seahawks’ offense last year and he carried that team on his back the whole year.
Mahomes is the best QB in the league right now – no question. Mahomes has a league MVP and Super Bowl MVP to back that up, on top of the Chiefs’ reliance on his production.
There are other questionable decisions on the list but the QB category sums up my position well. Several cognitive biases exists in these kinds of lists, and thus, I don’t take them very seriously.
After all, it’s just a list that only exists to praise players and cause debate. Really, in the grand scheme of football, it’s a meaningless list.
However, I look forward into seeing how some undervalued players react to seeing their low rankings, especially Mahomes. What more does he need to prove to people?
To end this blog, I would like to point out how incredible it is that the top-five players this year (WR Michael Thomas, Mahomes, defensive end Aaron Donald, Wilson, Jackson) were all ranked three stars or lower coming out of high school. The underdog mentality really serves some athletes well.
