My Full NFL Top 100 Players of 2021 List Revealed
A few notes:
- I did run this list by a few people in/formerly in the league and took feedback. I moved around a bunch of players based on their advice.
- This list is exempt of any players who did not play last year due to injury or opt out. So Von Miller, Derwin James, Danielle Hunter etc. all not on the list.
- The players I'm getting the most flack for are:
- CB Stephon Gilmore (#80) - he was nowhere close to the Defensive Player of the Year from 2019. Still a very good player, but also 32 coming off an injury and a down year.
- OT David Bakhtiari (#79) - I took his injury into account. He got hurt on 12/31/20 and there is a good chance he starts the year on PUP
- CB Carlton Davis (#51) - He got absolutely torched by Tyreek Hill in Week 12. But he also had no Safety help early and any CB in the league would do the same 1-on-1 in space. Before that he should have been a contender for Defensive Player of the Year, he was playing that well. He won his matchups against DeAndre Hopkins, Davante Adams, Keenan Allen, & Michael Thomas the past 1.5 years. People need to put more respect on his name.
- OG Quenton Nelson (#42) - I had Nelson at #3 last year and got absolutely crushed. He had a worse year than 2019 with way more penalties, but this is more of a correction.
- EDGE Chase Young (#28) - I put him above both Bosa brothers due to injury concerns. Both Bosa brothers have checkered injury histories. Joey has only played two full seasons out of five and Nick has had injury concerns dating back to High School. He only played two games last year before missing the year. So while I like both Bosa brothers better in a one game level, I'm projecting the whole season and Young is a much better bet to play more games.
- QB Deshaun Watson (#13) - We're assuming no suspension here. Regardless of off the field stuff, he's a baller inside the white lines.
- QB Patrick Mahomes (#3) - The top three are all almost interchangeable. Mahomes is certainly the most talented. But something that the other two have proven is they are not system dependent. I'm sure Mahomes would survive without Andy Reid, but I would be less confident for example that the Buccaneers would have won the Super Bowl this year with him at QB vs. Tom Brady who proved he was not a system Quarterback, went into a new environment and dominated. Aaron Rodgers we've also seen change systems and get better (with way less talent). I have no major qualms with Mahomes higher than this otherwise, but I'd be surprised if he was the #1 player on the NFL's Top 100 when that is released later this summer.
- QB Tom Brady (#1) -As I said, the top three are so close. Tiebreaker would be winning and Brady beat both Rodgers and Mahomes on his was to ring #7.
If you want more reasoning on a specific player, I outline them all in the blog series. See here for full breakdowns:
A few other quick notes
- I really enjoyed doing the "On The Field" segments in the top 10 players at the the end of each video. Hopefully you like them too.
- I have to thank my graphics buddy Richie Weber again. This series did not get much traction until we got corresponding graphics and I'm grateful for his assistance.
- Thank you to everyone that read and interacted. I really enjoyed doing this and will continue to pump out Football content for you.
Do I have anybody too high? Anybody too low? Or do you think there is someone who got snubbed? Let me know in the comments.