NFL Rumors

2023 NFLTR Top 100 Players: Honorable Mentions, Team-By-Team Breakdown & More

July 21, 2023

The second annual NFLTR Top 100 Players list is in the books, but there’s still some fun stuff to do. We have 10 more players who just barely missed the cut, breakdowns of the top 100 by position and team, and a list of players who were on last year’s Top 100 but missed the cut this year.

But first, a recap. Here’s the full 2023 NFLTR Top 100 Players list:

Here’s the positional breakdown for the full 2023 NFLTR Top 100 Players list:

Quarterback: 10

Running back: 2

Wide receiver: 17

Tight end: 3

Offensive tackle: 13

Guard: 8

Center: 2

Edge rusher: 16

Defensive tackle: 10

Linebacker: 3

Safety: 4

Cornerback: 11

And here is how the players at each position ranked, for the curious among you:

Quarterback

Running back

Christian McCaffrey
Nick Chubb

Wide receiver

Tight end

Offensive tackle

Guard

Center

Jason Kelce
Creed Humphrey

Edge rusher

Defensive tackle

Linebacker

Safety

Cornerback

Curious about which teams have the most or the fewest top 100 players? This table will answer your questions.

Top 100 players by team
AFC		NFC
Bengals	4	Bears	0
Browns	5	Lions	2
Ravens	3	Packers	3
Steelers	3	Vikings	5
Colts	2	Buccaneers	1
Jaguars	2	Falcons	1
Texans	1	Panthers	1
Titans	2	Saints	4
Bills	4	Commanders	4
Dolphins	5	Cowboys	6
Jets	4	Eagles	8
Patriots	2	Giants	2
Broncos	2	49ers	7
Chargers	4	Cardinals	0
Chiefs	5	Rams	2
Raiders	3	Seahawks	3

The Cardinals and Bears are bringing up the rear, which is not a huge shock considering the Bears just earned the No. 1 pick before trading it and the Cardinals are heavy favorites to get the No. 1 pick in 2024. The Eagles and 49ers are vying for the most talented overall roster with eight and seven players respectively. Hargrave is the swing factor there after leaving Philadelphia and signing with San Francisco in free agency.

Having a lot or a few top 100 players wasn’t a guarantee of success last year. The Raiders had more than the three players they have this year and still ended up with a top-ten pick. It’s a little interesting to see the Lions with just two players despite the level of hype they’re getting. It’s possible more players break out this season to fuel the leap people expect Detroit to take.

The list obviously isn’t set in stone. Here are the players who fell out of last year’s top 100:

Tom Brady (1): Retired
Matthew Stafford (22): Injuries and age are too big of question marks, though the talent remains.
Chandler Jones (27): At 33 years old, might be hitting the wall. Had just 4.5 sacks in 2022.
Russell Wilson (29): I mean…
Tre’Davious White (30): Only played six games as he worked back from a torn ACL.
Kyler Murray (41): Currently recovering from a torn ACL, which injects some uncertainty into his long-term outlook.
Denzel Ward (42): Didn’t play poorly in 2022 but also didn’t play to the same standard he’d set in previous years.
Shaquille Leonard (45): Limited to three games due to injury, specifically some kind of nerve issues impacting his calf. Despite surgery, his long-term outlook remains kind of cloudy.
Deebo Samuel (49): Unique player but production fell off in 2022.
Darren Waller (54): Can’t stay healthy
Xavien Howard (57): Got picked on a bit in coverage. May have lost a step and wasn’t a fit for the Dolphins’ former man coverage-heavy defense.
Derek Carr (59): Didn’t mesh with HC Josh McDaniels and was traded. Regressed in some areas.
Vita Vea (63): Still played well but was passed by a few other players.
Tyron Smith (68): Injured and had rocky moments when he returned and had to switch to right tackle.
Mike Evans (69): Inconsistent, even though he recorded his ninth-straight 1,000-yard season.
Jordan Mailata (71): Played well, other players just played better.
Jonathan Taylor (73): Missed six games to injury and struggled in the others to overcome poor offensive line play.
Demarcus Lawrence (74): Still a terrific run defender, not as fearsome of a pass rusher.
Khalil Mack (77): Good player but not someone who can spearhead an elite pass rush anymore.
Orlando Brown Jr. (78): Solid tackle with defined strengths and weaknesses. The bar for top 100 is higher than solid, though.
Cameron Jordan (79): Still a complete defensive end who can play the run but not a dominant pass rusher anymore.
Chris Godwin (80): He didn’t miss much time coming off a torn ACL the season before but it was apparent Godwin wasn’t completely himself.
Derrick Henry (81): Led the NFL in carries for the third time in four years but was less efficient than his peak.
Kenny Clark (82): Good player, others were just better in 2022.
Kyle Pitts (83): Went down with a serious knee injury and was struggling to put together consistent production before that, though quarterback issues didn’t help.
J.C. Jackson (84): Nagging injuries started in camp and Jackson was burnt toast in five games before tearing his patellar tendon.
AJ Terrell (88): Took a slight step back in 2022. Still a very good corner but passed up by other players.
Frank Ragnow (89): Injuries have held Ragnow back and it unfortunately might not change. He’s been battling a toe injury that’s been termed as “inoperable.”
Ronnie Stanley (92): Played 11 games, which is a step in the right direction after just seven the previous two years. Promising signs but not back to his previous form yet.
DeAndre Hopkins (93): He isn’t washed but he hasn’t been able to stay on the field for one reason or another for two years now. That’s often a sign of a coming decline.
Corey Linsley (97): Really good player still and one of the top centers. Just passed by others for a top 100 spot.
Taylor Moton (100): Solid right tackle who took a step back in some areas.

As you can see, there’s fierce competition for spots, especially in the back half of the top 100. There were some hard cuts made with just 100 spots, so just for the heck of it here are spots 101 through 110 if we had decided to expand the list. Consider this the 20203 NFLTR Top 100 Players Honorable Mentions:

101: Bears LB Roquan Smith

Smith is a bit of a polarizing player in some circles but his impact on the Ravens was undeniable after arriving via trade. He made an impact as a run defender, blitzer and in coverage.

Ravens defense in 2022 with and without Roquan Smith (via @TruMediaSports):

Success Rate
Without: 55.4% (27th)
With: 61.1% (T-5th)

Opponent Explosive Play %
Without: 10.4% (T-10th)
With: 8.3% (2nd)

EPA/Play
Without: -.06 (30th)
With: .11 (T-1st)

— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) January 10, 2023

102: Browns CB Denzel Ward

In a down year, Ward still allowed less than a 60 percent completion percentage, picked off three passes and had the second-most pass deflections of his career with 15. He also recovered two fumbles and returned them both for touchdowns.

103: Chargers RB Austin Ekeler

Ekeler was right to be upset about his contract this offseason. Over the past two years, he has over 3,000 yards from scrimmage and 38 total touchdowns. As a pure runner, there are several backs you’d take above him, but as a complete weapon, including as a pass-catcher, there aren’t many better right now.

104: Chargers WR Keenan Allen

For a moment, it looked like age was coming for Allen as he had a hamstring injury he just could not shake for weeks. He eventually got right, however, and then we saw the wily route runner we’ve become accustomed to seeing. Allen played just 10 games but his receptions per game, yards per game and catch percentage were all as good or better than the previous few seasons. It feels a little wrong to leave him out of the top 100 considering how skilled of a route runner he remains but there are some other receivers who are just more dynamic right now.

105: Eagles OT Jordan Mailata

Although his PFF grade slipped from 88.3 to 81.7 from 2021 to 2022, Mailata remained a top-ten tackle in their estimation with a lot of that due to his prowess as a run blocker. ESPN also had him as the No. 2 tackle in run block win rate. Pass protection was more of a struggle. He was credited with 39 allowed pressures and a pass blocking efficiency of 96.5 percent per PFF, which was in the middle of the pack. In 2021 he allowed 25 total pressures and had an efficiency rating of 97.1

106: Browns WR Amari Cooper

Cooper’s interesting because the talent has always been there. He was a top-five pick by the Raiders back in 2015 and has had moments of real dominance. But he hasn’t tapped into that consistently, and sometimes it feels like Cooper’s focus or motor can run hot and cold. He’s found a way to leave two teams wanting more and deciding to move on after paying serious acquisition costs. Last year with the Browns was one of his best, however. He had the second-best catch score and YAC score of his career in ESPN’s receiver tracking metrics while operating as Cleveland’s top receiver. Cooper notched the second-best PFF receiving grade of his career and scored a career-high nine touchdowns. If the Browns passing game takes a step forward in overall production, Cooper could be in for a big 2023.

107: Seahawks CB Tariq Woolen

Woolen was a quicker learner than the Seahawks anticipated and leveraged his phenomenal tools right away. He’s on a short list for the most physically gifted cornerback in football at 6-4, 205 pounds and with a 4.26-second 40 time at the Combine. You couldn’t build a better Seahawks cornerback in a lab. That athleticism helped him recover from some of the inevitable rookie mistakes. Woolen tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions, knocked down 16 other passes and allowed a completion percentage of 55.3 (27th out of 136 per PFF) and a passer rating of 72.1 (16th).

Tom Brady playing WR vs Tariq Woolen 😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/wASKthctvW pic.twitter.com/JsCvPs2CvJ

— Darin 🍫 (@FvckLaDarin_) July 17, 2023

108: Buccaneers LB Lavonte David

A lot of folks prematurely passed the torch to LB Devin White, but David’s still the best linebacker on the team. He had 10 tackles for loss, three sacks, a forced fumble and five pass deflections in 2022. Per PFF, he tied for sixth in the league with 62 stops.

109: Bengals LT Orlando Brown Jr.

Although he gave up the most pressures of any tackle in football last year with 58, Brown also played the most pass-blocking snaps of any tackle and was over 100 snaps higher than anyone else not also on the Chiefs roster. His 94.2 efficiency in true pass sets (where he also led the NFL with 359 reps) was 47th. The Chiefs asked a lot of him and he more than held his own. The Bengals will ask him to do some similar things but Cincinnati’s scheme is a better fit for Brown in some other ways if they do more gap blocking.

110: Ravens LT Ronnie Stanley

There were some signs that Stanley was beginning to recapture his ability as a former rising star at left tackle. PFF graded him as their 37th overall tackle, but were a lot higher on his work in pass protection. Stanley’s 82.2 pass pro grade was 10th best and he was charted with just 16 pressures allowed and an efficiency rating of 97.3 percent. Filtered to true pass sets, Stanley had 11 pressures given up and a 95.8 efficiency rating. Those ranked 17th and 20th respectively out of 86 tackles. Opinions were split on his run blocking too, as ESPN gave him the No. 7 best run block win rate of any tackle.