July is the driest month of the year when it comes to NFL news, which makes it the perfect time for something like a top 100 players list. For the fourth straight year, we’re happy to bring you our 2025 NFLTR Top 100 Players. 

We’re not the only outlet that does a top 100 — NFL Media has done one with at least some democratic input from current players since 2011 — but our goal is to give more credit to players and positions that are often easy to overlook, especially in the trenches. We build it using traditional and advanced statistics, awards, positional value, career trajectory and a good old-fashioned dash of the eye test. Our list won’t be perfect but the goal is to give as much credit where it’s due as possible. 

We’ll be rolling this list out over the next couple of weeks, so keep checking back for updates to our 2025 NFLTR Top 100 Players list. 

• 100-91

Resources: 

• Pro Football Reference
• QB advanced stats
• Win rates from ESPN for OL and DL
• PFF advanced stats (grades, pass rush productivity, blocking efficiency, coverage stats)
• ESPN WR tracking metrics
• Past NFLTR Top 100s 

90 – 49ers QB Brock Purdy

San Francisco’s fall-off last year provided more ammunition for some of Purdy’s critics, as he took a step backward statistically while the losses mounted. Purdy threw just 20 touchdowns against 12 interceptions and was under 4,000 yards passing while going 6-9 in his 15 starts. 

However, the 49ers were still comfortable forking over a major deal because Purdy’s overall track record still suggests he’s a highly competent starting quarterback, and those signs were still there even in the wreckage that was last season. San Francisco had to deal with significant injuries to foundational pieces of the offense last year and Purdy did not enjoy the same wealth of skill position talent that he did his first two seasons. That impacted his raw counting stats but some of his underlying numbers remained strong. Quarterback is a hard position to capture with just one stat, but I like a combination of adjusted net yards per attempt, QBR from ESPN which has an element of EPA per play and factors in rushing production and a composite of EPA per play and completion percentage over expected. No stat is perfect but those three can at least account for a lot of context and give a decent apples to apples comparison. 

In all three categories, Purdy’s numbers sagged from his prior season. He had an ANY/A of 7.34, a QBR of 67.9 and an EPA/CPOE of 0.133. But that meant instead of leading the league in all three stats, he was still sixth, seventh and ninth, respectively. Despite the worse surrounding circumstances, his interception percentage stayed virtually the same. PFF tracks turnover-worthy plays and Purdy cut his percentage of those throws slightly. He was slightly worse at avoiding sacks but helped offset it with career-highs on the ground, rushing for 323 yards and five touchdowns. 

Purdy’s a controversial player, and it’s true that he benefits from playing for HC Kyle Shanahan and has some physical limitations to his game. PFF charted him with just 15 “big-time throws” which was 23rd in the NFL last year. However, even in a “down” year, he ranked as a top ten quarterback in a number of telling categories. Whether or not he’s a true top-10 quarterback is a matter for genuine debate but he’s closer to the top ten than he is the bottom half of starters. 

89 – 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey

When McCaffrey has been healthy, he’s been a true difference-maker even as a running back and a prolific offensive weapon. Health has been hard to come by at times, however, and last season was one of those. Worn down from a 2023 season where he notched over 2,000 all-purpose yards and 21 touchdowns, McCaffrey battled Achilles tendinitis in both legs for much of the summer and the start of the regular season. When he returned, he lasted just four games before a season-ending PCL injury. He had 346 total yards in those four games but truthfully looked a little like a player who’d had a long layoff. 

Everyone in San Francisco is saying positive things about McCaffrey heading into the 2025 season, and we can only hope they’re right. A healthy McCaffrey is one of the most fun players in football and someone who likely would rank far higher on this list. 

88 – Rams WR Davante Adams

Age has caught up to Adams but it hasn’t completely deteriorated his game yet. He might not be a top two or top three receiver anymore but he’s still capable of being highly productive. Adams has accumulated over 2,000 yards and 16 touchdowns in the past two years during his age-31 and age-32 seasons despite playing through bad quarterback play, injuries and a midseason trade from the Raiders to the Jets last year. His rapport with QB Aaron Rodgers certainly helped, but Adams had 67 catches for 854 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games after the trade last year. 

The strength of Adams’ game has always been his craftiness at the line of scrimmage to dominate man coverage and he’s still capable of getting open in those situations even if he’s not as dynamic down the field or after the catch. His open score of 77 in ESPN’s receiver tracking metrics was 14th in the league even as his overall score of 43 was one of the lowest marks of his career and ranked 43rd. Adams also had a remarkable 2.69 yards per route run against man coverage, one of the highest marks in the league and an indicator of what the Rams’ plans for the veteran this upcoming year may be. 

87 – Buccaneers WR Mike Evans

A model of consistency for his entire 11-year career, Evans kept his streak of 1,000-yard seasons going — barely. He overcame a hamstring injury that kept him out three games and a near-career-low in targets with just 110 to scrape out 1,004 yards, adding 11 touchdowns on 74 catches. But even though Evans was 31 and playing injured for a portion of the season, there was little to no dropoff to be seen in his performance. 

Assisted by a career-low average depth of target of 11.6 yards, Evans was remarkably efficient with his targets, setting new top marks in catch percentage and success rate. He had a dominant 3.16 yards per route run against man coverage, and tied for No. 1 in the whole league with an open score of 91 in ESPN’s receiver tracking metrics. Those figures suggest there weren’t many receivers harder to cover last year than Evans, and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all even as he turns 32. 

86 – Ravens DT Nnamdi Madubuike

While Madubuike had a hard time sustaining his prolific numbers from 2023 that earned him a lucrative new contract, he remained an impactful player in the middle of the defense for the Ravens. He dipped from a stellar 13 sacks in 2023 to “only” 6.5 sacks in 2024, which is still a great number for a defensive tackle. Instead of 78 total pressures, he had 60, per PFF, but that number was still fifth in the league at his position. Instead of 42 stops, he had 30 — still 14th-best among all defensive tackles. 

Bottom line, while there’s room for Madubuike to improve his down-to-down efficiency (his pass rush win rate lags behind some of the other top interior defenders), there’s no buyer’s remorse from the Ravens after his big payday last year. 

85 – Buccaneers S Antoine Winfield Jr.

There’s no getting around it. Last year was a setback for Winfield after a 2023 season that seemed to assert him as possibly the top safety in football. He went from first-team All-Pro with six forced fumbles, three interceptions, six sacks and 12 pass deflections to no interceptions, no forced fumbles and just three pass breakups. 

Winfield did return a fumble for a touchdown and did add two sacks while being limited to nine games, so the hope is a return to health can bring a return to form for the veteran. His 2023 was so good, however, that it was hard to leave him off this list.  

84 – Falcons S Jessie Bates

The Falcons as a whole may not have lived up to their own expectations in 2024, but Bates did his part and was a foundation piece for the defense yet again. Bates had 10 pass deflections, four forced fumbles, four interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, and a sack for good measure. In two years since signing a major free agent contract in Atlanta, Bates has 10 interceptions, seven forced fumbles and two touchdowns. He was PFF’s No. 2 safety a year ago and No. 10 at the position per the service this year. 

When Bates arrived in Atlanta, he had a reputation from his time with the Bengals as more of a deep-field safety who lacked some of the tackling edge or versatility of some of his peers. He’s made up a ton of ground to change that perception, setting a new career high with 29 stops last year and adding another 27 in 2024 to go with the forced fumbles. His durability should also be appreciated — Bates has played more than 1,000 snaps every single year of his career. Bates is a rock in the secondary for the Falcons, in multiple senses of the phrase. 

83 – Rams DT Kobie Turner

The Rams have built a promising core on defense despite losing the amazing Aaron Donald because of their success in the draft, specifically hitting on players like Turner. A somewhat undersized tackle at 6-2 and 297 pounds who slid to Los Angeles in the third round, Turner has taken the daunting task of stepping into Donald’s shoes and run with it. He asserted himself with nine sacks as a rookie and should have received more consideration for defensive rookie of the year than he got. Turner followed up that debut with another eight sacks in his sophomore campaign for a gaudy 17 in his first two seasons. 

The deeper you look, the more Turner stands out. Not only was he an effective pass rusher, finishing fourth in the NFL among all DTs with 62 total pressures, he was effective against the run as well. PFF credited him with 47 stops, which are defined as tackles that prevent the offense from gaining a successful amount of yardage. That tied with Steelers DT Cameron Heyward for the NFL lead. Turner stuffed the stat sheet even more with four pass deflections and a forced fumble. If the Rams’ defense takes a step forward in 2025, bet on Turner’s star rising even higher. 

82 – Colts G Quenton Nelson

Last season marked a mini-resurgence for Nelson with his best PFF grade since 2020 and his first appearance on ESPN’s run block win rate leaderboard since then. Nelson was third in the NFL with a 77 percent win rate, just a tick below first place, and PFF also gave him his highest run block grade since his prime a few years ago. 

Nelson still isn’t the same impact player he was to start his career but he remains one of the top guards in football. He was about as proficient as a pass blocker as he has been for a couple years now, allowing just 20 total pressures and finishing 15th among all guards with a 98 percent pass blocking efficiency rate. Penalties were a bit of an issue, as Nelson finished the year with 10. 

81 – Eagles LB Zack Baun

Baun was one of the coolest stories in football last year. A former tweener who had been languishing in a special teams and backup role in New Orleans despite being drafted on Day 2, Baun signed with the Eagles on a dart-throw, prove-it deal with minimal expectations. Philadelphia figured he’d at least make the roster as a core special teamer and backup, and anything else would be gravy. Quickly they realized they had unearthed a gem. Baun took to DC Vic Fangio’s system like cheese to a steak and whipped former first-round LB Devin White in the competition for a starting job. 

Then he kept that momentum going for the whole season. Baun was a force in the middle of Philadelphia’s defense, racking up 151 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, four pass deflections and an interception. He added another 33 tackles, two TFLs, a forced fumble, two recoveries, three pass breakups and two interceptions in the playoffs en route to a Super Bowl victory. 

PFF graded Baun as their top linebacker fueled by a top-ranked 90.9 grade in coverage. The service also tracked him with 79 stops — 18 more than the next closest linebacker — and a 79.3 passer rating when targeted that was fourth-best at his position. Perhaps the biggest endorsement of Baun, though, was when the Eagles broke their longstanding organizational precedent with linebackers to sign him to a three-year, $51 million contract. That’s a resounding vote of confidence that the veteran won’t be just a one-year wonder.