Who decides the best players in the NFL? Not necessarily the players themselves.
In short: Every offseason, the NFL Top 100 counts down the league's elite. While the official word is that active players vote for their peers, some veterans are calling the entire process a manufactured piece of television filler. This annual series relies on an offseason poll to rank the league's best.
The NFL Top 100 is an annual television series produced by NFL Films that counts down the top one hundred players in the league. The rankings are determined by an offseason poll organized by the NFL, where active players are meant to vote on their peers based on performance from the most recent season. The series first debuted on April 30, 2011, beginning with Donovan McNabb and concluding with the number-one player.
While the prestige of the list suggests a consensus of greatness, the legitimacy of the voting has been openly contested by those within the league. In 2021, Arizona Cardinals tackle D. J. Hall Humphries criticized the list as 'made up,' claiming he had never participated in the vote. Former tackle Andrew Whitworth, a three-time selection himself, echoed this sentiment in 2022, labeling the ranking 'content filler' and a 'joke.' Critics like writer Jeremy Bergman have even suggested the results are skewed by recency bias.
Despite the skepticism, certain legends have dominated the top spot. Quarterback Tom Brady holds the record for the most number-one selections, having topped the list four times (2011, 2017, 2018, and 2022). Patrick Mahomes is the only other player to achieve the number-one rank multiple times, specifically in 2021 and 2023. While quarterbacks often lead, the list has recognized non-quarterbacks such as J. J. Watt, Aaron Donald, and Tyreek Hill as the league's best.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: NFL Top 100
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