NFL Top 100 players of 2018
Like I do every year, once the official player’s countdown is fully released, I wanted to make my own top 100 list.
There is a serious misconception about the voting process. While opinions are heavily based on last year, this list is about the 2018 NFL season.
It’s not about grading what they did last year alone, but rather what to expect from them this upcoming campaign. That’s why it is the top 100 players of 2018. I mean only 12 teams even played this year so far.
Of course, you should have recency bias to some degree, but you also have to look at the body of work and what you believe they are capable of.
Without any further ado, let's take a look at the top 100 players of this year:
#1. Aaron Donald
#2. Tom Brady
#3. Antonio Brown
#4. Aaron Rodgers
#5. Von Miller
#6. Le’Veon Bell
#7. Julio Jones
#8. Todd Gurley
#9. Bobby Wagner
#10. Luke Kuechly
To me, there is no doubt about who should be on top of this list. Donald is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, coming off a season in which he led the league with a ridiculous 91 total pressures and recorded 16 tackles for loss, despite playing in just 14 games.
Brady on the other hand just won the MVP and once again took the Patriots to the Super Bowl, where he was a Hail Mary away from becoming the only player to ever win six Lombardis. He is the most efficient signal-caller in the game.
Brown would have had a serious shot at taking home MVP honors had he not gotten hurt in week 15. Even pretty much with three fewer games, he still ended up leading the league in receiving yards and routinely came up clutch in the biggest moments.
The guy who could end up being number one at the end of 2018, once again is, Rodgers. When he is healthy and has weapons around him, he is borderline unstoppable. He can carve defenses up from within the pocket, but nobody is more dangerous on the move.
Miller is still the standard for edge rushers to me. His combination of first-step quickness and bend around the corner is unmatched. He has finished with double-digit sacks in four straight seasons, but also recorded 17 TFLs last year and is underrated in coverage.
Bell is my number one running back, because he does everything so well. He is the prototype slow-to-it, blow-through-it zone runner, he can split out wide and run routes better than the majority of receivers and he is one of the better pass protectors in the league as well.
The reason I “only” have Julio at number seven is due to the fact that we’ve seen him disappear in some games. While some of the blame goes to his OC, I remember Xavier Rhoades holding him to two catches. Regardless, when he gets going, nobody can cover him.
Coming in at number eight is the league’s reigning touchdown leader Todd Gurley. The Rams workhorse not only found the end-zone 19 times, but he also amassed 2093 yards from scrimmage.
Wrapping up the top ten are two middle linebackers. I don’t think anybody was better at the LB position in 2017 than Bobby Wagner. He is incredibly instinctive, has sideline-to-sideline speed and did not miss a tackle until the final three weeks of the season, when he was banged up.
Kuechly, on the other hand, has been the standard for middle linebackers basically since his sophomore campaign. I’d still give him the nod over Wagner in terms of coverage ability, but he has missed ten games over the last three years.