3 New England Patriots Make Grantland’s “NFL Top 100” List

For those of you that have ten extra bucks a month to spend on NFL Network, the annual “Top 100 Players” series is an absolute blast to watch every year, especially during the 100-degree dog days of summer.

(See, we can say something nice about the NFL even as they’re reportedly avoiding making a ruling in the Tom Brady appeal in hopes that he’ll accept a suspension so that he can get back to, you know, winning football games.)

All joking aside, what makes the countdown so much fun is that the list is made by NFL players evaluating their peers, and then commenting on why certain players impress them so much. It’s infinitely more interesting than listening to a room full of dorks in suits and oversized tie-knots debating Peyton Manning’s legacy or Joe Flacco’s eliteness, especially when the commentary ranges from players marveling at things like how intelligently a guy like Seattle’s Earl Thomas holds down the back end of Seattle’s defense all the way to praying, on camera, that they never get hit by Kam Chancellor again.

Grantland’s Bill Barnwell takes issue with the countdown, though, and rightfully so: as enjoyable as it is on a pizza-and-beer fan level, the player list does tend to come off as more of a fantasy football draft list than anything else. Barnwell notes in particular that wide receivers and running backs tend to dominate the countdowns, while offensive linemen and defenders that don’t get double-digit sacks tend to get the shaft as a result. So Bill did what anyone that writes for Grantland and has the football knowledge of every database in human existence at his fingertips would do: made his own Top 100 list.

Of particular interest is that both the NFL Network Top 100 list and Barnwell’s list both include three Patriots players, and both have a total of four Pats if you count Darrelle Revis, who’s presumably on the list for his Super Bowl campaign with New England before the Jets backed a dump truck full of money to his driveway this offseason. While only three or four representatives on both countdowns seems kind of low for the defending Super Bowl champions, Barnwell makes it a point to specify that defensive ends Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich and linebacker Jamie Collins “barely missed out”.

The two players that made both lists, as you’ve surely figured out by now, fall into the “Well, DUH”, and ranked pretty similarly:

Rob Gronkowski – #10 on NFL Network Top 100, #14 on Grantland

Tom Brady – #3 on NFL Network Top 100, #4 on Grantland

Where things take a complete 180 is the third Patriot that each countdown includes. Wide receiver and burger enthusiast Julian Edelman checks in at #91 on the NFL’s list, which would make sense given how many DB’s he’s made look like they were on roller skates, but free safety Devin McCourty misses the cut altogether.

Barnwell rectifies that mistake by slotting Devin McCourty at #46 on his list, which is good enough for a higher ranking than the San Diego Chargers’ Eric Weddle (56^th), Seattle’s Kam Chancellor (55^th), Minnesota’s Harrison Smith (48^th), Cleveland’s Tashaun Gipson (95^th), Antoine Bethea of the 49ers (93^rd), and Detroit Lions safety Glover Quin (82^nd).

And with a final line in McCourty’s entry that falls into the “Hahaha…oh” category, Barnwell says that “In fact, there’s a decent chance he’s the best cornerback on New England’s roster, even if he won’t play the position in 2015.”

Ouch, and thank you.