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#11 to #20
11. Luke Kuechly
12. Andrew Luck
13. Russell Wilson
14. J.J. Watt
15. Antonio Brown
16. Le‘Veon Bell
17. Jalen Ramsey
18. Travis Kelce
19. Ezekiel Elliott
20. Tom Brady
This next group starts with a close second in terms of the race for best off-ball linebacker in the league. Luke Kuechly is not only a premier run-stuffer in between the tackles, but he can also flatten towards the sideline and his football IQ shines in Carolina’s zone coverage schemes. He is not far from 1000 career tackles and he is only 28 years old.
Once again, I had a close battle between two guys at the same position – this time it’s the number three and four quarterbacks. I gave Luck a slight edge because I think he will only be better in his second season back from that career-threatening shoulder injury. That guy is such a threat to deliver on big plays down the field and now with a strong offensive line in front, this could be a special foundation.
That puts Russell Wilson at 13 and I still believe he is somewhat underrated among fans. At the start of the year when the O-line was a mess you saw the Hawks QB run himself into trouble, but as Seattle became a more run-centric offense like they were with Marshawn Lynch a few years ago, Wilson’s effectiveness was off the charts and I thought they almost took the ball out of his hands too much.
I am really happy to see J.J. Watt back healthy. The former three-time Defensive Player of the Year was top five once again with 16 sacks and 19 tackles for loss. However, he has become more of a typical edge rusher and I’m not quite sure if he will ever be that gap-slanting, back-door threat on the interior that ruins offensive gameplans the way Aaron Donald does right now.
The next receiver on the list had one of the craziest offseasons we have seen in a while. Antonio Brown forced his way out of Pittsburgh and now joined Jon Gruden in the Black Hole, to be what he had in Jerry Rice once upon a time. While you can call him a diva and say his receiving totals were down a little bit, there is no way AB is not in your top five at the receiver position.
Right behind him, I have a former teammate, who we didn’t see on the field at all last season. Everybody seems to have forgotten about Lev Bell, but when we last saw him play, he was the best running back in football. While he will have to mesh with a lesser O-line on the Jets, his unique running style and ability to be a team’s number two weapon in the passing game make him tremendously valuable.
It was a letdown year for the Jaguars and this offseason has been much quieter, but I’m not giving up on this loaded young team in Duval County. Their biggest trash-talker and best player Jalen Ramsey might not speak out on opposing quarterbacks the way he did a year ago, but there is no reason he shouldn’t be supremely confident. The 24-year old is the best cornerback in the league thanks to his physicality, length, athleticism and competitive fire.
Once you get past the top three wideouts in the NFL, I think you have to look at Kelce as the next-best weapon in the passing game. Nobody stretches the seams like he does, nobody is more of a mismatch nightmare for defenses and nobody brings more versatility to the table from the tight-end position. You can let him run by linebackers, post up DBs or even leap over people off shovel passes.
While I believe Saquon Barkley is the best all-around back in the game already, Elliott might still be the best pure runner in the league. The way he can build up momentum and consistently drive his feet for yards after contact make this Cowboys zone-rushing attack really tough to stop, especially when everybody on the O-line is healthy. Zeke is the engine for the Cowboys offense.
I don’t want to seem like I disrespect a six-time Super Bowl champion, but I couldn’t put Brady ahead of all those young guys out there. I know that when it matters most he will show up and he might be the greatest playoff quarterback ever, but Brady did show signs of age last season. He doesn’t win outside the numbers as consistently anymore and even in the Super Bowl, the Rams defense held him in the check until the final two drives.
