The NFL's top 100 players in 2022, 90-81

Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson
Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson

With the 2022 NFL season nearly upon us, it felt like a good time to take a look at the top players in the league. Ranking players in an individual position is a tricky business. It only gets harder when you expand that to every position and player in the NFL.

Every player on this list is incredible. While many excellent NFL players haven't made this list, they could well be included next year after a strong showing in the upcoming season.

Let's count down the top-100 players in the NFL. Here are players 90-81:

#90. Derek Carr, Las Vegas Raiders

Cincinnati Bengals v Oakland Raiders
Cincinnati Bengals v Oakland Raiders

Next up we have quarterback Derek Carr. He is coming off the best three-year stretch of his NFL career. Across the past three seasons, he has tossed 71 touchdowns versus 31 interceptions, with 7.8 yards per attempt. He has totaled 173 completions of 20+ yards, which ranks second behind only Tom Brady for that stretch. Most impressively, he’s led 13 combined game-winning drives since then.

The Las Vegas Raiders will be looking to Derek Carr to drive the offense forward in 2022. The AFC West is very tough, but if Carr performs to his ability, they will most likely feature in the postseason.

#89. Darren Waller, Las Vegas Raiders

Las Vegas Raiders v Los Angeles Chargers
Las Vegas Raiders v Los Angeles Chargers

After two straight years of 90+ catches and more than 1,100 receiving yards each, Darren Waller missed six games last season. He also wasn’t as effective when on the field. Still, we saw those moments where defenses had a tough time figuring out how to approach him.

At 6’6”, 255 pounds, he may be the fastest pass-catcher on this offense. His ability to flex out wide as the de facto X-receiver and win on a vertical plane makes the Raiders tough to match up against. Now with Davante Adams out there demanding brackets, we could see Waller eat against single-coverage and reach the 1,000-yard mark once again. There really is no one in the NFL who can neutralize him one-on-one consistently.

#88. Von Miller, Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills Training Camp
Buffalo Bills Training Camp

Let’s be clear here, Von Miller is no longer the every-down defensive stalwart that we saw earlier in his NFL career. That’s why he played the lowest percentage of snaps since 2015 (77.5%) for the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams last season.

However, that doesn’t mean he can’t still be an impact player and was exactly what L.A. needed to win a championship. Despite not playing as many early downs, he managed to tie his second-best TFL total (19). He really started wreaking havoc during passing downs late in the season.

From week 12 on through to the Super Bowl, he recorded at least one sack and multiple pressures in all but one game. He recorded six TFLs, four sacks and 11 pressures from 177 combined snaps in the postseason. Now the Buffalo Bills have brought him in to help them get to the promised land.

#87. Jordan Poyer, Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills v New York Jets
Buffalo Bills v New York Jets

Jordan Poyer has been very consistent in the safety position, which typically sees a fair amount of variance. He’s only missed two total games and starts across his five years in Buffalo and has been as steady as it gets against both the run and the pass.

This past year, he finally got the recognition he deserves. He received a first-team All-Pro selection. He tied his career-best with five interceptions, set a new mark with three sacks and produced eight pressures on just 27 blitzes. He also had eight tackles for loss and was responsible for a career-low passer rating (42.2%) as the primary coverage defender.

You can have him cover one half of the field, rotate down late and run the alley, while only having missed 9.3% of his tackling attempts over the last three years.

#86. Jonathan Allen, Washington Commanders

Washington Football Team v Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Football Team v Philadelphia Eagles

2021 was certainly a disappointing season for Washington’s defense. Many people talked about this unit becoming one of the best in the NFL for the next several years, but they finished 22nd in yards and 25th in points allowed.

However, it was a career year for Jonathan Allen, who made the Pro Bowl for the first time. He set new personal records in sacks (nine) and additional quarterback hits (30). This put him up there with Chris Jones and Cam Heyward among defensive tackles in the NFL. He also cracked double-digit tackles for loss and steadily started creating more disruption. This was despite Chase Young having a highly disappointing sophomore campaign before he ultimately got hurt.

#85. Frank Ragnow, Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions v Dallas Cowboys
Detroit Lions v Dallas Cowboys

Frank Ragnow is someone who people barely even noticed in 2020 and is now almost forgotten. Two years ago, this was the best center in the NFL not named Corey Linsley, Jason Kelce or Rodney Hudson. With the latter two approaching the tail-end of their careers and Hudson fighting through injuries last season, Ragnow is arguably in the top-three at his position.

He is an extremely crafty run-blocker with a tremendous understanding of angles and attaching to targets in space. In 2020 he didn’t surrender a single sack and only nine total pressures. Over the first month of this past year, he was on pace for an even higher PFF grade (86.4).

#84. Elgton Jenkins, Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers v New York Giants
Green Bay Packers v New York Giants

Studs like Trent Williams and Quenton Nelson could line up at different spots and still dominate. But in terms of the offensive line, where we have proof that they can excel across the front, Elgton Jenkins is right up there on that list.

In 2019, he made the All-Rookie team as a left guard. He became an NFL Pro Bowler the year after, when he jumped in at center and right tackle each for multiple games. Then last season, without All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari, he played on the blindside at a Pro Bowl level, before tearing his ACL eight games in.

Through his first two years (1,304 pass-blocking snaps), he has only allowed one sack. His ability to execute scoop-blocks and spring Aaron Jones loose to the outside has been a major asset in their outside zone run game.

#83. Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals

Jacksonville Jaguars v Cincinnati Bengals
Jacksonville Jaguars v Cincinnati Bengals

When the Cincinnati Bengals gave Trey Hendrickson a 60-million dollar contract across four years in last year’s free agency, many questioned the move. This was coming off a blow-up season in which he tripled his previous career-bests in sacks (13.5) and tackles for loss (12).

He repaid them by putting up basically identical numbers. He ascended to number three (behind only Micah Parsons and Randy Gregory) in pressure rate generated at 16.6%, according to PFF. He carried that success to the playoffs, where he racked up 3.5 sacks and five more quarterback hits across their four games.

#82. Kenny Clark, Green Bay Packers

Chicago Bears v Green Bay Packers
Chicago Bears v Green Bay Packers

Even though he’s reached more sacks (four) and tackles for loss (eight) in other years, Kenny Clark arguably had his best ever NFL season in 2021. He plugged up those A-gaps in the run game and was able to step into the lane of running backs.

He was crucial in the Packers being able to run Joe Woods’ split-safety oriented scheme that put them in plenty of light boxes. He set the table for De’Vondre Campbell having a career year. He was most impressive at rushing the passer, where he set a new top personal top mark with 28 combined pressures. He increased his snap percentage to 78%, because of how he could kill pocket integrity by riding blockers backwards.

#81. Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos Training Camp
Denver Broncos Training Camp

It will certainly be strange to see Russell Wilson in that Broncos orange rather than dark blue and neon green. But he could become the savior Denver have been looking for since Peyton Manning retired.

While a conversation can be had about how Wilson-centric passing offense needs to be designed. Not to mention how much of his success has been based on out-of-structure plays. You could argue that some of his mobility is starting to fade away, but there’s no denying the success we’ve seen him have for a decade in Seattle.

Not only is he a top-ten, all-time NFL quarterback with 7.8 yards per pass attempt as one of the elite deep-ball throwers we’ve seen. He’s also third in TD-to-INT (3.36) ratio behind only Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes. Last season was his first one without a winning record. Russell Wilson has proven that his style can get teams to the top of the NFL mountain.

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Edited by John Maxwell