NFL Top 100: Five Most Controversial Entries So Far

The NFL Network continues to unveil its top 100 player of 2016 and has reached the halfway mark. Looking back over the list, are there any entries that seem out of place?

Oftentimes fans get caught up in any sort of rankings, no matter how trivial because they feel a certain player is either being overinflated or underrated given their contributions. It’s quite similar to All-Star and Pro Bowl voting. There is a certain bias that can enter into the process and it has a tendency to get out of control if not checked.

Here are five names that might be worthy of that tag.

Blake Bortles at #56

Throwing for over 4,000 yards and 35 touchdowns despite being sacked 50 times is worthy of praise and is enough to get Blake Bortles on the list, but it’s a big premature to say he’s worthy of going that high. Especially when it puts him in front of guys like Clay Matthews and Michael Bennett, who each had an impact on their teams’ success in the win column, were just as productive and have rings. Bortles took a big step forward in 2015 but his inability to stockpile victories yet must be taken into account.

Gary Barnidge at #94

What a story this guy turned out to be. A career backup in both Carolina and Cleveland, he finally gets his shot at starting at 30-years old with loads of quarterback problems and still manages to post 1,000 yards and score nine touchdowns. That’s an accomplishment anybody can be proud of. Still it doesn’t entirely make up for his lack of production the previous six seasons and should not put him ahead of guys like Jarvis Landry and Cameron Jordan, who have sustained success beyond just one year.

Alex Smith at #81

At this point Alex Smith is who he is. As a game manager, there may be nobody better in the NFL. Smith accounted for 24 touchdowns and just eight turnovers in 18 games for the Kansas City Chiefs. That’s excellent ball protection. At the same time, it has also misplaced him on the rankings. The fact he is ahead of teammates Jeremy Maclin and Travis Kelce, to say nothing of two quarterbacks who had better numbers in Kirk Cousins and Derek Carr, shows how off-kilter things can get. It’s fine if Smith is on the list, but he’s not the main reason the Chiefs won the game last year.

Dez Bryant at #51

If this were last year, the argument would be that Dez Bryant is ranked way too low. This time though it’s a case of his reputation carrying him a bit too high. After all he was a shadow of his former self in 2015. Not only did he miss seven games with injury, but he also only managed 401 yards and three touchdowns in the remaining nine. Not the kind of production befitting a man of his contract size. It raises questions about how effective he can be without Tony Romo on the field, and that should lower his ranking.

Linval Joseph at #76

This might be the only player who could be argued doesn’t even belong on the list, let alone at #76. That’s not to say that Linval Joseph is a bad player. He’s an excellent run stuffer and demands a lot of extra blocks. Still, he had just half a sack in 2015 and also missed four games with injury. To say he’s a better player than Ryan Kalil, a Pro Bowler who went to the Super Bowl or ageless star linebacker Derrick Johnson is stretching the true a bit.