Ranking the Top 25 Eagles from the 2022 Super Bowl Season: Nos. 16-20
Back in August, before the Eagles’ Super Bowl LVII run blasted off, colleague Ed Kracz and I did a daily countdown of our top 25 best Eagles players.
Now that we know what we know, we have done another set of rankings, taking a look at our top 25 best Eagles during this past season’s 16-4 march that ran through the middle of February before ending with a 38-35 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The rankings were derived when Kracz and I submitted our top 25 list to each other and didn’t look at each other’s list until both were submitted.
Like our preseason poll, this one also assigned point values from one to 25, with a first-place vote counting for 25 points, a second-place vote counting for 24 points, and all the way down to a vote at No. 24 accounting for two votes, and a vote at No. 25 counting as one point.
Instead, of releasing one player in the rankings each day as we did during the preseason, we will count down in groups of five and the rankings continue with players No. 20 through 16.
NO. 20: FLETCHER COX, 12 POINTS
(preseason poll No. 20: RG Isaac Semalo)
Cox took a mighty tumble from the preseason rankings (No. 9) down to No. 20 and he actually has a better season in 2022 than in 2021. The veteran was slotted at No. 20 by both Kracz and myself after the season.
That might seem counterintuitive but speaks to the kind of campaign Philadelphia had overall and how some new faces and younger players stood out.
Turning 32 in December of last year, Cox was able to play all 20 games through the Super Bowl and increased his sack numbers from 3 1/2 to 7.0, the most he's had in a season since 2018. That efficacy came with a downtick in playing time as well from 68% of the defensive snaps to 65% in 2022.
Cox isn't what he once was when he was a four-time All-Pro and made the 2010s All-Decade Team but proved to be a more than capable player in what was his 11th NFL season, all with Philadelphia.
NO. 19: KYZIR WHITE, 14 POINTS
(preseason poll No. 19: CB James Bradberry)
A free-agent pickup from the LA Chargers, White settled in as the LB2 in the Eagles' base defense next to T.J. Edwards and proved good enough to keep highly-touted rookie Nakobe Dean on the bench for the entire season.
Kracz had White at No. 17 on his list and I put him at No. 21, a slight uptick from where he was projected in the preseason (No. 23).
A speedier player than Edwards, White was the team's dime LB for most of the season, finishing with 110 tackles - three for loss - 1.5 sacks, and seven passed defended in 76% of the defensive snaps.
NO. 18: BRANDON GRAHAM, 15 POINTS
(preseason poll No. 18: NT Jordan Davis)
Graham was incredibly effective in what was a reduced role in his 13th NFL season coming off an Achilles' tear. The veteran who came into the season at No. 11, played 41% of the defensive snaps as the third man in the edge rotation behind Haason Reddick and Josh Sewat while putting up a career-high 11 sacks.
At 34, the pitch count really helped Graham, who accepted his new role without complaint. That said, the rotational aspect of the role forced Graham to descend a bit in the rankings.
NO. 17: ISAAC SEUMALO, 20 POINTS
(preseason poll No. 17: LB T.J. Edwards)
Perhaps the Eagles' most underrated player, the versatile Seumalo came off a serious Lifranc injury and a move from left guard to the right side to put together his best season, earning Pro Bowl alternate status as the steady presence between All-Pros Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson on the NFL's best offensive line.
On the preseason rankings, Seumalo was pegged at No. 20 while he finished at No. 16 on both of our postseason lists. Unfortunately for Seumalo, that was only good for No. 17 overall but an expected big-money deal in free agency should make up for that.
NO. 16 MILES SANDERS, 20 POINTS
(preseason poll at No. 16: RB Miles Sanders)
Sanders is one Kracz and I nailed in the preseason as the Eagles 16th best player. And that's where he ended up - 17th on my list and 15th on Kracz's. Ed's vote put the RB over Seumalo in the tiebreaker.
Sanders' position is another indication of just how good the Eagles were this season. He managed a career-high 1,269 yards and improved his TD number from zero to 11 and didn't move an inch in the voting from this summer.
He can take solace in the fact he was the one who first called this an All-Star team. Turns out Sanders was correct.
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Ranking the Top 25 Eagles from the 2022 Super Bowl Season: Nos. 21-25
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
