Ranking the Top 15 Players in Super Bowl LVII
No team makes the Super Bowl without a good stash of talented players.
Both the Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs have them and will play in Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12.
Which team has the better players?
That’s what my colleague at SI Eagles Today, John McMullen, and I set out to find out when we ranked our top 15 players independently of each other and then exchanged our lists.
We assigned 15 points to a player or players getting a first-place vote, 14 for a second-place vote, and so on down to one point for our 15th-ranked player.
We then tallied the points and this is how we ranked them:
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs quarterback, 30 points
Mahomes got both first-place votes, though, for me, the margin of difference between him and Eagles QB Jalen Hurts was slim. McMullen thought differently of Hurts in the rankings, as you will see.
Lane Johnson, Eagles right tackle, 26 points
McMullen and I agreed that Johnson belongs in the top five and we both had him ranked third. He is certainly a key cog in the Eagles’ punishing ground attack and pass pro, shutting down the 49ers’ Nick Bosa in the championship game.
Chris Jones, Chiefs defensive tackle, 24 points (wins tiebreaker with Travis Kelce because McMullen had Jones ranked higher on his list)
McMullen had Jones ranked second compared to my sixth, which was perhaps a bit low, but I had Haason Reddick of Jones. Both are game-wreckers, but after seeing Reddick up close for all 17 regular-season games and two playoff games, I put him higher.
Travis Kelce, Chiefs tight end, 24 points
Both McMullen and I had KC’s future Hall of Famer ranked fourth.
Haason Reddick, Eagles pass rusher, 21 points
The Chiefs better account for him in the passing game, something 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t do and paid the ultimate price.
Jalen Hurts, Eagles quarterback, 20 points (wins tiebreaker with Jason Kelce because I had him ranked second)
Too low for an MVP candidate. You know my ranking. John had him 10th.
Jason Kelce, Eagles center, 20 points
Doesn’t it feel like the veteran center plays better each week?
A.J. Brown, Eagles receiver, 16 points
Me, I had DeVonta Smith ranked higher than Brown, but only by one spot. I had Brown ninth and Smith seventh. Brown lands here with the help of McMullen’s No. 7 ranking.
Darius Slay, Eagles cornerback, 13 points
McMullen and I were close – with him giving Slay an 8 rank, and me a 9. Either way, he belongs in the top 10 and has stepped up his game in the playoffs after struggling toward the end of a long regular season.
Creed Humphrey, Chiefs center, 11 points (wins tiebreaker with Dallas Goedert because McMullen had Humphrey ranked No. 9 on his list)
McMullen had him higher on his list than Jalen Hurts. Humphrey is good and was picked just 16 spots after the Eagles took Landon Dickerson, who isn’t on this list, but I had him at No. 12.
Dallas Goedert, Eagles tight end, 11 points
I had him 10th; McMullen 11th. It would be hard to find a spot any higher for one of the top players in the game at his position.
DeVonta Smith, Eagles receiver, 10 points
Like Hurts, this feels low. He may be the most exciting player to watch on the field at State Farm Stadium in Glendale (non-Mahomes division).
Javon Hargrave, Eagles defensive tackle, 6 points
Incredibly, we both were on the same page this deep into the rankings, putting him at 13, and certainly a deserving spot for the DT with 11 regular-season sacks and one more in the playoffs.
Joe Thuney, Chiefs left guard, 4 points.
All four points came from McMullen, who had him at No. 12. Thuney didn’t crack my top 15.
L’Jarius Snead, Chiefs cornerback, 2 points
He didn’t make McMullen’s list but by putting him at No. 14 like I did, he edges Chiefs LT Orlando Brown, who was No. 15 on both our lists. The tie with Brown was broken because I had Snead a spot higher in my rankings.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
