Packer Central

Only Two Packers on Top 100 NFL Players List

CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco published his annual list of the top 100 players in the NFL. Only two Packers were selected with a few noteworthy snubs.

Bill Huber

Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) in action during the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on Dec. 31.
Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) in action during the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on Dec. 31. / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl but they have the fewest players among NFC North teams in Pete Prisco’s list of the NFL’s top 100 players for CBS Sports.

The Packers have two players – and none inside the top 60 – with cornerback Jaire Alexander at No. 64 and quarterback Jordan Love at No. 87.

“In his first full season as a starter, he showed he can be the Packers’ long-term quarterback,” Prisco wrote of Love. “He threw 32 touchdown passes and 11 picks in leading the Packers to the playoffs. The best is yet to come for him.”

It’s rather striking that Love, the 87th-best player in the NFL, could become the highest-paid player in NFL history. Love is 14th out of 15 quarterbacks in the top 100.

However, big things (and a big contract) are expected. At +1400, he has the fifth-shortest NFL MVP odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Rather incredibly, the Packers have the fewest top-100 players in the division.

Not surprisingly, the Detroit Lions lead the way with seven. That was tied for the second-most overall with the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens. Right tackle Penei Sewell is their top player at No. 17. Detroit has five players inside the top 60, and quarterback Jared Goff is No. 76.

The Chicago Bears have three players in the top 100, led by cornerback Jaylon Johnson at No. 34.

The Minnesota Vikings also have three players in the top 100, with receiver Justin Jefferson (No. 7) one of two players in the top 60.

The Packers have two honorable mentions: defensive end Rashan Gary and safety Xavier McKinney.

How about the snubs?

- 12 edge players are in the top 100 but not Gary. The Cowboys’ DeMarcus Lawrence is 58th overall. In 34 games the last two seasons, he has 10 sacks and 21 quarterback hits. In 26 games the last two seasons, Gary has 15 sacks and 34 quarterback hits.

- 10 defensive tackles are in the top 100 but Kenny Clark, who is coming off another Pro Bowl season, wasn’t even an honorable mention. The Lions’ Alim McNeill (No. 89), the Eagles’ Jalen Carter (No. 93) and the Titans Jeffery Simmons (No. 95) rounded out Prisco’s list. Clark had 7.5 sacks, 16 quarterback hits and 44 tackles last year. By comparison, McNeill had five sacks, 10 hits and 32 tackles, Carter had six sacks, nine hits and 33 tackles, and Simmons had 5.5 sacks, 11 hits and 44 tackles.

- Only three safeties are in the top 100. McKinney, coming off a season of 116 tackles, three interceptions and 11 passes defensed, surely should have made it four. Miami’s Jevon Holland, who is 63rd overall and the third of the safeties, has never hit 100 tackles, three interceptions or more than 10 PBUs.

- Gary, Clark and McKinney are big-name players. Right tackle Zach Tom is not, but he emerged as one of the best players at an underrated position last year. Because so many of the NFL’s top pass rushers attack from the defense’s left, right tackle is a premium position. Of the nine offensive tackles on the list, seven are left tackles and two are right tackles – Detroit’s Sewell and the Eagles’ Lane Johnson.

Not really snubs, but …

- The Packers this offseason released Aaron Jones and signed Josh Jacobs. Jones is an honorable mention; Jacobs wasn’t mentioned at all. In the 2023 list, Jacobs as the reigning NFL rushing champion was 52nd and Jones was an honorable mention.

- 17 receivers made Prisco’s list, including the Vikings’ Jefferson, the Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown and the Bears’ D.J. Moore. None of them are from Green Bay, which is understandable considering the Packers’ leader last season, Jayden Reed, finished 48th with 64 receptions and 42nd with 793 receiving yards.

“I always got higher standards for myself,” Reed said during OTAs. “I want to go for 1,000 yards this year plus, and have more catches. That’s just for me. That starts with me knowing the offense better and being in the right position. That can make a huge difference because I wouldn’t even feel like I was fully confident last year. So, I think that will make a big difference this year.”

Maybe the Packers will get more love next year, based on No. 67 of Conor Orr’s 100 bold predictions for Sports Illustrated.

The 49ers lead the way with nine players on Prisco’s list, including left tackle Trent Williams at No. 3, running back Christian McCaffrey at No. 8 and defensive end Nick Bosa at No. 10.

More Green Bay Packers News

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.