NFL Top 100 Players of 2019

#81 to #90

81. Jerry Hughes

82. Taylor Lewan

83. Kawann Short

84. Xavier Rhodes

85. Cameron Heyward

86. T.Y. Hilton

87. Andrew Whitworth

88. Desmond King

89. Jannick Ngakoue

90. Ryan Kerrigan

Nobody gives the Bills defense the respect it deserves. They finished first in passing yards allowed and they were one of the best units when the offense could at least somewhat move the ball. Jerry Hughes is one of those guys fans don’t really know about because he hasn’t finished with double-digit sacks since 2014, but according to PFF only Aaron Donald won his matchups in the passing game at a higher rate than the Bills D-end last year.

Here we have another offensive tackle at 82. Similar to the Eagles, I thought the Titans O-line took a step backwards after I expected them to be one of the top rushing teams and really allow Marcus Mariota to work from the pocket with two book-ends. Still, Taylor Lewan is one of the meanest run-blockers in the league and he only allowed two sacks last season.

KK Short has quietly been putting in work for the Panthers for several years now. He is a problem shooting up those B-gaps for Carolina and showing up in the backfield. While he had a bit of a down-year rushing the passer, only recording three sacks on the season, he is still a key piece in a strong Carolina front-seven.

Another guy who didn’t have the year he expected to is Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes. He went from first-team All-Pro in 2017 to not even making the Pro Bowl last season, as Minnesota’s defense went from number one to the bottom of the top ten in yards allowed. Individually he surrendered more completions his way and only forced one turnover.

Last year I had Cam Heyward as a top 30 player in the league after putting up huge numbers for more a base 5-tech defensive end. In 2018 those stats definitely dipped and so did his play to some degree. It was the first time it didn’t feel to me like he stood out on that Steelers D-line, but he still is a really good player and deserves a spot.

Very few players scare opposing defenses with going over the top as much as Hilton. Just ask the division-rival Texans, who gave up an average of 133 yards to him in three games last season and never have been able to stop him with a healthy Andrew Luck throwing the ball. That duo is deadly and Hilton was just outside the top five in terms of yards per game last season.

A stalwart at left tackle for 13 years in Cincinnati and Los Angeles, Andrew Whitworth only started getting the recognition he deserves when he joined the high-flying Rams and finally got his first playoff victory last season. Whit will turn 38 before the end of 2019 and this is likely his final year, but he still performed like one of the top tackles in the NFL last season.

Outside of Stephon Gilmore and Eddie Jackson, there might have been no defensive back in the league who had a more brilliant 2018 season than Desmond King. Not only did he have three interceptions, including a game-clinching pick-six, and was one of the premier slot corners in the NFL, he was also fourth in punt return average with at least 20 attempts and scored another TD that way.

Another up-and-coming pass rusher is the Jags’ Yannick Ngakoue. After 12 sacks and six forced fumbles in 2017 I expected some higher production, but like I already mentioned before – the Jaguars played a lot of games from behind and he didn’t have as many chances to rush, yet he still came up just half a sack short of double-digits and he added 33 quarterback hits.

Probably the final member of the All-Underrated team over the past five years is Ryan Kerrigan. Over that stretch, he has ranked at the top in terms of run defense and total quarterback pressures for all edge defenders. The crazy thing is that he has the pure stats to back up his play as well – 60 sacks over those five years!