Top 100 NFL players of 2023 ft. Patrick Mahomes, Justin Jefferson & more

#61 Brian Burns

Burns is one of the top defensive players in the league. He just recorded the first double-digit sack season (12.5 – tied for eighth in the NFL) of his career. However, the underlying numbers have been there for a while, as his 68 total pressures were tied for 10th in the league in 2022.

You can argue that unless Von Miller is 100%, nobody features a more dangerous combination of speed and bend around the edge than this guy. At the same time, he’s improved his ability to disengage from blocks and make create negative plays in the run game, as he was tied for seventh in tackles for loss (17) last season.

He actually also had the fourth-best PFF coverage grade (78.3) among edge defenders who spent 50+ snaps in pass defense, as somebody comfortable with turning and running with guys out of the backfield a few times per game.

#62 Jonathan Taylor

Colts Football

2022 was an extremely disappointing year for anybody associated with the Colts offense. Their head coach got fired mid-way through the year, and their quarterback completely fell off and is now working in TV. Their offensive line went from a dominant unit to mostly a breaking dam.

Therefore, it seems forever ago since Taylor led the league in rushing yards, even though he did so just a year prior. Last season wasn’t the best for him individually, but he still averaged 4.5 yards per carry for an offense that finished 32nd in DVOA and 31st in EPA per play.

For comparison’s sake, JT finished one missed tackle forced as a runner (42) ahead of Saquon Barkley, despite handling 121 fewer carries. If he can clean up the fumbles again (three last season), there’s really nothing in the way of competing for the rushing crown, with a new play-caller in Shane Steichen and a dynamic rookie quarterback in Anthony Richardson demanding attention.

#63 Deebo Samuel

Because he missed three-and-a-half games and the 49ers didn’t use him as much in the backfield compared to the year prior – especially once they had acquired Christian McCaffrey – Samuel isn’t quite considered in the same stratosphere of offensive weapons as other names on this list.

Looking at the Next Gen Stats database, Deebo finished tied for fourth among wide receivers with an average of 3.6 yards of separation, but that was on a minuscule average depth of target at 4.3 yards.

With that being said, that also plays into his insane skills with the ball in his hands, as he led all non-running backs with 8.8 yards after the catch on average and a monstrous 59 missed tackles forced across his 124 touches (including playoffs).

#64 Jaylen Waddle

Dolphins Football

The second-year stud reminded us that he’s one of the most explosive players at any level of football, leading all NFL players with 20+ targets at 18.1 yards per catch. Considering he finished tied for 46th with an average depth of target of just 11.8 yards makes that even more impressive.

According to Next Gen Stats, Waddle led all wide receivers with an average of 2.8 yards after the catch above expected, yet he also hauled in 11 of 20 targets of 20+ yards for 374 yards (and three TDs).

#65 Christian Wilkins

Right now, Wilkins and Zach Sieler on the Dolphins’ D-line probably do the most dirty work against the run of any duo in the league. Wilkins himself led all defensive players with 21 runs stuffed (zero or negative yards) and 55 total defensive stops (which constitute a “failure” for the offense, in correlation with down and distance).

Yet, at the same time, he never blindly tried to dive for somebody’s ankles to make a play, as he missed just one of 99 tackle attempts. It was his third (of four) season(s) with 30+ pressures, but the rate of him getting home decreased in 2022 due to about 200 additional pass-rush snaps.

However, that is largely based on being used as the set-up man on different games, opposing quarterbacks having solutions for DC Josh Boyer’s pressure packages, and those interior guys being taught to shrink the pocket.

With Vic Fangio coming to town and that D-line being allowed to attack much more regularly, I’m looking forward to seeing how Wilkins can take advantage of those opportunities.

#66 Javon Hargrave

In the 2022 regular season, Hargrave was tied for second among interior defensive linemen with a 17% pass-rush win rate, according to ESPN, whilst his 13.3% rate of pressures per pass-rush snap actually put him just ahead of Chris Jones for first in that category among interior defenders.

With how many five-down linemen the Eagles used to crush the pocket from all directions, Hargrave’s ability to walk guys backward consistently was a key factor in them easily leading the NFL with 77 total sacks through the Super Bowl.

Hargrave was also great as a run-stopping nose, with 19 tackles for loss over the past two seasons, while only missing three of 126 attempted stops.

#67 Penei Sewell

Thinking back to the 2021 draft, there were two players who sat out the entire season prior (due to COVID) but were so good that I put them as the next names up after Trevor Lawrence in terms of my final big board – Ja’Marr Chase and Sewell.

While the latter didn’t quite take the league by storm like the record-setting rookie receiver, he’s been a stalwart for the Lions offense. As he’s gotten more patient in his pass-sets, he’s become a wall to get around, whilst being an explosive run-blocker who eliminates space.

Sewell received the fourth-highest run-blocking grade among tackles (83.0) and allowed just two sacks across 663 pass-blocking snaps this past season. The one thing he needs to clean up? – 20 total flags thrown against him through two years.

#68 Christian Darrisaw

While he only played in 12 games as a rookie, after a couple of learning moments at the start of the year, he looked like a franchise left tackle from that point onwards.

In his second season, Darrisaw received the second-best PFF grade among tackles (90.4), behind only San Francisco’s Trent Williams, with the third-best mark in run-blocking and the eighth-best in pass-blocking respectively.

His ability to latch onto and sustain blocks on wide zone concepts and force pass-rushers to find a secondary escape route really stands out. He was also only called for one hold and a false start all regular season.

The only concern with Darrisaw is that he’s missed eight combined games due to injury across his first two seasons in the league.

#69 Matt Milano

Miami Dolphins v Buffalo Bills

I’m glad to see Milano finally get his flowers and be named first-team All-Pro the first time this past season. He’s been a clean-up artist for that otherwise highly aggressive Bills front and has created a lot more negative plays himself recently, with 27 TFLs over the last two years combined.

Not only was Milano tied for a league-high three interceptions among LBs, but he also wasn’t responsible for any touchdowns in coverage and was just 0.5 off the lowest passer rating surrendered by anybody at that spot (62.6).

We can argue the benefits and disadvantages of the two respective positions and the types of targets coming their way in the passing game, but to put that mark into perspective – that was basically the exact same as All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner.

However, even as we go back a little bit and look at the three seasons prior, he actually held opposing quarterbacks to 4.5 yards or less per target in all of them. He may not have the same range Tremaine Edmunds does next to him, but Milano’s ability to squeeze down passing windows has been key to Buffalo’s zone-heavy coverage scheme.

#70 Rashan Gary

As somebody who held a 50-to-1 ticket for Gary to win Defensive Player of the Year – along with one that I cashed on Nick Bosa – I can tell you that he was off to an incredible start last season, with 38 total pressures across the first nine weeks and 204 pass-rush snaps.

That rate of pressures in relation to rush opportunities of 18.6% would actually put him all the way at number one, above the elite names at the top, in terms of efficiency.

Outside of the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby and maybe Bosa, if you want to count him as such, Gary is right up there as a premiere power rusher. He has the explosion off the ball to force tackles to open their hips, but the shock in his hands to use that momentum against them and condense the corner.

That’s along with setting one of the most physical edges in the run game you’ll see and regularly discarding tight ends like they’re nothing. With a 10-month recovery period from his torn ACL heading into a contract year, I’d expect him to be ready to go.