Email Chain

10. Julius Peppers - Not sure I would have included him in my top-10 but since hes there ill place him at 10. Hes certainly in the argument for best DE in the game and he turned around the bears defense last year leading them to a NFC Champ game appearance. Would probably prefer Demarcus ware to peppers but peppers is still a beast in his own right.

9. Ray Lewis - if this was a list for top-10 careers in the game today, lewis would go #3. but since its a list of the top-10 players of 2011 I cant put him that high. He contributes more as a vocal leader than a football player these days and I honestly believe he is the 4th best player on that defense heading into 2011 behind reed, suggs and ngata. Lewis had an awesome career but you cant ignore the fact that hes 36 years old.

8. Ed Reed - Similar to Ray Lewis Reed is getting older and has been hampered by injuries lately. Reed however is still producing at a high rate. He missed 8 games last year and still led the league in interceptions at the end of the season. hes a great ball hawking saftey, some of which is attributed to his center field role in the defense, but he is easily the second best safety in the game. I would put him higher but I cant find anyone left to place him ahead of. He says hes still having neck problems so entering the 2011 season you cant guarentee he will post similar numbers.

7. Drew Brees - Brees is a Super Bowl MVP QB and puts up great numbers. I personally would prefer Aaron Rodgers to Brees but that is just spitting hairs. He runs an offense that doesnt exactly have the most talented group of wide receivers, but he makes them very very good. He came in the league as an undersized QB and was pushed out of SD by Phillip Rivers. Ohh what could have been had the Dolphins choose to pick up his contract rather than Dante Culpepper. He carried the city of NO to a super bowl victory when they needed it most, and I have no problem with Brees being listed as the 3rd best QB in the game.

6. Andre Johnson - Andre Johnson is a freak. Hes huge, fast, can touch the clouds and has great hands. I went back and forth between him and AP at 5/6, i just think with Arian Foster running the ball in Houston, AP is a bigger part of his teams offense. Still, Johnson is the best WR in the game today, and the second best offense player who is not a QB.

5. Adrian Peterson - Adrian Peterson is the workhorse of the Minnesota Vikings. Like Johnson he is a physical beast. No doubt in my mind he is better than chris johnson and has already proven in his short career he is the only player who can put a team on his back like the QB of other teams.

4. Darrell Revis - CB has to be the absolute hardest postion in sports to play. all the rules favor the receiver. Try to cover me 1-on-1 for 5 seconds without knowing the route and see how well that works out. then try to cover andre johnson for 5 seconds. yea right. the only time they get their name called is either if they give up a big play, or if they make an interception. revis is much better known for making interceptions. he shuts off half the field and takes a teams best player out of the game (go look at the big name WR #'s against Revis). Respect.

3. Troy Polamalu - dont call me bias fulkers. Troy was the defense MVP last season and i didnt even get a vote. no one can match his versatility. he makes play 30 yards down field as well as 3 yards in the back field. Troy was second in INTs last season but also contributed big plays on short yardage (see the Titans goal line play where he jumped over the offensive line to make a stop on 4th down) and big play situation (see his strip sack of joe flacco to give the steelers the game winning score). As long as tory is healthy hes the best defensive player in the game.

2. Tom Brady - This on was tough. Brady has 3 rings to mannings 1. Brady probably put up better numbers over the past few seasons. brady has bill belecheck as a coach, Manning is the coach.

1. Peyton Manning - Manning is the most dedicated, most brilliant football player to ever play QB. No one puts in the study time he does. He is not surrounded with the best receivers, RB or offensive line, but every year he takes the Colts to the playoffs. He calls his own plays and he does it at the line of scrimmage, on EVERY play. The Brady vs. Manning debate could go on forever without a resolution, but I have to give the edge to Manning out of respect for the way he plays the game.

thanks for that in-depth insight!

ware and rodgers should def be in the top 10.  i would replace those 2 with peppers and reed.

reed is so tough to judge, u would think a defense with 3 top 15 guys (ngata, reed and lewis) as well as suggs would get to a least 1 super bowl, but they havent.  so does that mean they are overrated in a sense?  but at the same time this guys puts up numbers that are so good so its real tough to judge, but something is up when theres this many top guys and yet they cant win their division.

the ravens cant win the division because they are only the second most dangerous defense in football, behind the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ben is good enough to beat the Ravens D, but Flacco is not good enough to figure out the Steelers defense. Ravens are also getting older so the window is def closing on their defense. they may not even be the second most dangerous D anymore

Fun fact- Joe Flacco has NEVER beaten Ben Roethlisberger in a game they both played in.

well how many of the other players on that defense can you name? it takes 11 guys not 4. but in the end they always have a chance and its usually the offense that screws big games up for them. just in the recent steelers matchups it was woodleys strip sack during the season in 08, troys pick 6 and mcgehees fumble in the 08 AFCC game, troys strip sack in the reg season last year and then ray rice fumble and falccos pick to ryan clark in the playoffs last year then housmenzadehs drop at the end of the game.

and again, reed and lewis are past their primes while ngata and suggs just entered theres. they were never really dominating at the same time.  get what ur saying but there stats are always at the top of the league and its a few different things that have worked against their defense.

colts and pats are 2 of the best offenses in the league and they give every defense fits

 

 

...i cant belive im defending the ravens like this

btw ESPN just released their top-10 players in the nfl. seems a lot more realistic than the NFL network list (mostly because it includes 6 QBs)(and because Big Ben is ahead of Rivers and Vick ):

Ranking the Top Players
1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots
2. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
3. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
4. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
5. Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh Steelers
6. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
7. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
8. Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans
9. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers
10. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles
10. Andre Johnson, Houston Texans

make sure you read all 4 of my posts above ^^^^

i was using his great point to support my manning > Brady argument.

whered u see a chat with james walker anyways? hes on vacation

nevermind they just took it down.  damnit!  send my questions to woodley, thats ur boy right

best. list. ever... except for Brady being 1

10. Josh Freeman, Bucs (NR)

Still learning to read the field, though progressing rapidly in this realm. Has the size and athletic tools to become the N.F.C.’s version of Roethlisberger. What’s more, his leadership and football IQ are further developed than Roethlisberger’s were at this point.

9. Matt Ryan, Falcons (NR)

Has been so poised and fundamentally sound that you forget he’s only entering his fourth season.

8. Michael Vick, Eagles (NR)

Obviously, his raw playmaking skills are like nothing this sport has ever seen. You have to be a little concerned about durability and presnap awareness (both became issues down the stretch in 2010).

7. Eli Manning, Giants (8)

An unheralded trait of an elite quarterback is the ability to help wide receivers overachieve. Younger Brother has done that the past several years.

6. Philip Rivers, Chargers (6)

Was without most of his top weapons for much of last season and still didn’t skip a beat.

5. Drew Brees, Saints (3)

Consummate leader and decision-making field general. Today’s N.F.L. is built for these types of players to thrive.

4. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers (4)

Character concerns seem to be clearing up. (Not that they were ever much of a problem on the field; the guy won two Super Bowls and was the most physically gifted quarterback in football before his suspension.)

3. Aaron Rodgers, Packers (7)

The most physically gifted quarterback in the N.F.C. has made quantum leaps in his pre- and post-snap acuity.

2. Peyton Manning, Colts (1)

We say it every year: without him, Indy is a perennial 5-11 team. No hyperbole.

1. Tom Brady, Patriots (2)

His lead in this “top quarterback” rating might be small, but from the 30,000-foot perspective, his rings and records still matter (a lot). His most recent accomplishment: leading a young offense that underwent a major midseason strategic shift to a 14-2 regular-season record.

#Beast

 

uh, yes, thats because they are all real

every1 realize these ranking are flawed.  i read one article that had that ed reed/troy shouldnt be in the top 10 cuz they get hurt too much but had gates at #4.  that same guy also didnt have brady and manning in his top 10 cuz they havent won anything recently and there getting old.  i guess he didnt realize brady was the unamimous MVP last year.  regardless, rankings are messed up cuz half the players voted on carrer and the other half thought it was right now.  obviously ed reed n ray lewis rnt both top 5 players right now, but career wise they definitly are.  what i thought was so interesting about this was a few things off the top of my mind:

1. ive said this b4, but its obvious, players either dont like or dont respect big ben. theres no other reason y a 2 time super bowl winning qb is ranked that low.

2. players think AP is better that CJ.  remember last year when a lot of ppl thoguht johnson was the best rb?  guess this shows players dont.

3. players think peyton hillis might be a 1 year wonder.  why else isnt he on in the top 100?  good madden cover guy.

4. how is aaron rodgers not in the top 10?  he was ranked #2 by the fans, even over brady who was #3.

5. fans hate guards.  there are 4 guards ranked in the players top 100, but all went unranked in the fans voting on the offical website: http://top100.nfl.com/

6. i think phillip rivers is the most difficult guy to judge.  some writers ive read think hes top 10 player overall, and others dont even think hes a top 5 qb.