Dissecting the NFL's Top 100 Players List

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The NFL Network recently concluded their best efforts to hide the fact that their league is comprised of a bunch of greedy robots, or as they called it, the NFL's Top 100 Players list.

The list was voted on by players (supposedly - Brandon Carr admitted on Nick Wright's show that he, nor any player he knows, actually voted on the list), which makes some of the more egregious errors somewhat more comprehendible, even if the Top 5 of the list is more reflective of 2004 than 2011.

For those of you in the dark - Here's the list.

The Chiefs had 5 players on the list:

33. God Jam Charles
45. Dwayne (Pro) Bowe
64. Tamba Hali
67. Brian Waters
93. Eric Berry

I have a few lists of my own, inspired by this list, to throw your way. Let me start by saying that while this list gets a lot wrong, that doesn't make this list a failure. The whole goal of a list like this is to spark debate and create discussion. Mission accomplished.

The first list will be my personal Top 25 Players of 2011 in the NFL. My list is right.

(Note: When making a list like this you have to make a distinction of whether importance of position matters. This isn't a list saying I'd trade Player A for Player B because, ultimately, I'd trade the best non-QB in the league for any one of the top 10 quarterbacks. Therefore, the top 10 list would consist of 8, 9, or 10 QB's. Mine isn't like that.)

His Top 25ness

1. Troy Polamalu, S, Pittsburgh Steelers

2. Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers

3. Darrelle Revis, CB, New York Jets
4. Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals
5. Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots
6. DeMarcus Ware, OLB, Dallas Cowboys

7. Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints

8. Haloti Ngata, NT, Baltimore Ravens

9. Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings

10. Nnamdi Asomugha, CB, Oakland Raiders

11. Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis Colts

12. James Harrison, OLB, Pittsburgh Steelers

13. Andre Johnson, WR, Houston Texans

14. JamaAL Charles, RB, Kansas City Chiefs

15. Nick Mangold, C, New York Jets

16. Clay Matthews, OLB, Green Bay Packers

17. Chris Johnson, RB, Tennessee Titans

18. Julius Peppers, DE, Chicago Bears

19. Ndamukong Suh, DT, Detroit Lions

20. DeSean Jackson, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

21. Patrick Willis, LB, San Francisco 49ers

22. Antonio Gates, TE, San Diego Chargers

23. Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers

24. Richard Seymour, DE, Oakland Raiders

25. Dwight Freeney, DE, Indianapolis Colts

That's it, that's the list. Problem with it? Let me know in the 'ments...

*Best fact of the NFL's Top 100 list: Kent State landed 3 players on the list (Gates, Harrison Cribbs), while neither Florida nor Florida St. landed a single player. HA!*

The next list of mine will be The 10 Most Overrated Players on the NFL's Top 100 List (in order of they're ranking). Here go...

1. Ray Lewis (4) - The better debate is if he even belongs in the Top 100 at all
2. Mike Vick (20) - Only had 1 year in him, won't ever play a full 16 game season again
3. Arian Foster (25) - He won't make the Top 100 list in 2012 - Book it
4. Jason Witten (36) - He's solid, but shouldn't be sniffing Top 50
5. Steven Jackson (38) - 3.8 yards per carry anyone? Remember Larry Johnson would've made this list once upon a time as well
6. Tony Gonzalez (46) - Sorry Tony!
7. Brian Waters (67) - Unfortunately, I'm in the know
8. Santonio Holmes (76) - More hype than he's worth
9. Jason Babin (85) - I know he put up numbers, but it was a 1 year thing
10. Joe Flacco (90) - As average as they get
11. Donovan McNabb (100) - Are you kidding me?

As I sit back and look at my list, I can't help but notice that I picked mostly aging veterans that aren't what they used to be. This makes sense because they'd still be highly respected by their peers, but nevertheless is an oversight of the list. The second thing I notice is that the Top 10 list is 11 players long, but I forgot how much I hated Michael Vick the first time through.

My final list entails snubs from the NFL's Top 100 list (in order of snubbery). This was harder to make, and I'm sure I'll forget some players who I would fully endorse making the list, but it's all Jesus.

10 Players Who Should Have Made the List:

1. Tramon Williams, CB, Green Bay Packers - Best defensive player of the 2011 playoffs, almost made my Top 25
2. Hakeem Nicks, WR, New York Giants - 1,052 yards, 11 TD in 12 games as a sophomore
3. Maurkice Pouncey, C, Pittsburgh Steelers - Hard to imagine him not becoming an All-Pro center
4. Peyton Hillis, RB, Cleveland Browns - Are there really 10 better running backs in the NFL?
5. Ryan Clady, LT, Denver Broncos - Is he no longer considered elite or something?
6. Osi Umenyiora, DE, New York Giants - Most surprising omission from the list - household name
7. Brandon Flowers, CB, Kansas City Chiefs - Narrowly edges Wallace Gilberry for my token Chiefs selection
8. Mike Wallace, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers - Finished 5th in receiving yards last season. Seriously.
9. David Harris, LB, New York Jets - The quintessential underrated player in the NFL
10. Kevin Williams, DT, Minnesota Vikings - He was the consensus best DT in the NFL at one point, no?
AND 1. Shaun Hill, QB, Detroit Lions - You'll understand someday...

The end.

The word 'list' was written 32 times in this post,
His Dirkness

NCAA Tournament 2011 Thoughts

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I hope all of you enjoyed the national holiday yesterday! Selection Sunday ranks right up there with the NFL Draft opening round (although it's tougher to classify now with the way it's structured), the opening NFL weekend, the NFL playoff divisional round, and NFL's Conference Championship sunday. Hmm, I think I like the NFL...

However, I will make the argument that Selection Sunday is a better sports day than Super Bowl Sunday. Yea, I said it. But, once again, this is because I usually have one eye dead set on the future. The Super Bowl is somewhat bittersweet because it is the end of football for 7 months, while Selection Sunday is the launching pad of a 3 day vacation spent in Bracketville (where I turn everyday decisions into an 8 idea bracket), followed by the greatest sporting event known to man (where I spend so much time on my couch that I develop George's condition caused by a "prolonged state of inactivity"). So however silly this sounds, a simple reading of 68 College Basketball teams, in a specific random order, may be my single favorite sports day of the year.

On to some thoughts, I'll start with KU thoughts first for all my homiez out there....

• I would give KU's draw, in terms of favorability, a grade of a rock chalk solid B. I believe they got the softest 8/9 draw with generi-8-seed UNLV, who has been on the 8/9 line with KU as the 1-seed now in 2008, 2010, and 2011. My buddy CS Mofo explains this phenomenon with the simple fact that Lon Kruger looks like a number 8 (better analysis than I got from the CBS fools). Looking past that, I think 4-seed Louisville could be rough, but I think KU handles their pressure style because of the history against Mizzou. The team that I am most afraid of is 3-seed Purdue, who I consider superior to 2-seed Notre Dame. And, if KU is fortunate enough to advance to the Final 4, I like that we are on opposite sides of both Duke and Ohio St (who I consider to be the overall favorites).
• All this being said, I think KU is absolutely screwed this year. As soon as 3 of the 4 CBS fellas picked KU on national television for all of the world, all of the KU players, and all of the other teams to see, they were done. I don't like it, but it's true. KU absolutely CANNOT operate as the prohibitive favorite in the NCAA Tournament. Especially, when there's little-to-no reason to think they are overly superior. What are all these experts seeing that I don't see? How can they continue to pick KU year after year to win it all? Give us a chance! My buddy, S'nave compared KU to the Indianapolis Colts recently (to which I'll never concede - because they have a soul), but as far as the way they're treated by the national media (which may have been his point), it's a very fair comparison. Take me now baby Jesus (who I like to think of as a mischievous badger).
• Everybody's first words out of their mouth last night were over Colorado's snub. Here's my favorite take, via Jack the Quack Harry: "Colorado gets the biggest hose job in the history of NCAA. How in the world could Buffs be left out and VCU & UAB get in. AWFUL. SHAMEFUL!" He then went on to compare it to the Japanese tsunami. What I haven't heard anybody bring up yet (maybe just because Husker fans are quiet right now) is the name Dan Beebe (Big 12 Commissioner - Nebraska public enemy #1). Nebraska blamed every bad break from the football season on Beebe (some of them justified - you can't change my mind), and now yet another Big 12 castoff gets a bit of the shaft? What if this man really is evil-set on revenge against the two teams that put a clown suit on his commissioner tenure, so he makes it his life mission to campaign against these two teams? 
• For the record, the only change I would have made to the field would be to add Colorado, and subtract Clemson. I like how the Committee is giving more and more respect to mid-majors like UAB and VCU. Also, beware of those two teams specifically, who had to have heard all the bickering about how they shouldn't have gotten into the Tournament. Don't underestimate the motivational impact that can have on a team.
• While Colorado may have the biggest beef amongst Big 12 teams, the Selection Committee did the other teams little favors. Texas was looking at a potential 2-seed with a win over KU on Saturday, but instead fell to a 4-seed and faces uber-dangerous Oakland in the first round now. K-State got a favorable 5-seed, but draws a team ranked higher than them in the first round, 12th seeded Utah St (who I was terrified to draw as an 8/9 seed). However, as I told a few of my K-State friends yesterday, if they can advance to the Sweet 16, they might become the favorites in that region. The top 4 seeds in the Southeast are incredibly weak. So, if the Wildcats goal is to make the Sweet 16 then they may have gotten screwed, but if their goal is to make the Final 4, I believe they may have received a gift.
• While we're on the topic of regions, here is my ranking of the four from best to worst: (1.) East (2.) West (3.) Southwest (108.) Southeast
• I'm very interested to see how the "First Four" affects the Tournament this year. Will it be an advantage to play and win in that game or a disadvantage? For instance, if I tell you that your team wins that game, would you rather be in that position or as an already-locked in 11th/12th seed position. Not only do you get your early Tournament jitters out in the first game, but you get the taste of winning in your mouth. On the other hand, you face the possibility that your team gets worn out playing 3 games in 6 days, as opposed to 2 games in 4 days. So, advantage or disadvantage?
• In closing, I leave you with the circle of life possibility that Bill Self plays his former team (Illinois) in the city of another team he coached, also near where he grew up (Tulsa).

Up to my ankles in Brackets,
His Bracketness