There’s no doubt that the NFL is rich with star quarterbacks and big-name impact players across various position groups, but who is the best of the best heading into the 2023-24 season?
Nick Wright shared who he believes are the top 10 players in the NFL right now and gave insight on why he picked those players on a recent edition of “First Things First.”
Let’s get to it!
10. Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars
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Key 2022 stats: 66.3 completion percentage, 4,113 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns
Wright’s thoughts: “Peyton Manning 2.0. … At the end of the year when he’s neck-and-neck for league MVP and the team wins 12 or 13 games, you guys will agree with me.”
9. Aaron Donald, DT, Los Angeles Rams
Key 2022 stats: 49 tackles (27 solo), 11 QB hits, 5.0 sacks
Wright’s thoughts: “Down year for Aaron Donald, still in the top 10 out of respect and out of the fact that even though he only had five sacks [last season]. I still think he’s one of the most dominant players in the league, but the injuries and the age and the flirtation with retirement means this is the lowest he has been on my list.”
8. Chris Jones, DT, Kansas City Chiefs
Key 2022 stats: 44 tackles (30 solo), 29 QB hits, 15.5 sacks
Wright’s thoughts: “Coming off a monster season, his first-ever playoff sack. He’s now taking about winning Defensive Player of the Year. He’s also going to be very fresh when the season starts, having skipped training camp and the preseason. He is as impactful a frontline defender as you have in the NFL.”
7. Myles Garrett, DE, Cleveland Browns
Key 2022 stats: 60 tackles (37 solo), 26 QB hits, 16.0 sacks
Wright’s thoughts: “I think he’s the best edge rusher in the league. I understand that Nick Bosa won Defensive Player of the Year and people love him. Myles Garrett, since his rookie year, has played in 73 games; he has 68 sacks [and] an additional 68 tackles for loss, so he essentially averages two flash plays a game over the last five years. Unlike Bosa … you’re not game-planning for a half-dozen other great defensive players. You know he’s the guy you have to stop, you just can’t do it.”
Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow headline Nick Wright’s Top 10 NFL Players list
6. Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
Key 2022 stats: 87 receptions for 1,046 receiving yards and nine touchdowns
Wright’s thoughts: “I now think he’s the second-best receiver in football. … He had 87 catches, 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns last year; he only played nine games, that’s basically half the season. That projects out for the year to 120 catches, almost 1,500 yards [and] 13 touchdowns. As a guy whose favorite team has played him four times in the last two years, he’s objectively terrifying at every moment.”
5. Micah Parsons, LB, Dallas Cowboys
Key 2022 stats: 65 tackles (42 solo), 26 QB hits, 13.5 sacks
Wright’s thoughts: “Parsons I don’t think is quite as dominant an edge rusher as Garrett, but Parsons can do a half-dozen other things, as well. Parsons can drop into coverage. Parsons can stop the run. … Parsons, I believe, should be the favorite for Defensive Player of the Year.”
4. Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings
Key 2022 stats: 128 receptions for 1,809 receiving yards and eight touchdowns
Wright’s thoughts: “From his rookie year to now — his whole career — [he] averages 97 yards per game, essentially 100 yards per game for his career. Now, he hasn’t had bad quarterbacking, Kirk [Cousins] is fine, but he’s doing it without elite quarterbacking like Davante [Adams], Tyreek [Hill] with Mahomes, Ja’Marr. He’s doing it with good, not great quarterbacking. He is unguardable.”
3. Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
Key 2022 stats: 110 receptions for 1,338 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns
Wright’s thoughts: “The most valuable skill position player in the league. … He is the all-time record holder for playoff yards per game. He is second all-time in playoff touchdowns. He is second all-time in playoff yardage. And if it is third-and-medium to third-and-long, is there any player you would rather have than Travis Kelce? He will find a way to get open, and since his rookie year the guy has missed one football game at an incredibly brutal position.”
2. Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
Key 2022 stats: 68.3 completion percentage, 4,475 passing yards, 35 passing touchdowns
Wright’s thoughts: “Tom Brady 2.0. … Physically limited, yes, but a no-doubt winner. Tough as nails, as clutch as they come.”
1. Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
Key 2022 stats: 67.1 completion percentage, 5,250 passing yards, 41 passing touchdowns
Wright’s thoughts: “[The] greatest quarterback any of us have ever seen. Undisputed champion, MVP, all this stuff.”
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