Steven Cheah's NFL Top 100 Players in 2021: #60 - #51
These are my Top 100 Players for this upcoming season based on last season's performance and potential. For reference, here is every one up until this point:
Here are my guys #51 - #60. The next batch will come out every Tuesday at 11am eastern.
*Note - This list is exempt of any Rookies and other Players that played zero games in 2020 due to either injury or opt outs.
60) OT D.J. Humphries - Arizona Cardinals (2020 Rank: N/R)
Humphries broke out in his 5th season played with the best year of his career by far. He's got nimble feet in pass pro, but he also finished the year as PFF's 3rd best run blocking Offensive Tackle.
59) DT/DE Leonard Williams - New York Giants (2020 Rank: N/R)
Williams had a weird 2019 being traded to a different team in the same stadium going from the Jets to the Giants. He finished the year with only 0.5 sacks. But 2020 the former 1st round pick broke out with a ridiculous 11.5 sacks. That earned him a 3-year/$63M contract extension with $45M guaranteed so he'll be anchoring Big Blue's defense for years to come.
58) LB Lavonte David - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2020 Rank: 39)
Super Bowl Champion Lavonte David is finally starting to get his due. He's been one of the league's best Linebackers since the day he stepped on the field. He can do it all - blitz, cover, and stuff the run. He's lives in the correct gap and seemingly always does the right thing on the field, almost like a football robot. He's a team guy too, and along with mentoring Devin White, David took a hometown discount to stay in Titletown with a 2-year $25M extension.
57) S Jamal Adams - Seattle Seahawks (2020 Rank: 24)
Adams is such a unique player. By the letter of the law, he's a Safety, but he creeps down in the box so much and is such a fantastic blitzer, defenses absolutely have to be aware of him on every snap. He can punish runners and receivers at every level and you can find him making plays all over the field. It'll be interesting to see where his contract shakes out as the Seahawks dealt multiple 1sts for him without a long-term deal in place. He's holding out from camp as the two sides talk, but I'm sure something will get worked out soon and Adams will likely surpass Justin Simmons for the highest paid Safety in the league.
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56) OG Brandon Scherff - Washington Football Team (2020 Rank: 70)
When you franchise a player for the second year in a row, you have to pay a premium vs. franchising a player for the first time. Few teams have done this outside of Washington who did it with Kirk Cousins and now have done it with Brandon Scherff. Scherff is worth every penny as he's an absolute mauler in the run game which will be a big focus of WFT's offense this year with Ryan Fitzpatrick at Quarterback. He's reliable in pass pro, but when DBs see him pulling on the outside, there is nowhere to hide.
55) LB Bobby Wagner - Seattle Seahawks (2020 Rank: 61)
Wagner is entering his 10th season coming off seven straight Pro Bowl appearances and five straight 1st Team All Pro selections. While defense wasn't exactly a strong suit in the pacific northwest this year, Wagner hasn't showed signs of slowing down continuing to make plays with 138 tackles, 3.0 sacks, and 8 PBUs in 2020.
54) S Tyrann Mathieu - Kansas City Chiefs (2020 Rank: 51)
The Honey Badger is coming off his second straight 1st Team All Pro and is a dynamic player at all levels. In 2020 he had a career-high 6 INTs and his outstanding coverage on the second level combined with elite instincts and very good ball skills make him a model modern day Safety.
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53) CB Tre' White - Buffalo Bills (2020 Rank: 16)
He fell 38 spots on the list since last season, but it's hard to go anywhere but down after allowing a league low 0 TD passes in 2019. He started off 2020 slow, but came on towards the end of the year. White got paid with a 4-year $69M deal with $55M guaranteed and is super sticky in coverage with impeccable instincts.
52) WR Justin Jefferson - Minnesota Vikings (2020 Rank: N/R)
Jefferson broke the record for most receiving yards by a rookie WR with 88 grabs for 1,400 yards and 7 TDs. Jefferson was the 4th WR taken in the 2020 Draft but has shown the most of the bunch so far. He's a terrific route runner with great speed coming in and out of his breaks which gives him good separation. He also has shown good ability to adjust on over and underthrown balls and still haul them in. Going into Year 2 all defenses will be keying on Jefferson, so I'm interested to see if he can continue to ascend with the increased attention.
51) CB Carlton Davis - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2020 Rank: N/R)
Jefferson gets a ton of national spotlight (as he should) for his record setting rookie year. But I'm putting the guy who shut him down (he had 4 catches for 39 yards vs. Tampa Bay) a slot above him.
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Following an off-season where his Head Coach called him a Top 10 CB in the league, Davis proved that Bruce Arians may have even been underrating him. He certainly had a rough 1st quarter against the Chiefs in Week 12, but outside of that one quarter, Davis was stellar all year. In fact, he should have been in the running for Defensive Player of the Year until that point. He's entering a contract year and hungrier than ever, so I'm looking for a big year from #24.
Stay tuned next Tuesday at 11am eastern for the next installment of my Top 100 list, #41 - #50.