The NFL’s 101 best players for the 2025 season: 40-31

Everybody in this business has their own favorite and best players, and their own methodologies for their rankings. The NFL Network does the annual Top 100 players based on ratings from other players, which is an interesting way to go, if not fully and ideally comprehensive — most players are focused on their upcoming opponents, as opposed to the entire NFL on an agnostic basis.

Others will do their rankings based on their conversations with NFL coaches and executives, which is also interesting in its own way, and we’ll get into some of the more… um… “creative” takes from some of those folks as we tread up these particular rankings.

My method isn’t really “better” than anybody else’s, and hopefully not too much worse. I do my annual Top 101 player lists (which I’ve been doing for years, at times with current SB Nation colleague Mark Schofield) based on tape study and advanced metrics. And in this case, shifting my focus from the 2024 season to what things might look like in 2025.

As far as positional value, I find that the trend on most lists is to overcook quarterback importance at the expense of crucial players elsewhere — especially those who have become key to the modern NFL, such as slot receivers, multi-position defenders, offensive guards, and interior defensive linemen. Ideally, such a list presents a more balanced view of what matters in today’s game.

With all that preamble out of the way, here are my 101 best players in the NFL today. This article brings players 40-31, and you can read the previous pieces here:

Now, here are my best players in the NFL today, Nos. 40-31.

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions).

40. Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

With quarterbacks, you never know if and when they’re going to succeed, and under what circumstances. We’ve seen the career turnarounds of Geno Smith and Sam Darnold in recent years — two guys who were left for dead with the New York Jets and eventually found the right environments for their talents.

In the grand scheme of things, should Baker Mayfield be given more credit for his own NFL upswing? The first overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Oklahoma spent four up-and-down seasons with the Cleveland Browns (another franchise that has proven historically inept at developing quarterbacks) in which he wasn’t always valued for the type of player he could be. Of course, the Browns decided to make the worst trade in sports history with the Deshaun Watson albatross, alienating Mayfield in the process, and trading Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers in July, 2022, for a conditional fifth-round pick that became a fourth-round pick.

Nothing like bagging on the value of your assets, Browns!

In any event, Mayfield walked the earth with the Panthers for a few weeks, asked for his release, and wound up creating one of the NFL’s most remarkable performances with the Los Angeles Rams that season. This led to a one-year, $4 million deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2023, which Mayfield wildly outperformed, and the subsequent three-year, $100 million contract with $40 million guaranteed served up in 2024.

It could be argued that Mayfield outperformed that, as well. Last season, he completed 422 of 588 passes (71.8%) for 4,685 yards (8.0 yards per attempt), 43 touchdowns, 16 interceptions, and a passer rating of 108.1 — the first time in his career that Mayfield went over the 100.0 passer rating bar.

The list of quarterbacks who have completed at least 71% of their passes with at least 8.0 yards per passing attempt in a season of at least 250 passing attempts is not very long. Mayfield and Jared Goff each did it in 2024, Drew Brees did it in 2017 and 2018, and Joe Montana did it in 1989. Mayfield has become the Buccaneers’ no-doubt franchise quarterback, which is a pretty neat achievement given that he had to follow Tom Brady in that regard.

As for the 2025 season, and what can be improved upon? There will always be a rogue gene to Mayfield’s game — it’s why he led the NFL in interceptions last season — but asking him to tone things down is a balance his coaches always have to strike. It’s also why Mayfield attempted just 52 passes of 20 or more air yards last season, completing 20 for 583 yards, seven touchdowns, four interceptions, and a passer rating of 88.4. If Mayfield wants more downfield shots — and he’s stated as much — he’ll have to meet those coaches halfway.

39. Maxx Crosby, EDGE, Las Vegas Raiders

Every dominant edge-rusher in the NFL gets to that status primarily based on their ability to disrupt quarterbacks despite any array of blockers set against him. Since 2019, when the Raiders committed larceny by stealing Maxx Crosby in the fourth round of the draft out of Eastern Michigan, Crosby ranks sixth in the NFL in sacks with 60.5, and sixth in the NFL in quarterback hits with 146. Despite the fact that he missed the last five games of the Raiders’ 2024 season with an ankle injury, and the fact that the Raiders weren’t exactly overloaded with other pass-rushers to give Crosby relief from double teams, he collected eight sacks and 54 total pressures in 462 pass-rushing reps.

But that wasn’t the best part of Crosby’s game in the 2024 season; that would have to be his 18 tackles for loss, 11 of which came against the run. This is where Crosby set himself apart from most edge defenders — he was bombing run fits everywhere with his peerless gap instincts and ability to read the play just as (or before) it starts.

When you have an edge defender with Maxx Crosby’s athleticism, acumen, and effort, you have a franchise cornerstone. The new Raiders leadership of Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek made their belief in this notion abundantly clear with a new three-year, $106.5 million contract extension with $91.5 million guaranteed in March, which made Crosby the highest-paid non-quarterback.

38. Malik Nabers, WR, New York Giants

The 2024 New York Giants offense wasn’t exactly a juggernaut. Big Blue ranked 27th in Passing DVOA last season, and the quarterback cabal of Daniel Jones, Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito, and Tim Boyle combined for 15 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. It’s why the 2025 Giants’ quarterback room looks completely different with veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, and rookie Jaxson Dart.

Whomsoever does throw the ball for the Giants this season will have one extreme advantage in the person of second-year receiver Malik Nabers. The sixth overall pick of the 2024 draft out of LSU led all rookie receivers in targets (165) and receptions (109), with 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. The mind reels to think of what Nabers might have done with even league-average quarterbacking; perhaps we find that out this season.

Nabers is a great speed receiver and route runner, but the one thing that sets him apart from most NFL pass-catchers is that if you’re off in your coverage by even a split second, you are cooked. Because Nabers will roll on top of your attempted defensive play, and you will be embarrassed.

One thing we hope to see more of with the new quarterbacks is a vertical game that gives Nabers more opportunities to shine downfield. He caught seven passes of 20 or more air yards on 29 targets for 216 yards and two touchdowns, and most of those misfires were not on him. This is a top 10 NFL receiver even with one of the worst quarterback situations in the NFL; let’s see what happens in 2025.

37. Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta Falcons

The 2023 Atlanta Falcons offense under then-head coach Arthur Smith was a weird little biscuit. Smith seemed bent on underutilizing his best players to an extreme degree, and even eighth overall pick Bijan Robinson out of Texas couldn’t always transcend that, despite his legitimate status as the best running back prospect since Adrian Peterson came out of Oklahoma in 2007. Smith gave Robinson the rock more than 20 times a game just once, and while Robinson had a decent rookie season with 969 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns on 214 carries, that wasn’t what was expected.

As the Falcons navigated the odd quarterback transition from Kirk Cousins to Michael Penix Jr. in 2024, new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was pretty smart about one thing: letting Bijan Robinson be the epicenter of his offense. In Year 2 of his NFL career, Robinson gained 1,456 rushing yards and scored 14 rushing touchdowns on 304 carries, adding 61 receptions for 431 yards and a touchdown. Robinson got 20 or more carries in seven games, he forced 69 missed tackles, and 12 of his runs went for 15 or more yards.

The 2024 Falcons led the NFL with 300 rushing attempts in outside zone, and Robinson is perfectly tailored to those concepts with his gap awareness, acceleration to and through the hole, and ability to turn anything other than a perfect form tackle into a major mistake for enemy defenses. We should expect more of the same in 2025.

36. A.J. Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

After a few days, I’ve had time to reflect on being a champion. I tried to feel how everyone made it seem to be a champion and unfortunately it was short lived.. two days to be exact lol.

I’ve never been a champion at the highest level before but I thought my hard work would be justified by winning it all. It wasn’t. My thrill for this game comes when i dominate. It’s the Hunt that does it for me. It’s when the Db drops his head and surrender because he can’t F with me. The Intense battles. Early mornings. Late nights. Sacrifices. I love putting smiles on peoples faces, don’t get me wrong but it just wasn’t what I thought it would be. It’s the journey that I love the most. BACK 2 Work!

That’s what Philadelphia Eagles receiver A.J. Brown wrote on Instagram a couple of days after his team beat the daylights out of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. The work ethic has always shown up in Brown’s case, as he is one of the NFL’s most physically dominant receivers when he’s given a chance. But as the Eagles’ offense has transitioned to its current run-heavy beast version, those chances are not as common. Last season, Brown caught 79 passes on 118 targets for 1,242 yards and nine touchdowns. A great season by anyone’s standards, but not quite up to his 106 catches on 152 targets for 1,456 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023, or his 101 catches on 158 targets for 1,642 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2022.

Yes, it was the right thing to do for the Eagles to lead with the run game, especially after acquiring Saquon Barkley, and with Jalen Hurts as their quarterback. But can they not give Brown more love from a target sense? He’s hardly over the hill — he turned 28 on June 30 — and he’s still more than capable of going Full Godzilla on any cornerback trying to cover him deep. In 2024, Brown caught nine passes of 20 or more air yards on 22 targets for 332 yards and four touchdowns.

Balance is good. Leading with your best strategy is even better. And giving one of the NFL’s best receivers more shots to blow defenses up… well, that would be just about perfect.

35. Jordan Mailata, OT, Philadelphia Eagles

If you have even a cursory knowledge of modern football, you’re probably familiar with Jordan Mailata’s story. A rugby league player in Australia, he was invited to try out for the NFL in 2018 based on his athletic potential, despite the fact that his familiarity with the American game was minimal. Eagles offensive line genius Jeff Stoutland saw Mailata at IMG Academy soon after Mailata arrived in America, the Eagles selected him with the 233rd pick in the seventh round of the 2018 draft, and with that, Mailata’s Stoutland University time began.

The 6’8, 365-pound Mailata took his lumps at first, as one would expect — he allowed seven sacks and 32 total pressures in his first NFL season (2020), and Mailata basically played his college ball at the NFL level from a learning perspective. But with Stoutland as his mentor, Mailata eventually grew into his body as an elite pass-protector, and that’s what he is today. In 2024, he allowed two sacks, no quarterback hits, and 18 quarterback hurries in 530 pass-blocking reps, and he just gored enemy defenders as a run-blocker from his left tackle spot.

Few players in pro football history better personify the importance of great coaching, and the value of a mindset that allows one to transcend where one is as opposed to where one wants to be. Mailata signed a three-year, $66 million extension with the Eagles on April 5, 2024, with $48 million guaranteed. At 28 years of age, Mailata should be able to lock it down on the left side of the NFL’s best offensive line for a good long time.

34. Brian Branch, DB, Detroit Lions

Alabama’s Brian Branch ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash (42nd percentile among defensive backs since 1999) and a 1.56-second 10-yard split (51st percentile) at the 2023 scouting combine, and this caused personnel people from every NFL team to become pretty dumb for a minute. Because nobody selected Branch in the first round of the 2023 draft — he had to wait until the 46th overall pick in the second round to hear his name called — despite a collegiate career in which he proved to be a lockdown machine at multiple positions. Nick Saban developed a cottage industry of multi-position defensive backs during his time at Alabama, and everybody should have known that Branch was the next in line.

Well, the Lions clearly benefited. In his rookie season, Branch allowed 49 catches on 76 targets for 468 yards, 219 yards after the catch, five touchdowns, three interceptions, 11 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 87.0. Branch also had 79 solo tackles, 44 stops, 12 tackles for loss, two sacks, and 10 total pressures.

2024 proved that Branch was no fluke. Once again playing all over the defense (34% split safety, 9% middle of the field safety, 31% slot, 22% box, and 3% outside cornerback), he gave up 51 catches on 79 targets for 504 yards, 203 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, four interceptions, 12 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 74.0. He also totaled one sack, 12 total pressures, 10 tackles for loss, 95 solo tackles, and 44 stops. Along with Kerby Joseph (who well discuss very soon), Branch is one half of the NFL’s best safety duo, and he’s only getting better.

Maybe NFL teams will focus less on 40 times and 10-yard splits, and more on what a guy does on the field, as a result.

33. Jalen Carter, DI, Philadelphia Eagles

Speaking of amazing defenders in the 2023 draft, Jalen Carter came out of Georgia with every possible attribute you could want in an interior defensive lineman. He was the best player on the NCAA’s best defense, with impressive pressure numbers on a roster so deep, he had 32 or fewer snaps in a game six different times in 2022. The Eagles were unbowed by this, nor were they put off by Carter’s off-field issues. They selected him with the ninth overall pick in the 2023 draft, set him up in the middle of their defense, and watched the destruction happen right away.

In his rookie season, Carter was once again part of a ridiculously stacked defensive line, and he was once again a rotational player as a result. In just 599 defensive snaps, he totaled seven sacks, 50 pressures, 15 solo tackles, 13 stops, eight tackles for loss, and a forced fumble. 2024 was a different story, as Carter became the point man on that line, and he lived up to Philly’s faith in him. In 1,067 defensive snaps, he had seven sacks, 75 pressures, 33 solo tackles, 32 stops, 14 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles. Moreover, he really cranked it up in the Eagles’ four-game postseason journey to the Lombardi Trophy — a stint in which he was nearly unblockable most of the time.

Given his unique combination of unearthly gap-sliding quickness and leverage to bull blockers out of the way in embarrassing fashion, along with a technical palette that keeps growing, it’s entirely reasonable to expect Jalen Carter to start challenging for status as the NFL’s best interior defensive lineman sooner than later.

32. Aidan Hutchinson, EDGE, Detroit Lions

Through the first six weeks of the 2024 season, nobody could challenge Aidan Hutchinson’s status as the NFL’s best edge defender. After amassing 14 sacks and a completely insane 121 total pressures in his second season of 2023, the second overall pick in the 2022 draft started out 2024 in similar fashion with eight sacks and 45 total pressures — both of which led the NFL — in just 198 pass-rushing snaps before everything went splat. Hutchinson suffered a fractured tibia and fibula against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6, and his season was over.

The effect on the Lions’ defense was severe, as one might expect. Without Hutchinson, Detroit’s sack rate dropped from 7.37% to 4.7%, and while defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and his staff did an amazing job of replicating pressure in other ways with other players, there was no replacing Hutchinson on the field when he wasn’t there.

Hutchinson tried his best to make it back for Detroit’s postseason run, and his inability to do so was just one chapter in an entire book that could be written about the Lions’ horrible injury luck last season. Without that as the team’s primary story, the Lions might have been a Super Bowl team. Maybe the delay will make everything all the better for Hutchinson and the Lions in 2025.

31. Kerby Joseph, Safety, Detroit Lions

I’m proud to say that I hold a vote for the Associated Press’s awards, which means that I get to vote on everything from Most Valuable Player to Rookies of the Year. When it came time to vote for the Defensive Player of the Year for the 2024 season, there were many players to consider, but only one made the most sense — Kerby Joseph of the Detroit Lions. Last season, Joseph allowed 16 catches on 28 targets for 231 yards, 93 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, nine interceptions, three pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 68.3.

When you play 76% of your snaps as a deep-third safety, and you have nearly as many interceptions and pass breakups in a season as receptions allowed, you are really cooking with gas. Selected in the third round of the 2022 draft out of Illinois, Joseph has always been a ball magnet, with 17 total interceptions and 12 pass breakups. And unlike a lot of high-interception guys, Joseph doesn’t have a lot of variance in his game — he’s given up just seven touchdowns in his NFL career, and opponents have caught just 57.9% of their targets when Joseph is the primary defender.

The Lions gave Joseph a four-year, $85 million contract extension this year with $23.121 guaranteed because they know that their defense doesn’t work without him. And if Joseph keeps playing at this level, he could turn that contract into a bargain over time.