The NFL’s Top 100 Players list is a contradictory and frustrating exercise

The NFL’s annual Top 100 Players countdown is a contradictory exercise.

There are two responses to each unveiled step of the NFL’s Top 100 Players list: instant internet-channeled rage and complete indifference. Both responses are understandable. They’re also both incomplete.

On Sunday, the first several spots on this year’s edition were revealed and the typical responses were heard once again. I even found myself caught in the undertow. I was glad to see Frank Clark included at No. 95, a worthy inclusion for a pass rusher who was a true marvel in the postseason.

Then rumors emerged that the Kansas City Chiefs only had six total players on the list. Given the likelihood of Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Mitchell Schwartz, Chris Jones, and Tyrann Mathieu also making the cut, it meant that Chiefs Kingdom was wrong on one of those players. A man who deserved to be honored was going to be left out.

It was then that the negative emotions came into play. Suddenly I was upset to see Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller at No. 99. It was even worse to see Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen at No. 87. After expressing that frustration, I reversed course completely.

“Fine. Who cares about another stupid offseason list?” And I wasn’t the only one resorting to this mindset.

Schwartz is correct. It is “silly.” Then again, the ones whose emotions are still churning are also right. If Mitchell Schwartz is left off the list, it’s a travesty for a player who has already been robbed of the recognition he really deserves. Both are true, which is why the whole exercise is not only contradictory but also frustrating.

For those who want to ignore these sorts of lists as filler material, the sort of necessary offseason fodder meant to fill column inches (dated newspaper reference), it’s important to note that when a career is said and done, it’s exactly these sorts of lists that begin to matter all the more.

Think about the Pro Bowl. Every year, we talk about the all-star game’s biggest snubs and that’s often softened by a round of talking heads, including some associated with the league, stating that the game is meaningless. The notion is that we should not care about who makes something so trivial as a Pro Bowl. You’ll also read lines like, “It’s nothing but a popularity contest.” That might be fine, except when it comes down to measuring a player’s impact over the course of his career, the first thing we reach for is those same “trivial” accolades.

If we use Mitchell Schwartz as the test case here, it’s possible to start to build a Hall of Fame case for the Chiefs right tackle. For the longest time, he held the league’s streak for most consecutive snaps played, showing off his incredible durability. And when he plays, he’s among the very best in the league and has been for many consecutive seasons. He’s a four-time All-Pro and a Super Bowl champion, too.

Yet Schwartz has never made a single Pro Bowl. He’s also likely going to be left off of this NFL Top 100 list. These throwaway rankings suddenly become very important on the day Schwartz hangs his cleats up. For Hall voters who never watched Schwartz on a regular basis, imagine if they heard that he made a total of zero Pro Bowl appearances. Would you vote in such a player? The answer is unfortunately not.

The idea here is not about whether Schwartz will be in the Hall one day. Rather, it’s important to note that the very metrics that are so maddening, the ones that cause us to ignore them because of their obvious inaccuracy, are also the same ones we immediately reference when we need to distill down a player’s overall impact on the game after the fact. And that’s unfair to the players and the fans.

It would be nice if the Pro Bowl and/or the NFL’s annual Top 100 Players list took a serious turn and decided to aim for an accurate measure of a player’s value on the field. Until then, we’re left with contradictory exercises that only serve to frustrate anyone involved. That is, unless you just ignore it.