The NFL's 101 best players for the 2025 season: 30-21

27/08/2025 14:00

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 30-21, and you can read the previous pieces here:

The NFL's 101 best players for the 2025 season, Nos. 101-91
The NFL's 101 best players for the 2025 season, Nos. 90-81
The NFL's 101 best players for the 2025 season, Nos. 80-71
The NFL's 101 best players for the 2025 season, Nos. 70-61
The NFL's 101 best players for the 2025 season, Nos. 60-51
The NFL's 101 best players for the 2025 season, Nos. 50-41
The NFL's 101 best players for the 2025 season, Nos. 40-31

Now, here are my best players in the NFL today, Nos. 30-21.

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

30. Creed Humphrey, Center, Kansas City Chiefs

Over the last few years, there's been a sub-cottage industry of analysis in which it is posited how much better other NFL offenses would be if those NFL teams had selected Oklahoma center Creed Humphrey somewhere in the 2021 draft, as opposed to letting him wait until the 63rd overall pick in the second round.

Fans of the Seattle Seahawks, who selected Western Michigan receiver D’Wayne Eskridge with the 56th overall pick, the Los Angeles Rams, who selected Louisville receiver Tutu Atwell with the 57th overall pick, or the Buffalo Bills, who selected defensive lineman Boogie Basham with the 61st overall pick, seem especially aggrieved by this.

And quite possibly for good reason. Humphrey isn't just the best center in the NFL today; he's one of the best offensive lineman regardless of position, as evidenced by his place as the fifth-best offensive lineman, and the top interior lineman. Since his rookie season, Humphrey has set the standard for an offensive line that hasn't always had standards elsewhere. He's allowed a total of seven sacks and 56 total pressures on 3,601 pass-blocking snaps in his NFL career, and he dropped from four sacks allowed in 2023 to no sacks allowed in 2024. Obvious improvement isn't really a common thing on the Chiefs' offensive lines in recent years, Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith excepted, so you need to enjoy it when it happens.

At 6'4 and 302 pounds, Humphrey isn't a massive guy who's just going to stonewall defensive lineman in that way; he relies on impeccable technique that allows him to dominate in the run game, in the screen game, and in pass protection. Of special interest when watching Humphrey's tape is his perfect positioning at the second and third levels of a defense — this gives him the edge when it comes to knocking one guy around at the line of scrimmage, and then another defender downfield. Few (if any) are better.

The Chiefs are no dummies regarding Humphrey's value to their offense; they gave him a four-year, $76 million contract extension with $50.315 million guaranteed in 2024, which made him the NFL's highest-paid center. That's exactly as it should be.

29. T.J. Watt, EDGE, Pittsburgh Steelers

Since 2017, when the Steelers selected him with the 30th overall pick in the draft, nobody in the NFL has more sacks than T.J. Watt's 89.0, and nobody in the NFL has more quarterback hits than Watt's 230. A seven-time Pro Bowler with four First-Team All-Pro nods in his career, Watt is on a course that could see him in Canton five years after his retirement.

Not that he's ready for that by any means. In 2024, his age-30 season, Watt totaled 12 sacks and 57 pressures in 599 pass-rushing reps, with 35 solo tackles, 39 stops, 18 tackles for loss, and an astonishing nine forced fumbles. Not quite the numbers he put up in 2023, when he led the NFL with 20 sacks, but every season, Trent Jordan Watt finds different ways to get things done in disruptive ways that ballcarriers and quarterbacks do not appreciate.

Watt signed a three-year, $123 million contract extension with $108 million guaranteed in 2025 that will take him through the 2028 season. If at that point we're talking about Watt as a mortal lock for the Hall of Fame, don't be at all surprised.

28. Denzel Ward, CB, Cleveland Browns

2024 was a year of disaster for the Cleveland Browns, and it wasn't just about Deshaun Watson. A defense that ranked second overall in DVOA in 2023 plummeted to 25th as injuries took a severe toll. The team dropped from 11-6 with a playoff spot to 3-14.

Cornerback Denzel Ward had more than his share of maladies — chest, rib, ankle, shoulder, and concussion issues — which caused him to miss just one game, and the performance didn't drop off as much as you'd expect. Last season, Ward allowed 38 catches on 71 targets for 635 yards, 240 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, two interceptions, a league-best 17 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 86.3, and this was one case where you really had to watch the tape, as opposed to just going with the metrics.

Ward's formidable talents as a cover cornerback allowed him to keep it together on the field when a lot of top-tier defenders might have fallen apart. The pass deflections came from all over the defense, on any kind of route, in press and off coverage, and even when he was injured, Ward showed every bit of his usual flawless backpedal and transition to stick and stay with any receiver.

Ward is going through a minor shoulder injury that has affected his preseason participation to a degree, but if he can stay healthy in 2025, he should once again take his place as one of the NFL's best defensive players overall.

27. Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles

For years now, the question with Jalen Hurts has been: Is he a product of the system, or is he the system? One could argue the point both ways. While Hurts wouldn't fit most other offensive systems as well as he does the Philadelphia Eagles' run-heavy attack, especially since Saquon Barkley became its alpha in 2024, you could also say that what the Eagles are able to put on the field offensively wouldn't exist to the degree it does without Hurts' ability to tie the run and pass games together as few other quarterbacks ever could.

Let's start with the red zone performance. Since 2021, when Hurts became the team's starting quarterback in his second NFL season, nobody in the league has more rushing touchdowns than Hurts' 62. Cry about the Tush Push all you want, but there's more to Hurts' nose for the end zone than that. And given that he ranks 13th in the NFL in that time with 89 touchdown passes, it could be said that there's no single more destructive force for opposing defenses near the end zone. As the point of the game is to score as many points as possible, that seems somewhat important.

As a pure quarterback, Hurts enjoyed his most efficient season in 2024, completing 313 of 452 passes (69.2%) for 3,629 yards (8.0 yards per attempt), 23 touchdowns, six interceptions, and a passer rating of 104.7. Philly's offense wasn't a cavalcade of explosive plays in the passing game, but on throws of 20 or more air yards, Hurts completed 23 of 50 for 733 yards, nine touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 107.1. And when pressured, Hurts threw just three interceptions to six touchdowns.

Basically, Jalen Hurts does everything well that you'd want a quarterback to do well in the system he's in. Nobody else could do it better, and while you can argue how well he'd do in a more "traditional" set of schemes, that's not the point. The point is that Jalen Hurts is in the perfect home for his talents, and he gives just as much as he's given.

26. CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys

Jerry Jones' weird predilection for waiting to pay his best players until market share has given him no financial advantage whatsoever has an obvious negative offshoot: It's tough to build any sort of positional depth that way. Nobody on the Cowboys' current roster has been more affected by this than CeeDee Lamb, who has become the Target Share King of the modern NFL.

Since the 2020 season, when Dallas selected him with the 17th overall pick in the draft out of Oklahoma, Lamb ranks fifth overall in targets with 761. Since 2022, when the depth started to fall off, he ranks first with 525, and over the last two seasons, he ranks first with 350. It's unusual that your most targeted receiver by far also plays more in the slot than outside, but last season, Lamb was in the slot on 50.3% of his snaps, and overall, he caught 101 passes on 146 targets for 1,194 yards and six touchdowns.

There may be some relief for Lamb on the way with the acquisition of former Steelers receiver George Pickens as the outside guy, and as long as Pickens can keep his head on straight in such a controlled environment (sarcasm alert), Lamb could be even more dangerous as a receiver with his athleticism and route awareness wherever he lines up. No matter what, Lamb will be the stalwart in that passing game, even as chaos surrounds him.

25. George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers

We're seeing a changing of the guard at the tight end position in the NFL. Guys like Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz, Darren Waller, and Mark Andrews, who were the gold standard half a decade ago, are still around, but not generally quite as effective, while the new kids, with Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, and Sam LaPorta as the headliners, are establishing themselves as the new line of demarcation.

The one guy who keeps his game together in both generations on a no-matter-what basis is George Kittle. In his eighth NFL season, and with injuries all around him, Kittle put together his most prolific overall season since 2019 with 78 catches on 92 targets for 1,106 yards and eight touchdowns. He was the 49ers' leading receiver in all possible categories, and though he wasn't asked to make deep catches nearly enough, when targeted on throws of 20 or more air yards. Kittle caught five of nine passes for 139 yards and a touchdown.

Few receivers of any stripe understand better how to rip coverages apart, and when you factor in his top-level blocking, it could easily be argued that George Kittle is the most complete tight end in the NFL today, no matter how the eras shift under his feet.

24. Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams

Okay, we're being optimists here. We are operating under the assumption that Matthew Stafford, who turned 37 on February 7, will not be upended by the back issues that have plagued him in the preseason, and that his 17th (!) NFL season will live up to the one he put up in 2024.

That's a lot to shine on, but hey — it's still the preseason, and hope springs eternal.

If the Rams do have Stafford at full-go through the 2025 season as opposed to Jimmy Garoppolo, Stetson Bennett, or any Gardner Minshew-style sub-veteran they can pick up on the fly, that's a pretty good Matthew Stafford to have. The 2024 season started off rough, as Stafford was dealing with nicks and dings, and receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua were recovering from their own physical issues. But once it came together, it really came together.

From Weeks 1-5, Stafford completed 118 of 175 passes for 1,238 yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 86.3. After the Rams' Week 6 bye, and through the 28-22 Divisional Round loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Stafford completed 267 of 413 passes for 3,057 yards, 21 touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 98.7. And when he was on, Stafford's arm talent — which is among the best for any quarterback ever — showed up all over the place.

So… yes, we are hoping against hope that Matthew Stafford will be fully healthy in 2025. Because it will be a ton of fun if he is.

23. Chris Jones, DI, Kansas City Chiefs

It's not often that an interior defensive lineman is relatively ignored in the court of public opinion when he's already on pace to have a Hall of Fame career, and he puts up yet another dominant season… but the 2024 version of Chris Jones didn't seem to get enough praise. Jones did fall in sacks from 15 in 2023 to seven in 2024, but his total pressures (91 in 2023; 88 in 2024) were right up there, and Jones was asked to do different things last season.

2023 provided the better balance for Jones' talents, as he lined up as an edge defender (or over the tackles) on 25% of his snaps, and that rate kicked up to 34% in 2024. Jones was able to make the most of that different deployment in a sack sense, but throughout his career, the Chiefs have tried putting him outside more and more, and they've always found out that he's at his best when he's shooting gaps and demolishing hapless blockers as the best three-tech tackle in the game.

We'll see what happens in 2025, but when Chris Jones is in the right place, there's no line disruptor with a higher rate of pure chaos, and the only thing that can upend that is putting him in the wrong place too often.

22. Tyreek Hill, WR, Miami Dolphins

Speaking of high-level players who aren't in the right place, there's the matter of one Tyreek Hill, the most dangerous vertical receiver in the NFL, in a Miami Dolphins offense that is ill-suited to take advantage of his rare abilities. Last season, Dolphins quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa, Tyler Huntley, and Skylar Thompson combined to attempt a league-low 36 passes of 20 or more air yards, completing a league-low 11 passes for a league-low 407 yards and a league-low two touchdowns. The only metric in which the Dolphins didn't have the league low was in deep interceptions, with four.

How do you reconcile that with having Tyreek Hill on the roster? The man had five deep catches on 19 targets last season for 179 yards and one touchdown on passes of 20 or more air yards, and the only way catches were ever going to happen was when Hill went from zero to 60 in 0.03 seconds.

So the fact that Hill has been somewhat vocal about his place in that offense should come as no surprise. It's a weird misfit situation that the franchise doesn't seem capable of rectifying, and as Hill turned 31 on March 1, one wonders how long his vertical jets will remain at 100%.

A lot of receivers love to complain about their circumstances. Tyreek Hill is one who has a legitimate point, because he'd be so much better in any other passing game.

21. Derrick Henry, RB, Baltimore Ravens

In 2024, Derrick Henry had one of the best running back seasons in pro football history.

And he'll be lucky if anybody remembers it.

Last season (including the postseason), Henry, who turned 31 on Jan. 4, finished sixth all-time in a single season with 2,191 rushing yards, tied with O.J. Simpson in 1973 and Barry Sanders in 1997 for fourth all-time with 6.0 yards per carry (minimum 200 attempts), and he did that on 367 carries. For backs age 30 or older, there is no remote comparison — Corey Dillon of the 2004 New England Patriots comes the closest with a 410-carry, 1,927-yard, 14-touchdown season that went all the way to the Super Bowl that season. Henry also led the NFL with 87 forced missed tackles, 30 of his runs went for 15 or more yards, and he tied for the league lead with 19 rushing touchdowns, alongside James Cook of the Buffalo Bills.

What should have been yet another capper on what will be a Hall of Fame career eventually was relegated to second place as Saquon Barkley had what may have been the best running back season ever, but it doesn't minimize the impact of Henry's presence in Baltimore's offense. The Tennessee Titans thought he was on his way out in a productive sense; one of many personnel whiffs that organization has made over the last half-decade.

Nothing could have been further from the truth, and while Father Time remains undefeated, Henry's legendary conditioning program — which came up when the Ravens signed him to a two-year, $30 million contract extension with $25 million guaranteed this offseason — should hold him in good stead, especially if Lamar Jackson can once again have one of the greatest statistical seasons any NFL quarterback has ever enjoyed.

Maybe a Super Bowl ring at the end of the 2025 season will give Derrick Henry the edge in public perception once again.