How many top-100 players do the Eagles have?
NFL Network is currently counting down its top 100 players for 2011.
In the past two weeks, they've run through players 81-100. The voting was done by current NFL players, and it's not about a guy's body of work, but rather his value for next season.
So far, no Eagles have made the list, but a few former Birds have. Donovan McNabb just made the cut at No. 100. Terrell Owens beat him at No. 91. And Jason Babin came in at No. 85.
NFL Network is not the only outlet to go through these top 100 rankings.
Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com released his annual list last month. Six Eagles made the cut: Michael Vick (No. 22), DeSean Jackson (No. 34); Asante Samuel (No. 48); LeSean McCoy (No. 64); Jason Peters (No. 78); and Trent Cole (No. 91).
Prisco had the following quarterbacks ahead of Vick: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger. Aside from Rivers, every QB ahead of Vick has a Super Bowl ring.
Jackson was the fourth-ranked wide receiver, behind Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson.
Nnamdi Asomugha, Darrelle Revis, Tramon Williams, Charles Woodson and Champ Bailey were the cornerbacks ranked ahead of Samuel.
McCoy, Peters and Cole all ranked in the bottom half of the top 100.
Meanwhile, Pro Football Focus released their own list, and they've got only four Eagles in the top 100. Perhaps most surprising is Cole coming in at No. 4 overall, as compared to No. 91 by Prisco:
Cole got some press this year for his performances, but he still doesn't get the credit he's due. People will note that he's an impressive pass rusher (he's beyond impressive) but they rarely give him his due for his all around game (I suspect because of his size.) The 28 year old is one of the most active players in the NFL; always doing something to influence the play. He destroyed so many tackles that it's more noteworthy when he didn't (Week 16 being the only game he graded negatively for pass rushing.)
It should be noted that this list is based only on 2010 performance.
PFF has long been Quintin Mikell's biggest fan, and they rank him as the second Eagle on their list at No. 28:
The biggest secret in the NFL is just how good a player Quintin Mikell is. After living in the shadow of Brian Dawkins, you would have expected him to emerge, only it's never really happened. Why? I'm not sure, because his performance over the past two years (especially 2010) has been on another level from all other safeties. Makes plays on the ball in coverage and makes plenty of defensive stops, but it gets lost because Mikell just isn't a highlight reel type of player.
I like and respect the work that Pro Football Focus does, but as someone who has watched and re-watched every snap that Mikell played last year, I think that's just way too high. He's a good player, but based on what I've seen, not elite. We'll see what the rest of the league thinks once free agency begins.
The other Eagles to make their list are Vick at 63 and Samuel at 74.
If you missed my weekend posts, I wrote about the possibility of using the franchise tag on Kevin Kolb and then trading him after 2011. I also took a look at the Eagles draft trades, guessing what it would have taken for them to move up and draft Nebraska cornerback Prince Amukamara.
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