AkronsWitness Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 Figured I would share this here. Each year ESPN polls Executives, Coaches, Scouts, Players, ect to ask who the best at each position is. Ill post some of the results Ive found here. These are all that are released right now but Ill try to keep up by adding the other positions as they come. Off-ball Linebackers 1. Fred Warner 2. Roquan Smith 3. Tremain Edmunds 4. Matt Milano 5. Devin White Next: Demario Davis, Nick Bolton, Shaq Leonard, CJ Mosley Runningbacks 1. Nick Chubb 2. Christian McCaffrey 3. Josh Jacobs 4. Saquon Barkley 5. Derrick Henry Next: Jonathan Taylor, Alvin Kamara, Dalvin Cook, Tony Pollard Safetys 1. Minkah Fitzpatrick 2. Derwin James 3. Justin Simmons 4. Budda Baker 5. Jevon Holland Next: Jessie Bates, Kevin Byard, CJGJ, Talanoa Hufanga Cornerbacks 1. Pat Surtain II 2. Sauce Gardner 3. Jalen Ramsey 4. Jaire Alexander 5. Darius Slay Next: Marlon Humphrey, Marshon Lattimore, Trevon Diggs, Denzel Ward Edge Rusher 1. Nick Bosa 2. Myles Garrett 3. Micah Parsons 4. TJ Watt 5. Hassan Reddick Next: Maxx Crosby, Brian Burns, Mathew Judon, Von Miller 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetterCallSaul Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, AkronsWitness said: Off-ball Linebackers 1. Fred Warner 2. Roquan Smith 3. Tremain Edmunds 4. Matt Milano 5. Devin White Next: Demario Davis, Nick Bolton, Shaq Leonard, CJ Mosley Not that the guys on this player list are bad, but this is probably the worst era of overall linebacker play that has ever been in the NFL. Edited July 14, 2023 by BetterCallSaul 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFlaccoSeagulls Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 21 minutes ago, BetterCallSaul said: Not that the guys on this player list are bad, but this is probably the worst era of overall linebacker play that has ever been in the NFL. Roquan Smith is absolutely elite though, same with Fred Warner. I would swap their rankings personally but yeah after that it's a HUGE drop off to guys you'd likely never see on a starting roster in the mid 00's or 2010's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkronsWitness Posted July 14, 2023 Author Share Posted July 14, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, BetterCallSaul said: Not that the guys on this player list are bad, but this is probably the worst era of overall linebacker play that has ever been in the NFL. NFL LBs have been bad for a while now. At least the past 5-8 years or so. I think its because there are more specialists depending on down/distance with the spread offenses seen in the NFL. Either you get rotated in on passing downs because of coverage ability or your converted into a 'EDGE' ala Von Miller/Terrell Suggs who in a more old school style of game would have played a lot more traditional OLB. There are not a ton of guys out there at LB who can do it all athletically/cover in space/run with WRs AND play the run early. With the new school offenses, off-ball LB has become incredibly more difficult to play 3 downs. Your essentially looking for guy with the coverage of a FS who can also play as a run stopper. Its hard. Which makes guys like Warner/Smith that much more alien-like. Edited July 14, 2023 by AkronsWitness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelersfan43 Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 1 hour ago, AFlaccoSeagulls said: Roquan Smith is absolutely elite though, same with Fred Warner. I would swap their rankings personally but yeah after that it's a HUGE drop off to guys you'd likely never see on a starting roster in the mid 00's or 2010's. The impact of Smith on the ravens defense was so huge last year.And like you said the drop off after the top 2 is huge! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFlaccoSeagulls Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 36 minutes ago, Steelersfan43 said: The impact of Smith on the ravens defense was so huge last year.And like you said the drop off after the top 2 is huge! literally transformed our defense and I'm exaggerating one single bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetterCallSaul Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 Yeah people rightfully rag on the Browns linebackers, who were definitely awful last year, but after really digging into other squads, most NFL teams are trotting out at least 1 abomination at LB these days. As a linebacker coach, it aggravates me. Linebackers are supremely important on defense, but they’re so devalued because they don’t affect the quarterback as much as DL/DB. The worst thing to happen to defense was this bloodthirst to stop the Chiefs offense. It resulted in everyone falling in love with supremely light boxes and consistent cover 4 shells. It hasn’t helped slow down Mahomes and all it’s done is invited teams to abuse them in the intermediate game passing & run game. In the Browns case, these conservative cover 4 shells somehow managed to give up a ton of busted coverage bomb touchdowns in addition to being bad everywhere else too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelersfan43 Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 1 hour ago, BetterCallSaul said: Yeah people rightfully rag on the Browns linebackers, who were definitely awful last year, but after really digging into other squads, most NFL teams are trotting out at least 1 abomination at LB these days. As a linebacker coach, it aggravates me. Linebackers are supremely important on defense, but they’re so devalued because they don’t affect the quarterback as much as DL/DB. The worst thing to happen to defense was this bloodthirst to stop the Chiefs offense. It resulted in everyone falling in love with supremely light boxes and consistent cover 4 shells. It hasn’t helped slow down Mahomes and all it’s done is invited teams to abuse them in the intermediate game passing & run game. In the Browns case, these conservative cover 4 shells somehow managed to give up a ton of busted coverage bomb touchdowns in addition to being bad everywhere else too. The ILB position is for me the most underrated position in the NFL.Very rare we will see a defense being mediocre with a true elite ILB which is very good against the run and pass 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notthatbluestuff Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 They did tight ends too: 1. Travis Kelce 2. George Kittle 3. Mark Andrews 4. Dallas Goedert 5. Darren Waller Next: TJ Hockenson, Kyle Pitts, Evan Engram, Pat Freiermuth, Dawson Knox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notthatbluestuff Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 Defensive tackles 1. Aaron Donald 2. Chris Jones 3. Jeffery Simmons 4. Quinnen Williams 5. Javon Hargrave Next: Dexter Lawrence, DeForest Buckner, Daron Payne, Cam Heyward, Jonathan Allen Offensive tackles 1. Trent Williams 2. Laremy Tunsil 3. Tristan Wirfs 4. Lane Johnson 5. Jordan Mailata Next: Penai Sewell, Andrew Thomas, Rashawn Slater, Christian Darrisaw, Kolton Miller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeezla Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 Thomas and Slater should be over Mailata. Lane should be #2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkronsWitness Posted July 15, 2023 Author Share Posted July 15, 2023 (edited) 4 hours ago, notthatbluestuff said: They did tight ends too: 1. Travis Kelce 2. George Kittle 3. Mark Andrews 4. Dallas Goedert 5. Darren Waller Next: TJ Hockenson, Kyle Pitts, Evan Engram, Pat Freiermuth, Dawson Knox Not that I'm the biggest fan of his in the world but Evan Engram and Dawson Knox over David Njoku is a little strange. Especially considering Njoku is probably the best blocker of the 3. Edited July 15, 2023 by AkronsWitness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notthatbluestuff Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 QBs 1. Patrick Mahomes 2. Joe Burrow 3. Josh Allen 4. Aaron Rodgers 5. Justin Herbert Next: Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, Trevor Lawrence, Dak Prescott, Matthew Stafford Herbert over Hurts? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notthatbluestuff Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 Guards/Centers 1. Zack Martin 2. Joe Thuney 3. Quenton Nelson 4. Elgton Jenkins 5. Joel Bitonio Next: Jason Kelce, Chris Lindstrom, Creed Humphrey, Brandon Scherff, Frank Ragnow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danger Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 1 hour ago, notthatbluestuff said: Next: Jason Kelce This invalidates the list 100% 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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