Every year, the NFL polls its players to decide who the top-100 players in the league are. While it’s always great to get the player’s perspective, we at EssentiallySports want to give you the fan’s perspective.

Tim Wood, Daniel Rios and I teamed up to create the EssentiallySports top-100 list, and just like the NFL, we are going to be releasing 10 players every week until we hit the top-10 just a couple of weeks before the season begins.

But instead of ranking players based on their 2025 season alone, we’re going to be ranking the top-100 players in the league entering the new year. Of course, a player’s 2025 performance heavily factors in to our rankings, but there will be some guys on here that were injured or maybe just underperformed last season.

Just a reminder before we get started: there are 32 teams in the NFL that are comprised of 53 players. That means there are 1,696 players on an NFL active roster any given week. So, if your mad because a player from your favorite team is No. 100 on this list, just remember that still means they’re in the top 5.9 percent of players in the league.

Jalen Pitre was a second round pick back in 2022 and took a little while to get adjusted to the NFL, but he broke out in 2025 and was one of the main reasons the Houston Texans boasted the best defense in the league.

Pitre didn’t give up a single touchdown as the primary defender in coverage while picking off four passes and breaking up six more. Was he aided by Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter getting after the quarterback so fast? Yes, but you don’t give up zero touchdowns in 17 games while being targeted 60 times without being a very talented player.

Pitre isn’t quite a household name yet, but he absolutely deserves to be recognized on this list because he’s a rising star.

Bobby Wagner and Top-100 lists go together like white on rice. He’s been included on the list 10 times in his career, including in each of the last five seasons, and has never placed lower than No. 74. He’s a bit lower on our list (thanks to Daniel and Tim), but this is still an incredible achievement for the 35-year-old.

Despite the fact that he’s nearing the end of his career, Wagner was as productive as ever in 2025, totaling 162 tackles, 4.5 sacks and two interceptions in the middle of the Washington Commanders’ defense. His 2025 season put him within reach of breaking Ray Lewis’s all-time combined tackles record this season. He currently trails Lewis by 59, so as long as he stays healthy, he should break it around the mid-season mark.

The Washington Commanders took a step back this past year, but Wagner was one of the few shining stars on that team. Even at 35 years old, he’s still playing like he’s in his mid-20s.

After four years of being completely misused by the New Orleans Saints, Zack Baun burst onto the scene in 2024 in his first year with the Philadelphia Eagles, racking up 151 total tackles, 93 solo tackles, 3.5 sacks and five forced fumbles. He earned the No. 26 spot on the NFL’s Top-100 list last season, and while he won’t be nearly as high up this year, he still had a very strong 2025 campaign.

In 2025, Baun totaled 123 tackles, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions and seven pass breakups. While Philly’s offense had a down year, Baun and the rest of their defense was a big reason why they were still able to win 12 games and take the NFC East crown.

Baun is one of the best off-ball linebackers in the NFL, so his spot on this list is absolutely deserved.

Garrett Wilson was a hard one to rank. The kid obviously oozes talent, but he’s never put up massive numbers, and he missed 10 games in 2025. Talent-wise, he’s probably a top-75 player in the league, but you also have to take stats and recent performance into account when making these rankings, and Wilson hasn’t produced in those two areas recently.

While he’s never gone for 1,500 yards and 10 touchdowns like some of the other top guys in the league, Wilson still managed to post three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons to start his career despite some subpar quarterback play. On top of that, his highlight reel is up there with the best receivers in the league in terms of catch difficulty.

If Wilson gets solid quarterback play, he’s going to shoot up this list in the next couple of years.

Tyler Warren looked unstoppable early in the season. He went for 60+ yards in five of his first seven NFL games, but once Daniel Jones went down with a torn Achilles, his numbers fell off a bit (just like everyone on that team). Once Jones went out, Warren averaged fewer than 30 receiving yards per game, but those first 12 games were enough for me to know he’s a rising star in this league.

Putting Warren in the top-100 after his first season may be a bit ambitious, but we’re betting on his upside here, and he has a ton of it. If he can get a full season with a healthy Jones, he could be a 1,000-yard tight end in 2026.

Speaking of great tight ends in the league, let’s talk about Travis Kelce, who is the first player on this list that all three of us had ranked in the top-100. Kelce isn’t the same perennial 1,000-yard tight end we’ve seen him be in the past – in fact he hasn’t hit 1,000 yards in three straight seasons – but he’s still one of the most productive tight ends in the NFL at 36 years old.

It feels like Kelce’s retirement is right around the corner, but he’s still got at least one more season in him. He may not have the same juice he had early in his career, but his connection with Patrick Mahomes and his ability to find open space in zone coverage is uncanny.

Kelce is the kind of player that could be great at age 40. He doesn’t rely on his athleticism to beat defenders, he just knows how to find holes in zones, and Mahomes always knows he can rely on his big tight end to get open on crucial plays. As long as he wants to keep playing, he’ll be one of the better tight ends in the league.

Anyone who knows anything about offensive line play knows that Erik McCoy is arguably the best center in the NFL, but he just can’t stay healthy. When he’s on the field, he’s an elite pass blocker, but his real strength is in the run game. He’s paved the way for guys like Alvin Kamara to run wild for years, but you have to take his availability into account when making these rankings.

Over the past two seasons, McCoy has played 14 of a possible 34 games for the Saints. He had some injury history in the past, but still played 12+ games in each of his first five seasons, so the fact that he’s suffered three injuries the past two years (and they’ve all been to different parts of his body) is scary. But man, when he’s healthy, he’s up there with Creed Humphrey and Tyler Linderbaum as one of the best centers in the league.

By the way, Daniel is a self-proclaimed offensive line lover (you’ll see that reflected in his rankings), but he didn’t have McCoy in his top-100. Ball knowledge = 0.

Much like Bobby Wagner, Demario Davis is an older linebacker that doesn’t seem to be effected by Father Time. This guy has been one of the most underrated players in the entire league for a decade, but real ball watchers know just how great he is.

Davis one of the best run defending and pass rushing off-ball linebackers in the entire league. During his eight years with the Saints, Davis earned 78+ run defense grade and 40+ stops from PFF in seven of them. On top of that, Davis averaged four sacks and season and earned elite pass rush grades during his time in the Big Easy.

On top of his run defense and pass rush prowess, Davis is pretty dang good in coverage too. There’s a reason Aaron Glenn was so aggressive in free agency trying to land him, despite the fact that he’s 37 years old. Glenn needs a leader for his defense, and that’s exactly what Davis is.

If we were ranking Bo Nix in the fourth quarter, he’d probably be a top-10 player on this list. It felt like Nix and the Denver Broncos pulled miraculous comeback after miraculous comeback out of their butts every time they found themselves trailing in the fourth quarter, but you have to take his whole body of work into account, and the truth is, he was a bit too inconsistent early in games.

In the first quarter, Nix completed just 61 percent of his throws for 682 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Despite finishing the year 14-3, the Broncos trailed after the first quarter in 12 of their 17 regular season games.

If Nix can figure out how to start games a bit faster, he can firmly put himself in top-10 discussions this season. He’s got the “it” factor, but he’s got to stop digging himself into holes.

Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson have followed similar career paths. Both guys have a ton of talent, but have been held back by their quarterback play. Well, this year Olave finally got a quarterback, and all he did was go on to be an All-Pro and win some people their fantasy leagues.

It really was a tale of two halves for Olave. In the first eight weeks with Spencer Rattler under center, Olave caught 52 passes for 503 yards and three touchdowns. But over his last eight games with Tyler Shough, Olave caught 48 passes for 660 yards and six touchdowns. He averaged 20 more yards per game, three more yards per catch and scored three more touchdowns with Shough under center. But it gets even better. Once Shough found his footing and got some experience under his belt, Olave went for 85 yards and a touchdown, 148 yards and two touchdowns and 119 yards and a touchdown in his final three games.

If you take Olave’s averages from the eight games he played with Shough, he would’ve finished a 17-game season with 102 catches, 1,402 yards and 13 touchdowns. He’ll have some competition with Jordyn Tyson entering the mix this year, but 1,300 yards and 10 scores isn’t off the table.