First off, I sure do miss Ike Taylor's commentary for these things. Steelers fans might feel differently but his retirement this offseason is a bigger blow to the Top 100 list than the Pittsburgh defense. Just kidding. Maybe.
On Wednesday the NFL Network revealed the next ten players of their Top 100 list. Players 70-61.
70. Carlos Dunlap, DE, Cincinnati Bengals
69. LeSean McCoy, RB, Buffalo Bills
68, T.J. Ward, S, Denver Broncos
67. Andrew Whitworth, T, Cincinnati Bengals
66. Earl Thomas, S, Seattle Seahawks
65. Marcus Peters, CB, Kansas City Chiefs
64. Reshad Jones, S, Miami Dolphins
63. Gerald McCoy, DT, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
62, Demaryius Thomas, WR, Denver Broncos
61. NaVorro Bowman, LB, San Francisco 49ers
It's great to see NaVorro Bowman return to his very deserving status as one of the league's best football players. He missed the entire 2014 season while recovering from the brutal knee injury that he suffered in the 2013 playoffs. He's back and it's great to see.
This was safety week. Maybe it's due to the flood of athletic tight ends into the league. Maybe it's due to the flock of receivers that offenses are putting on the field. Maybe it's simply due to the impact of terrific football players like Ed Reed, Brian Dawkins, and Troy Polamalu. The safety position has been increasing in importance. They used to just sit back on their heels and wait for things to come to them. Now safeties are making plays all over the field. Every teams wants one. Or two. Or even three. Teams can't have enough versatile, difference-makers at the back of their defense. Players that can cover tight ends and slot receivers. Players that can come up and make tackles at the line of scrimmage. Players like T.J. Ward. Earl Thomas, and Reshad Jones. I was very surprised that Thomas wasn't in the top half of this list. Jones was dynamite last season for the Dolphins.
It will be interesting to see how Demaryius Thomas fares with a quarterback other than Peyton Manning throwing to him. His production started to dip last year as Manning struggled. One would think that Thomas should be fine seeing as he managed to make plays back when Tim Tebow was wildly flinging footballs somewhere in his vicinity.
It was great to see Carlos Dunlap pop up on the list. He's played in the shadows of Geno Atkins, Michael Johnson, and even Domata Peko on the Bengals defensive line. He was terrific last year and is deserving of this recognition.
Next Wednesday, players 60-51.
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