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Chris Jones became the NFL’s highest-paid defensive tackle in March, when he signed a five-year, $158.75 million extension -- the largest total contract value among DTs by nearly $50 million. Read that last part again. He undoubtedly deserved to get the bag after spearheading a Chiefs defense that played a significant role in the team’s third Super Bowl win in five years, as exemplified by his clutch play in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII. Jones (75.5) trails only Aaron Donald (91) in sacks among DTs since the former was drafted in 2016, with 26 of those coming over the last two campaigns. The elite disruptor is as important to the Chiefs’ defense as Patrick Mahomes is to the offense. 

This is a big year for Josh Allen. He is without his top two receivers from last season (Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis) and likely feels pressure to carry the offense to an even greater degree than he already has in his career. Since 2020, Allen has scored 174 offensive touchdowns, 23 more than any other player in that span, and he's posted four straight seasons with at least 40 total touchdowns. All he does is produce, in the air and on the ground: The two-time Pro Bowler has registered 100-plus carries in five consecutive seasons. With new weapons in tow, including first-round pick Keon Coleman at wideout, Allen should continue to put up monster numbers in 2024. The question is: Can he and the Bills get over the hump deep in January?

Justin Jefferson has made the most of his time in the NFL. Since being drafted in 2020, the Vikings’ dynamic receiver has reached the 100-yard mark in 29 games, more than anyone in the league in that span and six more than any other player through their first four ����������seasons. His career average in receiving yards per game (98.3) ranks first in ����������history (min. 50 games played). The 2022 Offensive Player of the Year was recently rewarded for his outstanding early career play with a four-year, $140 million contract extension, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback league-wide. He enters his first season without quarterback Kirk Cousins, but no matter who is under center in Minnesota -- Sam Darnold or J.J. McCarthy -- head coach Kevin O’Connell will find ways to get his star receiver the ball. I don’t see Jefferson’s production falling off with the QB change. 

Travis Kelce will turn 35 years old in October -- and he remains uber-productive as perhaps the biggest mismatch in the entire league. Yes, he is coming off a down season, in which he was hampered by injuries and failed to surpass 1,000 receiving yards for the first time since 2015, but he took his play to another level during Kansas City’s run to a second consecutive Super Bowl, averaging nearly 90 receiving yards per game and scoring three TDs in the postseason. Kelce, who landed a healthy pay boost this offseason, should see an uptick in production with two new faces in the Chiefs’ receiving corps (Marquise Brown and Xavier Worthy). I expect plenty more Patrick Mahomes-Kelce magic. 

The reigning Defensive Player of the Year isn’t the top defender on my list for a number of reasons, which I will get to in the next player blurb. Here's what Myles Garrett is, however: one of the premier game-wreckers in the league. In 2023, Garrett ranked in the top 10 in the ����������in sacks, tackles for loss, QB hits, forced fumbles and QB pressures, relying on his elite ability to get into the backfield via a number of pass-rush moves. The five-time Pro Bowler helped drive the Browns' run to the postseason last year, even as Cleveland had to start five different quarterbacks. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s unit, which ranked tops in total yards allowed per game and passing yards allowed per game last season, should be just as good this fall, with Garrett again leading the way.

No, T.J. Watt didn't win his second career Defensive Player of the Year award last season -- but he should have. In 2023, Watt racked up an NFL-high 19 sacks, becoming the only player since 1982 (when sacks were first tracked) to pace the league in that category in three different seasons, per ����������Research. He also had the most QB hits (36), marking the fifth time since 2018 that the leader in sacks and QB hits was the same player (including when Watt did it in 2020 and 2021).

Watt beats out Garrett in my ranking because he was simply better on the field: 

• Watt in 2023: 19 sacks, 36 QB hits, 68 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, one INT, eight passes defensed
• Garrett in 2023: 14 sacks, 30 QB hits, 42 tackles, 17 TFL, four forced fumbles, zero INTs, three passes defensed

Make it make sense! There are plenty of storylines to follow in Pittsburgh this offseason, but don’t sleep on the 29-year-old Watt. The six-time Pro Bowler is closing in on 100 career sacks (he's at 96.5 right now), which should be a fun subplot on Hard Knocks: In Season with the AFC North. 

Tyreek Hill might no longer publicly be pursuing a 2,000-yard receiving season. Even so, he's topped 1,700 yards the past two years (making him the first player in ����������history with multiple seasons of 1,700-plus receiving yards), and that kind of production should be in reach again this fall, thanks to continuity within the Dolphins' offense -- so, as he put it, we should not take the 2K mark "off the table." Hill is back with Tua Tagovailoa in Mike McDaniel’s system, a combination that was a nightmare for many opposing defenses in 2023 (SEE: Miami’s dubbing of Denver in Week 3). After the disappointing way last year ended, Hill should be plenty motivated to cement his place atop the wide receiver ranks, especially as he looks toward his next contract.

It shouldn’t be a surprise to see Lamar Jackson here coming off his second career ����������MVP award. Last season, Jackson once again dazzled us with his explosive rushing ability, leading all quarterbacks with 821 rush yards, but he also took his throwing ability to the next level in his first season under offensive coordinator Todd Monken. He finished in the top five in a number of key passing metrics, including passing yards per attempt (8.0), touchdown-to-interception ratio (24:7) and passer rating (102.7). At 27 years old, Jackson (who has slimmed down this offseason to be “more agile”) is squarely in his prime -- and he's in position to have arguably his most successful campaign to date, with running back Derrick Henry sharing the backfield. The one thing left for him to prove is that he can reach the Super Bowl -- and win it. That’s one of the main factors separating him from the one quarterback ahead of him on this list. 

If ever there would have been a time for anyone to question whether Patrick Mahomes could get it done, the past two seasons -- when Tyreek Hill was replaced in Kansas City by a patchwork of untested or unreliable options at receiver -- would have been it. All Mahomes did in response was win a pair of rings. In each of his six seasons as Kansas City’s QB1, Mahomes has led the team to the AFC title game, advancing to the Super Bowl four times and winning the whole enchilada thrice, including two in a row. Mahomes enters his eighth pro season healthy and with new targets Marquise Brown and Xavier Worthy, who’ll help stretch the field and expand the Chiefs’ passing attack. He's the type of player who can never be counted out (SEE: the "Grim Reaper" game in the 2021 playoffs), so we should expect to see more Mahomes magic on Sundays and perhaps a Chiefs three-peat.

Now, why isn't Mahomes No. 1 on my list? There is an obvious argument to be made that he belongs in the top spot. But y’all know me by now -- I like to mix it up! And right now, at this moment, I wanted to save the premier placement for a player who is doing things no running back has done in decades ...

After six promising ����������seasons, Christian McCaffrey’s full potential was unlocked in San Francisco in Year 7, his best year to date. In 2023, he led the ����������in touches (339), scrimmage yards (2,023) and scrimmage touchdowns (21), going on to land the Offensive Player of the Year award, a lucrative contract extension, a spot on the cover of Madden ����������25 and, perhaps most important, the No. 1 spot on this list. (I kid!) McCaffrey is simply a special player who, at 28 years old, has already cemented his place in history, ranking third all-time with 115.4 scrimmage yards per game among running backs, behind only Hall of Famers Jim Brown and Barry Sanders. 

The do-it-all running back has elevated the 49ers since his arrival midway through the 2022 campaign, with the team going 22-2 in regular season games started by the three-time Pro Bowler. He just won his second career ����������scrimmage triple crown, and he's at the center of one of the league's most potent offenses. No non-quarterback has won MVP since Adrian Peterson did it as a running back in 2012. But I wouldn’t put it past McCaffrey to snap that streak.