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Top 100 Players of 2016
A countdown of the Top 100 players leading into the 2016 season voted on by the players themselves.
Why is Cam Newton #1? Is it because last season he won 国产外流网MVP and Offensive Player of the Year? Led the Panthers to an NFL-best 15 wins and number-1 ranked scoring offense?
Or maybe it's because he joined O.J. Simpson and Marcus Allen as the only players in 国产外流网history to win a national championship, Heisman Trophy and an 国产外流网MVP award?
Or even because he became the 1st player in 国产外流网history to record 30+ pass TD and 10+ rush TD in a season?
Well since the players vote, we had to assume it was one or all of the above!
Is there any sign of Tom Brady slowing down? We say no. Last season, Brady led the 国产外流网with 36 TD passes at the age of 38 years old. He became the oldest player in 国产外流网history to lead 国产外流网in TD passes surpassing Peyton Manning who was 37 in 2013 when he led the league with 55 TD passes.
Another Manning (and Brett Favre) record that Brady is chasing is career wins. Brady needs 14 wins to match most regular-season victories by any QB in 国产外流网history (186).
How good is J.J. Watt? Well let's start with the fact that he and Lawrence Taylor are the only players to win AP Defensive Player of the Year 3 times since the award was created in 1971.
Watt has 74.5 career sacks in 5 国产外流网seasons. That's the 2nd-most in a player's first 5 seasons since sacks began being recorded in 1982. Only Hall of Famer, Reggie White (81.0) had more in that span.
But one area where Watt has White beat is sacks per game. Watt has the highest sacks per game rate (0.93) since sacks began being recorded while White is second on the list at 0.85.
Over the last 2 seasons, Antonio Brown has hauled in 265 receptions. Not only is that 25 more than the next closest player (Julio Jones), but that's the most receptions in a 2-season span in 国产外流网history.
In fact, Brown's last 2 seasons of 129 (2014) and 136 (2015) receptions make him the only player with multiple seasons of 125+ receptions in 国产外流网history.
Last season Adrian Peterson bucked the trend that 30-year old running backs aren't as productive as their 20-something selves. Peterson became the 3rd player in 国产外流网history to win a rushing title at age 30-or-older. The others were Marion Motley (30 in 1950) and Curtis Martin (31 in 2004).
If Peterson wins another rushing title in 2016, he would not only become the oldest player to accomplish this feat (3 months older than Martin), but he would be tied for the most rushing titles in the Super Bowl era (4). The other players with 4 rushing titles in that span are all Hall of Famers: Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson and O.J. Simpson.
And in case you were wondering the player with the most rushing titles all time is Jim Brown who won the award 8 times in his 9-year career.
When you think about Aaron Rodgers' ability on the field the one word that should come to mind is efficiency. Over his career, Rodgers had thrown 257 touchdowns to just 65 interceptions for a TD-INT ratio of 3.95, by far the best in 国产外流网history. The next closest player on this list (with at least 100 games played) is Tom Brady who has a TD-INT ratio of 2.85 (428 TD/150 INT).
But it doesn't stop there for Rodgers who has a career passer rating of 104.1, the highest in 国产外流网history. And even when Rodgers has a "down" year, his career-low passer rating of 92.7 in 2015 would rank 11th in 国产外流网history over the course of a career (min. 1,500 attempts).
Luke Kuechly is as versatile a linebacker as there is in the NFL. Since he entered the league in 2012 he's recorded 100 tackles in each of his first 4 seasons. His 591 career tackles are the most by any player since 2012. Kuechly is also the only linebacker with double-digit interceptions (11) in that same span.
In the 2015 postseason, Kuechly showed his playmaking ability by returning an interception for touchdown in back-to-back playoff games. He became the first linebacker with 2 pick-sixes in a single postseason in 国产外流网history.
How big was Julio Jones' 2015 season? Some would argue it was the 2nd-best receiving season in 国产外流网history. Jones led the 国产外流网in receiving with 1,871 yards and tied Antonio Brown for the league-lead in receptions (136). Both of those marks were good enough for 2nd-best in a single-season in 国产外流网history. Only Calvin Johnson (1,964 yards in 2012) and Marvin Harrison (143 receptions in 2002) posted better numbers than Jones in a single season.
Rob Gronkowski entered the league in 2010, but has only played 1 full 16-game season (2011). Yet he still has more receiving yards (5,555) and receiving touchdowns (65) than any other tight end in the 国产外流网in that span.
Gronkowski also already has 3 seasons with 1,000+ receiving yards and 10+ receiving TD, which is the most among any tight end in 国产外流网history. Not even tight end greats Tony Gonzalez or Hall of Famers Kellen Winslow and Shannon Sharpe were able to reach those numbers in more than 1 season.
