NFL Top 10 Players

Honorable Mentions: Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison, and Terrell Owens- Hard to select one and not the others, all are great players, but all also have questions Owens and Moss have character issues, Moss takes plays off, Owens will drop the easy passes, and Harrison tends to find the sideline instead of taking a hit.

Jevon Kearse- If he could stay healthy it would be too hard to ignore a man that size that moves that fast.

10) Tony Gonzalez-te-KC Is starting to slow a little, but is still the standard to which all other tight ends are measured. Still top receiving TE, and is an underrated blocker, but not needed much as blocker, threat as receiver alone creates space for running game.

9) Duante Culpepper-qb-MIN Physically is easily most impressive quarterback in the league; he is huge, but remarkably quick especially for his size. Has shown great progress, and has developed over last 2 years into a top tier quarterback, not just an athlete playing qb (Once Micheal Vick learns same lesson he too will be in top half of this list)

8) Priest Holmes-rb-KC Most think that he should be even higher on this list, but part of Priest’s great touchdown numbers can be attributed to the offense/system that he plays in. The offense is set up to get Priest the ball, and to get him the touchdowns. The fact that he does succeed so well, and sometimes make it look so easy is what puts him on this list.

7) Ahman Green-rb-GB Anyone who can supplant Brett Favre as mvp of the Packers has to be a special player. Green is a great back who forced the Packers to evolve from a passing team to a running team to take advantage of his talents

6) Chris McAllister-db-BAL The popular barroom debates surround the best qb’s or best rb’s, but the toughest call may very well be who the best corner in the league is; there are 2 on this list, and 3 or 4 more who came very close.

5) Champ Bailey-db-DEN There is a reason why Denver was willing to give up on highly touted (perhaps to highly) Clinton Portis. Bailey and McAllister both are very similar shutdown cornerbacks, and the bonus is that unlike a lot of db’s in the league they should not be affected by the new rules concerning pass defending, as neither really relied on being physical to be successful.

4) Peyton Manning-qb-IND Just his leadership qualities alone give him such an advantage of many other quarterbacks, but he also is an extremely accurate passer, that has great vision and presence. He is simply the best pure quarterback in the league.

3) Jonathan Ogden-ol-BAL Jamal Lewis gets all the accolades for his record setting season in 2003, but Ogden and the rest of the line deserve a lot of credit for helping Lewis gain his 2000 yards. What was most impressive was that every defense that Baltimore faced all season all keyed on stopping the Ravens running game, but lead by Ogden the line still found ways to create holes against 8 man fronts.

2) Ladainian Tomlinson-rb-SD If the Chargers had actually managed a .500 record LT would have had a strong case for MVP last season. (led team in rushing and receiving). Of course the fact that the Chargers are so bad makes Tomlinson’s accomplishments even more impressive.

1) Ray Lewis-lb-BAL His physical talents are obvious, what separates Lewis from others are the intangibles; his intensity, his intelligence, and his leadership. No matter how offenses try to account for him, or just plain avoid him, Lewis always manages to find a way to always be around the ball.

This article was posted in 2004