NFL's Top 100 players: Cardinals place 7 on For the Win list.
For the Win released its Top 100 NFL player rankings[1] for the 2016 season this week and the Arizona Cardinals are well represented.
In fact, the Cardinals are the most represented.
Arizona has seven players in the rankings, more than any other team.
RELATED: Ranking the NFL's Top 100 players - 2015[2]
FTW's rankings[3] try to project which players will be among the best for the upcoming season. It doesn't rank players according to their play in 2015.
Injury concerns were taken into account when making the rankings.
ON FACEBOOK: Should Patrick Peterson or Tyrann Mathieu be ranked higher?[7]
Tyrann Mathieu is the highest ranked Cardinals player. He comes in at No. 12 on the list.
For The Win's Steven Ruiz[8] writes this on Mathieu: "Mathieu was built to play in this pass-happy era. It's hard to define his position because it changes every play. On early downs, he's either a deep safety or a run defender in the box. On passing downs, he morphs into the best slot corner in the league."
Patrick Peterson is ranked No. 20.
Ruiz writes: "A slimmed-down Peterson bounced back from a rough 2014 season and emerged as the top corner in the league last year. He covered No. 1 receivers in man coverage and just about shut down every player we was assigned to."
NFL POWER RANKINGS: Where are Cardinals after draft?[12]
Calais Campbell comes in at No. 36 in the rankings.
Ruiz writes: "As a 3-4 defensive end, Campbell is never going to put up crazy statistics. He destroys opposing team's running games and creates interior pressure consistently despite being the only pass rusher of note on Arizona's roster these last few years. That will change next year thanks to the addition of Chandler Jones."
The other Cardinals ranked are Larry Fitzgerald (No. 66), Carson Palmer (No. 68), David Johnson (No. 82) and Chandler Jones (No. 89).
2017 NFL MOCK DRAFTS: What they mean for Cardinals[13]
Some interesting Cardinals tidbits from the rankings:
- Eight quarterbacks are ranked ahead of Palmer.
- Mathieu is the highest ranked defensive back on the list.
- Peterson is the second-highest ranked defensive back on the list.
- Campbell is the fourth-highest ranked defensive end.
- There are only three running backs ranked ahead of Johnson.
- The Seahawks, Patriots, Panthers and Cowboys are just behind the Cardinals in the rankings. They each have six players on the list.
NFL DRAFT GRADES: Reaction to Cards' class[14]
The NFL Network is currently unveiling its Top 100 player rankings for 2016[15]. Its rankings are chosen by NFL players.
So far, Nos. 51-100 have been unveiled.
Campbell is No. 71 on that list. He is the only Cardinals player ranked so far.
To see For The Win's Top 100 NFL player rankings for 2016, click here[16].
Editor's note: For the Win and azcentral sports are both part of the USA TODAY Network.
For more from The Heat Index, go to heatindex.azcentral.com[17].
Follow Jeremy Cluff on Twitter[18].
References
- ^ Top 100 NFL player rankings (ftw.usatoday.com)
- ^ Ranking the NFL's Top 100 players - 2015 (www.azcentral.com)
- ^ FTW's rankings (ftw.usatoday.com)
- ^ #AZCardinals (twitter.com)
- ^ https://t.co/MXtXoUIRmY (t.co)
- ^ June 8, 2016 (twitter.com)
- ^ Should Patrick Peterson or Tyrann Mathie u be ranked higher? (www.facebook.com)
- ^ For The Win's Steven Ruiz (ftw.usatoday.com)
- ^ #AZCardinals (twitter.com)
- ^ https://t.co/MXtXoUIRmY (t.co)
- ^ June 8, 2016 (twitter.com)
- ^ Where are Cardinals after draft? (www.azcentral.com)
- ^ What they mean for Cardinals (www.azcentral.com)
- ^ Reaction to Cards' class (www.azcentral.com)
- ^ Top 100 player rankings for 2016 (www.nfl.com)
- ^ click here (ftw.usatoday.com)
- ^ heatindex.azcentral.com (heatindex.azcentral.com)
- ^ on Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Last Slide (www.azcentral.com)
- ^ Next Slide (www.azcentral.com)
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