Best NFL player (No QB's)

[an-also]

Everyone knows QB's are the best. Who is the best player in the league outside of the QB's.

Calvin Johnson
Adrian Peterson
DeMarcus Ware
Darrelle Revis
Larry Fitzgerald
Justin Smith
Rob Gronkowski
Patrick Willis
Haloti Ngata
James Harrison
Terrell Suggs
Jared Allen
Joe Thomas
Jake Long
Jason Pierre-Paul
LeSean McCoy
Ray Rice


Mods...poll?

[alpha]

Darren McFadden

[naturalborn103]

This asking who is really best player? Or what player has biggest impact or most important?

[peanut butter]

Lets just cut to the core of the issue and discuss what really matters:

Which of these players is the most dangerous?


PEACE

[Reason]

I used insider.espn.go.com/nfl/features/scouting to refine this list with the help of actual scouts.

Peace to Clay Matthews/Jason Peters/Ed Reed/Andre Johnson/Jimmy Graham/Ndamukong Suh/Babin/Miller/MJD/Forte/Jennings/etc.

[naturalborn103]

Went with AP. That is assuming he returns in same form he left.

[ric]

went gronk because he lines up everywhere, does a lot, and everything he does he does at an incredibly high level. the guy is criminally underrated in the running game as well and is assigned to block everyone from dline to the second level and beyond

[capable_keL]

not a fan of the parenthesis... the opinionated ranking of them by position is really annoying

withholding vote on account of gay premise

[Philaflava]

CJ based on pure talent, athletic ability, impact and what i feel will be a tremendous career. i think he is the best at his position and by a lot., where as the others are probably either 1a, 1b but don't separate themselves quite like CJ.

[unclebengi]

Calvin over Revis by a small margin. The domino effect they have on the opposing defense/offense is a bigger impact than the rest make.

[capable_keL]

say megatron

[an-also]

not a fan of the parenthesis... the opinionated ranking of them by position is really annoying

withholding vote on account of gay premise

I didn't even do that. I only had 10 names on there. I think Reason added a bunch of other players and ranks. Kel is right, the rankings aren't really needed.

[capable_keL]

let the record show kel's emotions from here until November are entirely NFC north related

[Reason]

not a fan of the parenthesis... the opinionated ranking of them by position is really annoying

withholding vote on account of gay premise

i will remove he parenthetical comments but i already explained where the rankings came from (espn insider scout page, not the an-also or my brain just opinionatedly picking shit)

[Reason]

you can call it a homer pick, but i went with revis largely because there is such a huge drop-off from him and the #2 guy (whoever you wanna argue is the 2nd best CB in the nfl)

on the other hand, even though i'm as much of an awe-struck megatron fan as anyone here, there isn't as dramatic a drop-off to the 2nd/3rd/4th best WR's

[capable_keL]

fam

go ahead... im merely in a 3rd quarter troll



voted MEGARON

[Ramen]

you can call it a homer pick, but i went with revis largely because there is such a huge drop-off from him and the #2 guy (whoever you wanna argue is the 2nd best CB in the nfl)

on the other hand, even though i'm as much of an awe-struck megatron fan as anyone here, there isn't as dramatic a drop-off to the 2nd/3rd/4th best WR's

there kind of is though brah.

[Reason]

you can call it a homer pick, but i went with revis largely because there is such a huge drop-off from him and the #2 guy (whoever you wanna argue is the 2nd best CB in the nfl)

on the other hand, even though i'm as much of an awe-struck megatron fan as anyone here, there isn't as dramatic a drop-off to the 2nd/3rd/4th best WR's

there kind of is though brah.

you replace megatron with, say larry fitzgerald, and yes you get a drop-off in pure numbers but larry fitz had kolb/skelton passing to him and he had little help from offensive teammates to get the numbers he got. calvin johnson is still better in my eyes by a noticeable margin but at the same time he had stafford and capable TE's and a better offensive line.

[Prophecy]

Revis slightly ahead of Megatron

[naturalborn103]

People sleep on how much better Peterson is then the next RB. I don't think anyone else would of came close to his production if they were put in his situation most his career. He has had one year of a good QB (Favre) and gone up against 8 man fronts his whole career, and he still outproduces every other RB. His O-line is also not great either.

[Roy Johnson]

Is it fair to say that Johnson and Peterson are both top 10 at their positions in the 90 year history of the league? I went with Peterson, but I just as easily could have voted for Johnson.

There's another current all-time great that wasn't included in this poll: Julius Peppers. He's still at the top of his game, and if there's a better defensive lineman currently playing in the NFL, I'd be shocked.

[unclebengi]

As a pure runner, AP's great, but he's a bad blocker and a bad receiver. I'd rather have Rice or McCoy.

[Prophecy]

Rice is a better all around back than AP

[peanut butter]

DANGEROUS


PEACE

[Roy Johnson]

Rice is a better all around back than AP

Peterson seems like one of those rare backs that could be on one of those ill early-to-mid 80s "Best Ever Runners" videos, along with Walter Payton, Gale Sayers, Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, etc. He'd fit right in very nicely - you can just see that. His combination of power and elusiveness is legendary.

Ray Rice seems like a guy that nobody will remember in 10 years from now.

Pass protection and receiving ability are important, but sheer running ability is the overwhelming factor.

[an-also]

Haloti Ngata getting slept on like crazy.

[Prophecy]

Rice since becoming the starter has had 2 seasons of 2k+ yards from scrimmage and is far superior as a receiver and blocker. It's undeniable that AP has more physical ability but Rice is the better football player and will have better totals later in his career because his success is not just because he's an athletic freak. AP will have a much sharper decline in production because of how much he relies on his physical tools. AP will have the prettier highlights Rice will have the better career. AP could easily be the Fred Taylor of this generation. Rice also takes better care of the football

[Roy Johnson]

I respect that. I still feel like AP is a legendary back, whereas, Rice is solid as fuck, but he's nobody that I'll be telling my grandchildren about. Basically, he's not cut out to be an all-time great. You can argue that he's better at this point in time, though. How AP will perform this season is still somewhat of a mystery dues to his injuries.

[Roy Johnson]

2011 Pro Football Focus Overall Blocking Grades For RBs
1. Fred Jackson 4.7
47. Adrian Peterson -1.0
53. Ray Rice -1.5
64. Lesean McCoy -5.0

For straight up pass-blocking, AP and Rice had identical grades of -0.5.

In 2010, Ray Rice and AP both ranked in the bottom 3 (-6.0 and -6.8, respectively).

[naturalborn103]

Peterson has only fumbled twice in the last two years. He also had one season where he caught 43 passes for 436 yards. Peterson > Rice by wide margin IMO. Peterson has done way more with way less then other RB in the league.