Jay GreesonNFL's best
ESPN ranked the best players in the NFL, as voted by 50 members of NFL front offices, media types and former players.
Here's the top 25 on list.
Couple of things jumped out to us.
First, there are only five quarterbacks in the top 25, and in order they are Aaron Rodgers (No. 2 overall), Tom Brady (No. 6), Cam Newton (No. 10), Ben Roethlisberger (No. 18) and Russell Wilson (No. 21). Anyone else surprised that Wilson was that high, and even Roethlisberger, considering some names like Brees, Manning, Rivers and some others were not as highly regarded?
Also, of those quarterbacks in the top 25, only Rodgers was ranked as the top player on his given team. Rob Gronkowski was the top Patriots player at No. 3, Luke Kuechly was the top Panthers player at No. 7, Antonio Brown was the stop Steelers star at No. 4 and Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman, Nos. 15 and 14, respectively, are ahead of Wilson.
The top player is J.J. Watt with an overall ranking of 97.87. Want an amazing stat of Watt's all-time accolades? He's only 27, and he already has three NFL defensive player of the year awards; the only other player to accomplish that is Lawrence Taylor.
Still, we prefer to look at value, and put into a ranking of trade merits.
Yes, it's a different scale and perspective. We know this.
But ask yourself if the Panthers called and offered Newton for Watt straight up, the Texans couldn't say yes quickly enough.
Thoughts?
Atlanta Braves' Matt Kemp swings on a two-run double against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the eighth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016, in Phoenix.Baseball sides of a coin
OK, the Atlanta Braves have been awful. We expected them to be awful, and they have delivered on that expectation in force.
The Arizona Diamondbacks pushed their chips in to contend this year. Spending big in free agency and trades to make a run at the playoffs.
Hey, we're all for each decision as long as you're committed to the ultimate end result, which is to be in a position to win championships.
And to be fair, the Atlanta Braves of two years ago was good enough to contend for a wildcard spot and little more.
These Diamondbacks had one of the best sluggers in the league in Paul Goldschmidt. They had other pieces. They spent more than $200 million on an ace by signing Zach Grienke. The other big addition was Shelby Miller, who Arizona acquired from the Braves for the steep price that was former No. 1 overall pick Dansby Swanson.
Now comes the cruel testament to how the Braves season has gone exactly to plan - they are on-pace for more than 100 losses - and the D-Backs season has spun so far off the rails, the rails are no longer visible - they are on pace for 95 losses despite unloading prospects and ponying up a lot of coin to contend.
Dansby, who the Braves called up earlier this month, returned to the desert this week; Miller, the pencilled in No. 2 starter has been demoted to the minors after a dreadful four months in Arizona that included a plus-7 ERA.
Swanson's first week in the bigs has been reason to believe.
Yes, it's a microscopic sample size, but hitting primarily eighth, Swanson has just one error at short and is 7-for-24 (.292) at the plate.
Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/25/15. The University of Tennessee's Charles Mosley (78) collides with Brett Kendrick (63) during the Dish Orange & White Game in Knoxville on Saturday, April 25, 2015.College football
The hashtag #MyCFBTeamin5Words was trending Wednesday morning, and that got us thinking. (Yes, Spy, that is normally a less than good thing.)
How would we describe a slew of the college football teams of interest around these parts in five words?
Challenge accepted.
UTC - Is Alejandro ready for this? This one is first and pretty clear, considering the Mocs may have the most talented and complete collection of starters 2-through-22 (plus kicker) they have under Russ Huesman. So, if Alejandro Bennifield is up to the challenge at quarterback, UTC is going to be awfully tough.
UT - Can UT beat the Gators? Forget expectations for a moment. Forget the talk off a 10-win season, a preseason top-10 rankings, winning the East or even being a sleeper pick for the college football playoff. Tennessee enters season 120 with an immense amount of promise and hope, and if the Vols fall to Florida for the 12th consecutive time in week 3, who knows what direction this ride will take. Is that too much on one game? In almost all other scenarios, yes it is. But for these Vols in this moment with that big a dark cloud hanging over that rivalry, UT's ultimate goals start - and may even stop - with the game with the Gators.
UGA - Who will be our quarterback? And in truth, you could use the same phrase for Auburn, which is searching for a signal caller as we close in on 10 days from monster kickoffs against mighty ACC foes for both the Bulldogs and the Tigers. It feels pretty reasonable that the coaching staffs at UGA and Auburn have the guys they'd like to start - Georgia with freshman Jacob Eason; Auburn with high-ceiling runner, lower-accuracy thrower John Franklin III - but the lack of an announcement to this point likely means neither has grabbed the reins.
Alabama - Doesn't matter who's the QB. Or, "All we need is 17" which works for the chase for another national title and in truth that could be a game-by-game scheme for the offense. If the Tide can put 17 on the board every game with that defense, they will be in pretty good shape. Seriously, if Reuben Foster delivers at middle linebacker, as crazy as this sounds, this may be the most-talented Alabama defense across each level.
Tennessee head coach Butch Jones watches his team practice at Haslam Field on Aug. 18, 2016.This and that
- Man, talk about the rich staying rich. The 247Sports composite recruiting rankings have 32 five-star prospects. Twelve of them are uncommitted. Of the 20 that have offered a non-binding verbal pledge, six are headed to The Ohio State University, four are headed to Alabama, and three to Clemson.
- In this day and age of pointed - and deserved - questions at the media, here's something the golden-era of the media in days gone by never had to deal with: A candidate for the French presidency announced his intention to run on Facebook. Facebook. Somewhere Walter Cronkite just spit up a little.
- Butch Jones will swing by Press Row today around 5 p.m. on ESPN 105.1 the Zone. You can also listen online right here at timesfreepress.com/news/sports/.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., talks on June 28 on Capitol Hill in Washington.Today's question
Gang, on this day 560 yards ago, the printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed. Plainly put it was one of the great game-changing moments in the history of time.
Also, on this day in 1891 Thomas Edison patented the motion picture camera. Edison was a smart cookie.
Locally, we'll wish a happy 64th birthday to former mayor and current U.S. senator Bob Corker. Who's on the Rushmore of most famous Chattanoogans?
Feel free to discuss how would you would describe your college football team in five words, too.
Oh yeah. Mailbag folks; mailbag.