00:00Every season, we go in, like, okay, well, where does this guy rank, what is this, what is that?
00:03Sometimes it's good to just step back and, okay, let's take a breath.
00:08Who's the best?
00:09Not who fits the best, not who is playing the best at this particular time, just who's really good.
00:15So, today, top 10 best players in the NFL.
00:18Who are they?
00:18I will tell you.
00:24Coming in at number 10 for best players going into the 2026-27 season in the NFL, I am going
00:32with Matthew Stafford.
00:34If you just needed to win one game and could guarantee full health, this guy is probably toward the top
00:40of the league right now, I would say.
00:43But there is still a giant potential for injury at any point with him, and you do also have to
00:50look at the situation around him, and I try to take that out of this as much as I possibly
00:54can.
00:55But you still have to, you have to give the MVP some props.
00:58So, Matthew Stafford ends up on the list at number 10.
01:01At 9, Patrick Sertan, the second.
01:04As good a lockdown corner as we have in the National Football League.
01:08Like, we, for a long time, it was Rivas Island.
01:13I feel like, as a Raider fan, I always need to bring up Nnamdi Asamoah.
01:17That candle burned bright.
01:19But he didn't even get the recognition of guys like Rivas and stuff like that.
01:23Because Rivas was getting interceptions and all those things.
01:25Nnamdi!
01:26Nnamdi wasn't even getting thrown at.
01:27We've had a lot of really good lockdown corners in the league.
01:30I feel like Sertan kind of stands above the rest when you are looking at it.
01:34Like, he is someone, when you look at it from a fantasy standpoint, or from a gambling standpoint,
01:38looking at the number one receiver going up against that team that week,
01:41you gotta give him a bump down because of how good he is.
01:44I think he's one of the, one of the few guys in the league that can really affect things in
01:48that way.
01:49So he has to come in at number 9.
01:52At 8, I think the guy who has maybe the most upward mobility on this list is Jackson Smith and
01:59Jigba.
01:59At 8.
02:00He played, like, the best receiver in football last season.
02:02The only reason he's not higher is because it was only one year.
02:05Now, he has progressed very well in the first three seasons in the NFL.
02:10And he is a number one receiver on the Super Bowl champions.
02:13So, it's tough to say, like, okay, we'll do it again.
02:16But, like, if he does it again, there is absolutely a world where this guy is number one on this
02:22list.
02:22Not just at receiver, but number one in the NFL by this time next year.
02:26So, I think there is something to be said for that.
02:30And so, I think he is 100% there.
02:31Shout out to Deeds over on Twitch, who just re-subscribed at Tier 1.
02:37They've now been a subscriber for 30 months total.
02:41Deeds, you're the best, man.
02:42Thank you so much for that.
02:42Really appreciate it.
02:43Thank you for hitting that subscribe button over on Twitch.
02:47Back here to the list.
02:49Will Anderson is at number 7.
02:51Again, just an absolute game wrecker of a pass rusher on the Houston Texans' side.
02:55I think that's the best defense in the National Football League.
02:58I think they were the best defense last year anyway.
02:59We'll see what the Rams are able to do, adding McDuffie and Miles Garrett.
03:03But, I think Will Anderson was at the center of such a good defense last year that you have to
03:12give him his props into this one.
03:15So, he is my number 7 player.
03:17At 6, Penny Sewell, I know John Bender too well to not put an offensive lineman on here.
03:23And I think Sewell has established himself as the best in the league.
03:27I think Lane Johnson may be the most important, but he's not staying healthy.
03:31You can really see the fall off in Philadelphia when he is on and when he is off.
03:36So, in terms of, like, importance to their team, Lane Johnson's still there.
03:40But Penny Sewell, it's not even that great of an offensive line.
03:43But because he is so good, so agile, so flexible out there, it bolsters that line to being one of
03:49the better ones because of how good he is.
03:51At 5, Lamar Jackson.
03:53Down year last year, but I'm not going to hold it against him as much because of injuries and everything
03:57like that.
03:57When you are just looking at, again, incredibly talented humans playing this game, I don't know how you can't watch.
04:04Like, even, I know everyone just, oh, the running back thing and stuff like that.
04:08If you just take away his running, like, if they have to tie his legs up and he has to
04:13stand there in the pocket and throw,
04:15he has developed himself into being a good pocket passer.
04:18And I think he could still be on this list, even if you take the running away.
04:22You add the running and he is so, so damn good.
04:25That was the best offense in the NFL a couple of years ago.
04:28I think they could get back to that here this year if Lamar can stay healthy.
04:31At 4, Puka Nakua.
04:34A dominant game wrecker as a wide receiver.
04:38One, like, the best receiver, I guess spoiler alert the rest of the way, no other receivers ahead of him.
04:43He can do the power thing.
04:44He can beat you over the top.
04:46I don't know how you defend him.
04:47The only hope is that he gets volumed to injury at some point because he can take a few big
04:51hits.
04:52But he's a big body.
04:53He can run fast.
04:54He can do the possession stuff.
04:55I don't know if there is a receiver I would trust more with my season on the line, 4th and
05:016th, to hit him.
05:03Whether it's, you know what, no one's expecting it.
05:05Let's take a deep shot.
05:06Let's go all out and just, boom, go route.
05:10No one's expecting it.
05:11Touchdown.
05:11Or, everyone's expecting it.
05:13There's three linebackers and a cover guy on you.
05:15And we're still going to get the first down over the middle.
05:17He is that good and a part of such a dangerous offense, so he is number 4.
05:25Number 3, Josh Allen.
05:27I know that he hasn't won the big one yet.
05:30And the playoffs didn't go great for Josh Allen this season.
05:33But when you look at the development he has had and everything he can do out there on the football
05:38field,
05:39this guy has the entire package.
05:42He is what you create in Madden when you're creating yourself as a quarterback.
05:46Like, he has the wheels, he has the strength, he has the arm strength, he has the accuracy, can kind
05:51of wobble on him sometimes.
05:53Dude can get a little outside of his mind at points.
05:55But aside from that, the entire package at quarterback for Buffalo.
06:00And you look at the expectations that are on this Bills team and the actual weapons he has to work
06:05with,
06:05the fact that they are still pretty consistently up there offensively is entirely a testament to this guy.
06:11At number 2, this was a money-where-your-mouth-is thing with this list.
06:17Because last year, I was saying this guy should win MVP.
06:20And so if I didn't put him in the top 2, at least as the top offensive player on this
06:24list,
06:24I would be very hypocritical.
06:27So, number 2, Christian McCaffrey.
06:31Everything that went on in San Francisco last year.
06:33Different quarterbacks, wide receivers, all out of there.
06:36George Kittles, leg exploded.
06:39They had so many injury problems.
06:41And Christian McCaffrey stayed healthy and stayed awesome the whole way.
06:45If they wanted him to play quarterback, he would have.
06:48He did everything for this team and kept them as a legitimate threat to the one seed in the NFC
06:54throughout the entire season.
06:56And it is almost exclusively because that guy was that good.
07:00So when he is healthy, he is still the best running back and probably the best offensive player in the
07:05National Football League.
07:06If you could guarantee health, this guy is, like, probably, like, multiple MVPs and all of that.
07:12Although people keep giving it to quarterback.
07:14But he is, he just, he's so talented.
07:17He's so incredible at what he can do.
07:19And is a guy who, on his own, can carry an offense.
07:22Not only just to be average.
07:23Like, he can make a bad offense very good just by being there.
07:28And at number one, guy, not often, the number one player on this list gets traded in the offseason.
07:33But Miles Garrett, now of the LA Rams, single season sack record, all that stuff.
07:39He is a one-man game-wrecking crew on that defensive line.
07:45You have to shift your entire game plan just to affect him and just to deal with him.
07:52As a pass rusher, second to none, his pursuit is incredible.
07:55He is, I don't think there's any question, he's the best player in the NFL.
07:59And now, he's going to be on a team that can really take advantage of it.
08:04So I cannot wait to see what this guy does in real, meaningful games.
08:07So, that's it.
08:08That's my top ten.
08:09Stafford, Sertan II, Smith & Jigba, Will Anderson, Sewell, Jackson, Nuka, Josh Allen, CMC, and Miles Garrett.
08:19I'm assuming everyone agrees with this list.
08:22Ten out of ten, no notes.
08:23But, if you happen to have any disagreement with me, let me know in the chat, if you're watching live,
08:28in the comments after the fact, or social media, if you are so inclined, or if you are listening to
08:33this in podcast form.
08:35Also, if you are watching this, Couch Potato Diary is a podcast.
08:39Just search out Couch Potato Diary on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
08:45Podcasts.
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