We have officially made it to the back half of the EssentiallySports NFL Top-100 countdown. Instead of basing our rankings on the previous season, as the NFL does, the ES NFL staff came together to compile a list of the definitive top 100 players in the league.

With five more Mondays until the NFL regular season starts, we’re set to finish our countdown just in time for the 2026 season, and today, we enter the top-50.

From one of the best edge rushers in the game to arguably the best guard in football, here are players No. 50 through No. 41.

Kicking off this week’s list and just sneaking into the top-50 is Maxx Crosby, who nearly became the newest member of the Baltimore Ravens this offseason before they backed out of the trade, forcing Crosby to return to Las Vegas.

It’s easy to see why Baltimore was interested in Crosby. The five-time Pro Bowler has recorded 10+ sacks in three of his last four seasons, and the only time he didn’t was in 2024, when he missed five games, but still managed to log 7.5 sacks. When he’s on the field, he’s one of the best pass rushers in the league, no questions asked.

If Crosby could’ve stayed fully healthy the last two seasons, he probably would’ve been higher on this list, but No. 50 seems fair for now.

After an incredibly productive first two seasons in the NFL, Jalen Carter’s numbers fell off a bit in 2025, logging 41 pressures and 3.0 sacks with a career-worst 41.9 run defense grade. But don’t get it twisted, Carter is still one of the most impactful defensive players in the league.

Carter is explosive off the line, which has helped him become one of the most productive pass-rushing defensive tackles in football, and it’s largely because of him that Philly’s edge rushers can have so much success. There’s a reason the Eagles made him the highest-paid defensive tackle in football recently.

I want to see Carter get back to his 2023/2024 form this year, because 2025 was a bit of a letdown. But Philly seems fully confident he will get back to that form.

Nik Bonitto has been one of the most under-appreciated edge rushers in football over the past two seasons. He never logged more than 8.0 sacks in his first two years, but has totaled 27.5 sacks over the last two years, earning himself two Pro Bowl nods and a Second-Team All-Pro appearance in 2024.

Bonitto is the lead guy on a Denver defense that totaled 68 sacks in 2025, which is tied for the fifth-most by a team in a single season in NFL history. Even though defenses know Bonitto is Denver’s biggest threat, they can’t stop him.

Bonitto might even deserve to be higher on this list than No. 48, but he absolutely deserves to be in the top-50.

The defensive line run continues with Chris Jones, who has been a cornerstone piece for the Kansas City Chiefs for a decade now.

Jones has been a force to be reckoned with ever since his rookie season, but he really took off in 2018, when he logged 74 pressures and 15.5 sacks in his third year in the league. Since then, he’s recorded 10+ sacks two more times – which is basically unheard of for a defensive tackle – and if it weren’t for Aaron Donald, he’d be talked about as the best defensive tackle of this generation.

Jones is getting older and failed to hit the 70-pressure mark for the first time since 2021, but he’s still a top-three defensive tackle in the NFL.

Derwin James has been one of the best safeties in the league for a long, long time now, and he’s not really slowing down even though he’s about to turn 30.

James has had one season where he posted a coverage grade lower than 74, and just two seasons where he’s had a run defense grade and pass rush grade lower than 74. There aren’t many safeties in the league who are more versatile than him. He can do basically everything a defensive coordinator asks of him, and more.

James has shown no signs of slowing down, so expect this elite-level of play to continue for the foreseeable future.

Jared Verse was a part of the biggest blockbuster of the summer when the Los Angeles Rams shipped the 25-year-old, a first, second, and third rounder to the Cleveland Browns for Myles Garrett. Outside of the quarterback, there are only a handful of players who would only need one first-round pick attached to get Myles Garrett in a trade. That’s how valuable an asset Verse is.

Verse hasn’t been the biggest sack guy in his career, totaling 4.5 as a rookie and 7.5 as a sophomore, but he’s finished top-five in pressures in both of his first two seasons in the league. If he can learn to start finishing some of those plays off – which shouldn’t be too hard – he’ll be considered a top-five edge rusher in the league, easily.

Verse is only going to continue climbing up this list every year, so watch out, because one day he might be a top-10 player.

De’Von Achane has been one of the most complete running backs in the league since his rookie season. He took over Miami’s backfield in 2024, rushing for 907 yards with 592 more through the air and 12 total touchdowns, and then in 2025, he rushed for 1,350 yards and eight scores with 488 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns.

Because Achane plays for the Dolphins, he doesn’t get the love he deserves, and probably will continue to fly under the radar this year, given how bad Miami’s offensive roster looks, but he is one of the top running backs in football.

We’ll see how this season goes for Achane and how it affects his ranking next year, but he’s easily a top-50 player in my eyes.

The Los Angeles Rams made a massive move this offseason, trading the No. 29 overall pick plus more to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for Trent McDuffie, one of the best young cornerbacks in football.

McDuffie has been lockdown ever since he entered the league in 2022, but he’s taken his game to another level over the past two seasons and had arguably his best year in 2025. On top of being great in coverage, McDuffie is also very good against the run, earning a 78+ run defense grade from PFF in each of the last two seasons.

McDuffie was the missing piece to this Rams defense, so we’ll see if he can help them get over the hump this year.

I personally feel like I did Quenton Nelson a bit dirty putting him at No. 59, but hindsight is 20/20. He’s been one of the best guards in the league since he stepped onto the field as a rookie in 2018, and he’s about as reliable as they come, playing 1,000+ snaps in all but one season.

Nelson is a terrific pass blocker, giving up more than one sack just three times in his eight-year career and allowing more than 25 pressures just one time. But pass blocking isn’t even his biggest strength; he’s also one of the best run blockers in the league, helping pave the way for Jonathan Taylor.

Nelson should probably be in the 30s, but I’ll take the blame for putting him so low in our initial rankings. If I could go back and redo it, he’d be higher.

Rounding out this week’s list is Lane Johnson, who has been a cornerstone piece on Philly’s offensive line since 2013. He gave up 10 sacks as a rookie, but since then has only given up 21 more over his next 12 seasons.

Even though Johnson is 36 years old, he hasn’t given up a single sack in the last two seasons and has only allowed 17 pressures during that time. In fact, he hasn’t given up a sack in four of his last five seasons and has allowed 11 or fewer pressures in each of those four years.

Johnson’s time is coming to a close, but he’s still extremely effective and will go down as one of the best offensive linemen in NFL history.