We’re getting closer and closer to finishing our EssentiallySports Top-100 players series. Unlike the NFL, which surveys the players and ranks them based on last year, we polled some of our NFL staff to try to identify the top-100 players in the league right now, not just last season.

So far, we’ve ranked 80 players and have just 20 more to go. Today, we’re releasing players No. 20 through No. 11, but keep your eyes out, because the top-10 could be coming sooner than you think.

Kicking off this week’s list at No. 20 is Aidan Hutchinson, who, after suffering a gruesome leg injury in 2024, bounced back with a massive 2025 season, totaling 100 pressures and 14.5 sacks.

When Hutchinson has been healthy, he has easily been one of the best and most feared pass rushers in football, and his stats have gotten better every single year. If he plays all 17 games in 2026, don’t be surprised if he has 100+ pressures and 16+ sacks.

Lamar Jackson has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL since he took over as the full time start in Baltimore back in 2019. He’d go on to win MVP that year before winning it again in 2023, and if it weren’t for voter fatigue, he probably would’ve won a third in 2024.

2025 wasn’t Jackson’s best year, largely due to him playing just 13 games, but with a new regime and some new offensive weapons, he should once again cement himself as a top-three quarterback in the NFL. There is nobody else in the league that comes close to what he can do with both his arm and his legs. He’s the definition of a dual-threat quarterback.

Micah Parsons is clearly one of the best pass rushers in the NFL. He’s totaled 12+ sacks every single season in the NFL, and he did so last year in just 14 games before tearing his ACL. Unfortunately, he’s going to miss time at the start of this season, so for the third year in a row he won’t play all 17 games, but once he’s back, he’s going to transform Green Bay’s defense.

There aren’t many players in the NFL who can completely change a defense single-handedly, but Parsons is one of those guys. When he’s on the field, offenses have to game plan around him, freeing up other players on defense to get one-on-one opportunities. His value is much more than the sacks he produces.

Everyone made fun of Detroit for “reaching” on Jahmyr Gibbs in the draft a few years back, but if they could do it over, they would absolutely make the same pick again.

Gibbs had a successful rookie year, totaling 1,200+ yards and 11 touchdowns in 2023, but in the two years since then, he’s racked up over 2,600 rushing yards and 1,100 receiving yards with 36 total touchdowns, and that was while splitting carries with David Montgomery. This year he’s going to get more touches than ever, and I’m excited to see what he does with them.

Trent Williams has been one of the best offensive tackles in the NFL for over a decade now. There are very few offensive tackles that can pass protect and run block like him, and while he is getting older and slowing down a little bit, he’s still one of the premier left tackles in football.

Since his rookie season in 2010, Williams has given up 5+ sacks in a season just one time, while also only allowing 30+ pressures in three of those years. And he’s done that while earning an 80+ run-blocking grade from PFF eight times, including the past six years straight.

Tackles like Williams don’t come around often, so enjoy watching him while you still can.

Jeffery Simmons comes in at No. 15 on this list, and I still think that’s way too low. As you can tell from our personal rankings, I had Simmons as the 10th-best player in the league, because he truly is that dominant, but he doesn’t get the love he deserves because he’s on the Titans.

Simmons is the best pass-rushing defensive tackle in football, finishing with 11 sacks, which ranked 11th in the league and was 2.5 more than any other interior defensive lineman in the sport. But on top of being an elite pass rusher, he’s one of the best run-defending defensive tackles as well.

Simmons deserves more love, and if Tennessee is at least decent this year, he should start to get more praise.

Pat Surtain II has been one of, if not the best cornerback in football for the past five years now. He’s won Defensive Player of the Year before – which is rare for a cornerback – and was once again very good in 2025.

Over the past two years, Surtain has given up 639 receiving yards and two touchdowns while picking off five passes and breaking up 14 more. He didn’t have the interception numbers last year, just one compared to four in 2024, but he broke up nine passes compared to five in his DPOY year.

Truly elite cornerbacks are hard to come by in the NFL, but Surtain is one of them.

Fred Warner missed a large majority of last season, but he’s still the best off-ball linebacker in football, and I don’t think there’s much of a debate.

Warner, a four-time First-Team All-Pro, is extremely versatile. He can cover, he can rush the passer, and he can defend the run. It’s not all that often that an offensive coordinator has to scheme around an off-ball linebacker, but when teams play the 49ers, Fred Warner is the first thing on their minds when making the weekly game plan.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba won Offensive Player of the Year in 2025 after a monster season where he caught 119 passes for 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns as he helped the Seahawks win the Super Bowl.

Njigba had a somewhat disappointing rookie year, totaling just 628 yards and four scores, but followed it up with a 1,130-yard, 6-touchdown campaign in 2024. A lot of people expected him to keep climbing in 2025, but I don’t think anyone expected him to be arguably the best receiver in football.

JSN is the purest route runner in football, and as he proved last night, he’s 100 percent QB-proof.

Rounding out this week’s list is Ja’Marr Chase, who just edges out fellow wide receiver JSN. Chase didn’t have as strong of a 2025 campaign as JSN, catching 125 passes for 1,412 yards and eight touchdowns, but that was largely due to Joe Burrow’s injury. The last time Burrow played 17 games, Chase won the triple crown, catching 127 passes for 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Both guys have their strengths, but Chase’s skill set is a bit more valuable than JSN’s. He can go up and make plays downfield, even when he has a guy blanketed on him, and that’s something JSN can’t do as well. Both guys are fantastic, but Chase just beats him out in our rankings.