Four Ravens Make NFL’s Top 100 List of 2025
The NFL’s Top 100 List has concluded after announcing the players ranked in the top 10 late on Monday night. The NFL’s Top 100 List has been a staple for the past 14 seasons, allowing NFL players to vote on who they think deserves to carry the title of “Best in the NFL”. For the 2024 season, four Ravens were voted into the Top 100, which seems low, but when one thinks about the scale and talent that is spread across the entire NFL, it is not surprising that some made it over others. Some Baltimore snubs include Zay Flowers, Marlon Humphrey, Nnamdi Madubuike, and Kyle Van Noy. While they were snubbed, Marylanders can celebrate that Kyle Hamilton, Roquan Smith, Derrick Henry, and Lamar Jackson cracked the player-voted top 100 players after the 2024 NFL Season.
Kyle Hamilton – 51st out of 100
Dropping eight spots after last year's list, star safety Kyle Hamilton still finds himself on the top 100 list after a weird season for the Ravens’ secondary. Going from almost worst at the halfway point of the season to almost best in the entire NFL in pass defense, Hamilton plays a huge part in the drastic turnaround. Hamilton was unable to play his original “wild card” position on the field due to the problems in the secondary surrounding Eddie Jackson and Marcus Williams, but after both were relieved of their duties, Ar’Darius Washington stepped up, allowing Hamilton to fly around the field like his 2022 and 2023 seasons. In 2024, Hamilton recorded only one interception, but hit career highs in combined tackles, assisted tackles, and QB hits with 107, 30, and six, respectively. Expectations are high for the 2025 Ravens defense in the second year under Zach Orr after the signing of Jaire Alexander and the drafting of Malaki Starks.
Roquan Smith – 40th out of 100
Dropping an astounding 21 spots from the 2024 list, Roquan Smith still finds himself in the top 50. Similar to Hamilton, there may have been some drop due to the defensive problems in Baltimore’s first 10 weeks, but Roquan still made plays. The craziest part of Roquan dropping is that, when comparing his 2023 statistics to his 2024 statistics, they are virtually the same. While playing in all 16 games each season, Roquan compiled one interception, one forced fumble, and one and a half sacks in each of the 23 and 24 seasons. Additionally, in 2024, Smith recorded 154 tackles, 81 solo and 73 assisted, which is essentially looking into a mirror with his 158 total, 84 solo and 74 assisted tackles of 2023. The leader of Baltimore’s defense probably doesn’t even care about this arbitrary player-voted list because, just like every other Raven, we only want the biggest accolade, a Lombardi Trophy.
Derrick Henry – Seventh out of 100
Finishing fourth in AP Offensive Player of the Year, behind Ja’Marr Chase, teammate Lamar Jackson, and Saquon Barkley, where the latter led the league in rushing with over 2,000 yards, it is not surprising that The King made the top 10. Doubters claimed that Henry’s age would be a negative factor in his production and that veterans who go to Baltimore don’t succeed. That was just wrong. The then 30-year-old recorded his best season on paper since 2020 with 1,921 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. With the pure eye test, it was clear that defenders made business decisions while trying to tackle the six-foot-two, 250-pound behemoth. Henry improved his position from the 2024 list, jumping from 49 in his last year in Tennessee, and hopefully, he never finds himself back down there.
Lamar Jackson – Second out of 100
For the second straight year, Lamar Jackson finds himself ranked second on the NFL Top 100 List behind the player who won the AP Offensive Player of the Year in each year: Tyreek Hill on the 2024 list and Saquon Barkley on the 2025 list. Many believe Lamar was snubbed of his third career MVP award in favor of Josh Allen, despite the eye test and statistics both leaning in Jackson’s favor. Josh Allen is undoubtedly one of the best dual-threat QBs with his arm strength and power while running the ball. However, Lamar Jackson bested Allen in every statistical category except rushing touchdowns and overall record for the 2024 season, including playoffs. At the end of the day, Lamar Jackson is making professional football players miss tackles on the ground and throwing darts through the air where only the receiver can make a play, earning himself the fitting title of second-best player in the NFL, voted by teammates, peers, and opponents.
Final Thoughts
It would have been nice to see more than four players make this list. Marlon Humphrey recorded a career high and third-best in the NFL, six interceptions. Kyle Van Noy was fourth in the league in sacks, recording a career high of 12.5 sacks at 32 years old. Flowers recorded over 1,000 yards receiving but still ranked 19th in the league. Madubuike had a down year despite still being disruptive on the defensive front, producing better numbers on paper than 87th-ranked Quinnen Williams. As I stated earlier, it would’ve been nice, but to base all of one's emotions and feelings on an arbitrary list voted by professional athletes who play with or against each other is useless when the list fans truly want their players to be on is the list of Super Bowl Champions.
