Okay, so every year when those official Madden lists come out, I get kinda worked up. Not like, angry worked up, but more like, “huh, really?” worked up. You see the ratings, the top 100 players, and there are always a few head-scratchers, you know? Guys too high, guys too low, guys completely missing. It gets me thinking.
So this year, I figured, why not try and make my own? Just sit down and actually try to hash out who I think the best 100 players in the league are right now. Seemed simple enough at first.
Getting Started
First thing I did was grab a big sheet of paper. Yeah, I know, super high-tech. I just started listing out names, position by position. Didn’t worry about the order yet, just getting the contenders down. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers… went through all the offense first. Then flipped the paper over and started on the defense. Linemen, linebackers, corners, safeties. Even added the top kickers and punters, gotta respect the specialists!
That part was easy enough, just brain-dumping all the guys who immediately popped into my head as being elite or close to it. Probably ended up with like, 150 names easy.
The Hard Part: Ranking ‘Em
This is where it got tricky. Now I had this big list of names, and I had to actually put them in order from 1 to 100. How do you compare a dominant left tackle to a ball-hawking safety? Or a game-breaking receiver to a quarterback who just manages the game perfectly?
I started trying to group them. Put all the S-tier guys, the absolute no-brainers, near the top. Your Mahomesses, your Donalds, those types. That maybe filled the top 10, 15 spots. Then it got real subjective.
- I tried thinking about impact. Who changes the game the most?
- I thought about consistency. Not just one great year, but who does it season after season?
- Positional value came into play too. A great QB is usually more valuable than a great running back, right? Had to factor that in somehow.
Spent a lot of time just staring at the list. Moved guys up, moved guys down. Erased names, added different ones I’d forgotten. I’d rank a group of receivers, feel good about it, then look at the defensive ends and realize I had way too many receivers ranked higher than studs on the D-line. So I’d have to reshuffle everything again.
Finishing Touches
It took a few evenings, honestly. Just tinkering with the order. Getting down to the last few spots, cutting guys who are really good players but just didn’t quite make my top 100, that was tough. You feel kinda bad leaving certain names off.
Finally, I had a list. 1 to 100. Is it perfect? Heck no. Is it better than the official list? Well, I think so, haha. But mostly, it was just a fun exercise. Made me appreciate how hard it is to actually rank these guys and how many truly great players there are in the league right now. Definitely gave me a different perspective for when the next official list drops.
