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Every year, the media portion of the NFL puts out a list of the Top 100 Players of the previous season. They say that the list is put together based on the voting of actual NFL players. The thing is, if NFL players voted this list into being, then how is it possible Cameron Wake made an appearance on the list as the 89th top player of 2012?
Firstly, it is certainly considered an honor for both the franchise and the fans that support the team to have a player named as one of the Top 100, maybe even more so in this case because the players vote themselves to the list.
The problem is, Wake deserves to be much higher on this list than 89th.
Wake topped the Pro Football Focus production list for 4-3 defensive ends in 2012, and he was the only Miami Dolphins player originally selected to the Pro Bowl (he was joined by a handful of others that made it as replacements, or by coaches votes). Wake sacked the opposing quarterback 17 times, hurried the passer 46 times and had a league-high 23 quarterback hits.
The year before, Wake topped PFF’s production list as a 3-4 outside linebacker. Not many players have the ability to maintain such a high level of production despite a change in base defense and position. Wake excelled despite the change.
As a side note, it is worth pointing out that Wake was third on the list in 2010 as well.
For some reason, Wake has not broken out as a national sensation. The fact his peers voted him onto this list is fantastic, but what Wake does deserves a much higher representation. Simply put, there are not 20 players, let alone 88, in the league that are better than Wake, and the numbers prove it.
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Jeff Everette is a NFL columnist for www.RantSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter @jeverettesports, “like” his page on Facebook, “Trust” him on Sulia, or join his community on Google+.
