Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The NFL Network’s Top 100 Players of 2013 countdown is mildly entertaining. I don’t put much stock into the annual list, but it’s still fun to see where the players rank their peers. Most of the time they get it right, and then sometimes with a player like Brandon Marshall, you’re just left scratching your head.
Marshall came in at No. 27 on this year’s countdown, which many people would consider a fair ranking. I would agree, except for that fact that there are six wide receivers ranked ahead of him. Six!?
There is no way that Brandon Marshall is the seventh best receiver in the NFL. Obviously, Calvin Johnson is No.1, nobody should dispute that. Then you have Andre Johnson (according to the countdown), and A.J. Green. Now I think you can even make a case that Marshall is better than both Johnson and Green. However, you can also make a case that he should be ranked behind both of those guys.
But where the countdown starts to lose me, is when they have Reggie Wayne, Larry Fitzgerald, and Julio Jones in front of Marshall. Fitzgerald is great, but as of right now today, Marshall is better. There’s no way that I’m going to say Wayne and Jones are better than Marshall. They both had good seasons in 2012, but they’re not better receivers.
I’m not declaring that Brandon Marshall should be in the top-10, but to leave him out of the top-20 is just disrespectful. We’re talking about a guy who racked up 1,500 yards and 11 touchdowns a season ago, and a times he was his team’s offense. In my eyes, he’s the second best receiver in football right now, and much more deserving of a ranking in the top-15.
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