NFL Player Power Rankings Week 5: The defensive players

Welcome to FanSided’s weekly NFL Player Power Rankings. Every Tuesday throughout the season you can check out rankings for a different key positions, including quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, and even the defensive star players. These power rankings will consist of the top twenty-five players at that given position. With 32 teams and only 25 spots that means that not every team’s players will make the cut. So make sure you check in every Tuesday to see if your favorite players made the list.

These rankings are NOT a list of the players with the most established and proven careers. That would favor the older players. They are also NOT a list of the players you would most want to build around going forward. That list would favor the younger players. No, this is a ranking of the best players at that position right now, today. The NFL is a “what have you done for me lately” kind of a league. So while early in the season the list will be influenced by previous performances, if later in the year Kyle Fuller is clearly outproducing Darrelle Revis then their rankings will reflect that (and they do) regardless of what their general perception or reputation is.

This week it’s time for the defensive players. I could have easily broke the defensive players into different position groups, but since I wanted to be able to get several rotations of each position in during the regular season I ended making the decision to just do one overall defensive player list. That makes this week’s list the most stacked from top to bottom. Only the best of the best are going to be able to make the cut. A player either has to have incredibly special talents or be having an incredibly special season in order to make the cut.

So who made the list? Let’s find out, starting with number 25……