Over the next couple of weeks, ESPN is going to be rolling out its preseason player rankings. The Philadelphia Eagles had the best roster in the NFL last year, and they still have it now. So you would imagine that our guys would be littering those rankings. Well, bad news: they aren’t… yet.
So far, they’ve just put out a ranking of skill groups, running backs, defensive tackles, edge rushers, and safeties, so some of the rankings make sense, and some of them don’t.
No love for the edges and the safeties
Let’s start with the good news: The Eagles have a really, really good group of dudes at the skill positions. We already knew that, but luckily, some people know the numbers and are able to back it up with stats.
Best and worst skill groups: Eagles at No. 1
On Tuesday, Bill Barnwell released his ranking of the best skill groups (running backs, tight ends, and wide receivers). He based it on four guidelines: It’s only about projected performance for 2025, injuries matter, wide receivers have more weight than running backs, and he used the combination of the five best players. On top of that, he said he used some of ESPN Analytics' data to suss everything out.
So the question is, ‘Are A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Saquon Barkley, Dallas Goedert, and Jahan Dotson the best group of skill players in the NFL?’ The answer is demonstrably a Yes… which is one of the seemingly few times the eye test gets backed up by numbers.
The Saquon Barkley of it all is very easy. He was the best running back in the league last year, and he’s projected to be one of the best in 2025. It doesn’t take a huge brain to know that he’s a huge boost to the Eagles' overall score, especially when there’s only going to be one new starter on the offensive line in 2025.
For the wide receivers, Barnwell brought up the yards per route run, which is a good spot to start. The Eagles were the most run-heavy offense in the league last year, so that means A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith had relatively limited opportunities, but they made the most out of them.
Barnwell wrote, “...A.J. Brown's 3.3 yards per route run ranked second best in the league…he ran only 323 routes, less than half of Ja'Marr Chase's total (680) in Cincinnati.” He continued, “DeVonta Smith wasn't far behind, as he ranked 14th in yards per route run and eighth in receiver score. Like Brown, Smith was limited to 13 games and 350 routes, but he still averaged more yards per route than CeeDee Lamb and Malik Nabers.”
Not only is that super sick, but it’s also very funny that he compared Smith to two other WR1s in the NFC East. After seeing that, I went to check, and sure enough, not only does Smith have more than Lamb and Nabers, but also Terry McLaurin.
Bravo, Mr. Barnwell. You knocked this out of the park. If I had to pick nits, it would be with the ending. He says, “If you prefer the Lions or Bengals to what the Eagles can offer, I wouldn't take much issue. This is a narrow race at the top.” That’s whack, and I would take much issue.
NFL people rank running backs: Saquon Barkley at No. 1
For these next four, ESPN surveyed “league executives, coaches and scouts to help [them] rank the top 10 players at 11 different positions.” So this is different from the NFL players' poll of the best players; this is a survey of a bunch of people who are paid NFL money to evaluate talent.
After reading through these rankings, my biggest problem is that they use quotes from people, but they don’t name names. Nobody ever names names; it’s always ‘a veteran scout’ or ‘a personnel director.’ What happened to accountability?
Someone deserves to get blasted if they have the wrong opinion and rank the reigning Offensive Player of the Year as not the best running back in the NFL… which is exactly what happened.
Of course, Saquon Barkley was ranked as the best running back in the NFL, but Jeremy Fowler (who wrote the piece) led Barkley's section with, “Barkley got greedy in 2024. He clearly wanted every first-place vote in our 2025 poll. And he got all but one of them.”
Who could that have been? Hmmmmm. Does his name rhyme with Shmrian Shmaboll, or Shmon Shmara, or Shmoe Schoen?
For what it’s worth, the running backs who filled out the rest of the top five were Derrick Henry, Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, and Christian McCaffrey. The second, third, and fourth guys are fine, but are the ‘smart guys’ really thinking CMC is back? That’s wild. Also dumb. It’s wildly dumb.
NFL people rank defensive tackles: Jalen Carter at No. 3
The two guys ranked above Jalen Carter were Dexter Lawrence and Chris Jones… yeah, okay. That’s fine. Lawrence was a monster last season, and now that the Giants have an even more stacked defensive line, he’ll probably be even better in 2025. Chris Jones has been one of the best defenders in the NFL for the past seven years, and he can line up pretty much anywhere on the line. Those two dudes are really good.
Fowler sums it up pretty well: “Carter's 4.5 sacks and 8.8% pass rush win rate are not gaudy, but he's the classic need-to-see-him-in-person player. He's as disruptive as they come. The only thing keeping him out of the top two is experience.”
Lawrence had a whopping nine sacks last season, and Jones had a league-leading pass rush win rate (beating your blocker in under 2.5 seconds). That’s real production, and the same people who like McCaffrey are probably the same people who value those numbers over the dawg work that Jalen Carter does.
He’s probably right about the experience thing too; both of the other guys have been good for about twice as long (or more) as Jalen Carter has been in the NFL.
I accept Carter’s third-place ranking. But I do it begrudgingly… and I do it with a chip on my shoulder, on his behalf.
The last two guys in the top five are Jeffrey Simmons and Quinnen Williams. It’s nice that both the Giants and the Titans will be two bottom-of-the-barrel-tier teams with dynamite on the defensive line. Good for them.
NFL people rank Edge Rushers: Eagles get no respect
Listen, I’m not saying that Nolan Smith or Josh Sweat (who I am still emotionally attached to until he takes his first snap as a Cardinal) should be in the top 10, but how do they get zero votes?
The top 10 are: Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, Maxx Crosby, Nick Bosa, Trey Hendrickson, Aidan Hutchinson, Will Anderson Jr., Danielle Hunter (pronounced: Dan-eel), and Jared Verse.
Myles Garrett deserves to be number one, but after his whole ‘I want to be traded to a good team that has a competitive culture’ thing, followed by re-signing with the Browns, should take him out of the top spot. That's a loser mentality. Am I still sour about it? Yes, of course.
Fowler then listed four honorable mentions and seven guys who also received votes. Neither Smith nor Sweat was listed. Hell, Chop Robinson got a vote, and no one is going to give one to Sweat? Get out of here with that. Boo.
NFL people rank Safeties: Blankenship-less
Again, the Eagles are left out of the safety rankings; however, this time, C.J. Gardner-Johnson got an honorable mention. So that’s nice.
The top 10 were: Kyle Hamilton, Brian Branch, Xavier McKinney, Jessie Bates III, Kerby Joseph, Derwin James Jr., Antoine Winfield, Budda Baker, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Julian Love. That’s a good list.
But Reed Blankenship isn’t one of the five honorable mentions or the seven other guys who received votes. You’re telling me that four-interception-having Ed Reed Blankenship doesn’t get a vote, but Kyle Dugger does? I vehemently disagree.
In C.J.G.J.’s honorable mention section, a nameless scout says, “Takes chances, very instinctive. Not the biggest dude or the fastest but has a knack for the ball. ...The personality can rub guys the wrong way. He has no filter. Will say what's on his mind at all times. But he loves the game and is very smart.” Man, I sure am going to miss him.