American Football

Lamar Jackson's freefall in NFL Top 100 leaves former player outraged

DAZN

16, Jul

Lamar Jackson's freefall in NFL Top 100 leaves former player outraged

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NFL Network's annual Top 100 Players countdown continues to unravel, and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is the latest name confirmed among the league's best, landing at No. 69.

Voted upon by players, the honour carries more weight than media-driven rankings, and that's exactly why Jackson's slip from a No.2 finish a year ago has sparked such debate.

"Outside of Patrick Mahomes, there is no more accomplished quarterback in the entire NFL individually," said a former Steelers player in disgust.

Why Jackson tumbled down the list

Jackson played through a difficult year, missing three games with a hamstring injury and another with a back contusion.

And the years-long argument that his weapons in the passing game are thin continued, with wideout Zay Flowers and his 1,211 receiving yards making him the only Baltimore player to clear 422.

Despite those issues, and in just 13 games, Jackson completed 63.6% of his passes for 2,549 yards, 21 touchdowns, and seven interceptions, adding 349 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground.

And while he wasn't fully fit in each game, he still finished second in yards per attempt and first in completion percentage over expected on play-action passes.

Critics might point to the Ravens' 8-9 record, which led to them missing the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

But if this is the rationale for why he fell so far in the rankings, one ex-player says it hasn't been applied equally across the board.

Ex-player stunned by injustice of Jackson's ranking

Lamar-Jackson-09302025-GETTY-FTR Amy Kontras/Getty Images

Former Steelers defensive back Ryan Clark, who spent eight of his 13-year NFL career with the Ravens' rivals, came to Jackson's defence on ESPN's First Take show.

"When you look at a guy like Joe Burrow, and where he is ranked, they don't take into account how much he's been injured, or how little he's played, how awful his team has been as a whole.

"They look at Joe Burrow when he is on the field, what he has accomplished, and they rank him by that."

It's worth considering that Burrow missed nine games with an injury and still hasn't been unveiled in the Top 100, which suggests he'll rank above Jackson once he is.

"The same exact thing should go for Lamar Jackson," Clark argued. "Outside of Patrick Mahomes, there is no more accomplished quarterback in the entire NFL individually."

That last word is significant because, despite the two MVP awards and three All-Pro nods to his name, Jackson has yet to win a Super Bowl ring.

Comparisons covered, Clark still wasn't done.

Ryan Clark ESPN 16x9 Michael Reaves / Staff

"There's no quarterback who carries more than Lamar Jackson; there's no quarterback who is asked to do more than Lamar Jackson.

"There is no quarterback who you have to a game plan for, in the run game you have to have a game plan for it, in the pass game, you have to have a secondary game plan for when he does Lamar Jackson-type-stuff.

"And so when you take his career as a whole, if I'm a player, the way I'm voting is this. If this dude is healthy, how much do I fear him? If this dude is healthy, how difficult is it to game plan for him?"

Clark is livid with how players voted

Building up a head of steam, Clark then unleashed on the players whose votes contributed to Jackson's ranking.

"I expected executives to not know where to place him. I expected marketers and brands to not understand the power of his voice.

"What I didn't expect is dudes who have to line up in pads on Sundays and Thursdays and Wednesdays and Fridays, and whenever the hell other days that we're gonna see NFL games this year, to not understand how scary it is to work on the field when this dude is right.

He signed off his rant by sharing the thoughts of many: "Ain't that much changed in one year."

Rich Eisen points to Jackson's awards

"He's got two MVPs. Could've had a third in all honesty," Eisen reasoned. "I do look forward to seeing what he can do this year with his new offensive coordinator."

Jackson's 2026 outlook

Jackson has every chance to prove the voters wrong in 2026. He's had a full offseason to get healthy, and as Eisen pointed out, he now has a new, gifted offensive coordinator with roots in Ben Johnson's coaching tree.

Baltimore are still a little thin at wide receiver behind Flowers and tight end Mark Andrews, but help is on the way in the form of two rookies: third-round receiver Ja'Kobi Lane and fourth-round wideout Elijah Sarratt.

Losing center Tyler Linderbaum, who left for the Raiders in free agency, was huge. But with guard Olaivavega Ioane added in the 2026 NFL Draft, the interior of the offensive line should be in good shape.

And if Jackson needed any extra motivation to prove his doubters wrong, this vote will be it.