Five of NFL’S top 100
Mississippi State might not be considered among the bluebloods of college football, but there aren’t many teams producing top-end National Football League talent quite like the Bulldogs these days.
Nfl.com released its annual top 100 player rankings as voted on by the players in the league, with the maroon and white featured prominently. In fact, MSU had more players on the list than most teams in college football.
Five former Bulldogs were picked to the list. There were 53 college teams that had a player represented on the list and MSU was tied for the fourth most picks. Only Alabama (seven), LSU and Ohio State (six) had more players and the Bulldogs were tied with Notre Dame for fourth with their five selections.
The five picks were more than Texas A&M, Clemson, Georgia, Penn State, Stanford, Wisconsin, Florida State, Miami, Ole Miss, USC, Washington, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan State and others. Now, a recap of where the Bulldogs came in on the ranking based on production from the 2019 season.
Darius Slay Philadelphia Eagles CB 92 (Last year: 86)
It’s hard to believe how overlooked it seems Slay is in many circles around the league to be as respected as he is among his peers. He had some winning seasons with the Detroit Lions during his first seven years in the league but for the most part the team wasn’t much of a contender.
That didn’t stop Slay from being one of the leagues leaders in pass defense racking up 104 pass deflections and 19 interceptions in his career to this point to go along with 296 tackles. Though he might be underrated among the media, the Philadelphia Eagles thought he was worth something after he signed a big $50 million contract for three years in the offseason. On a better defense, Slay might be in for even bigger things and could jump up this list next year.
Based on the criteria of the list which seems to be taking into account the production from the previous year, the ranking would be justified, but it’s hard to believe that Cox is in the 70s among NFL players.
Since arriving in the league in 2012, Cox has been one of the best defensive tackles on the planet. He’s played in 125 games with 119 starts making 367 tackles, 48 sacks and 107 tackles for loss, and that’s not accounting the plays he’s impacted that didn’t make the stat sheet. Despite having a down year due to dealing with injuries, he looks to get back to All-pro form.
Preston Smith
Green Bay Packers OLB 63 (Last year: not ranked)
While Slay hopes to have his career bolstered by the move to a competitive franchise like the Eagles, Smith certainly saw an uptick when he joined the stout Green Bay defense last year.
After four years in Washington with the Redskins in which Smith had some solid production, he had, by far, his best season last year. He and Za’darius Smith wrecked opposing offenses as Smith had career highs in tackles (56) and sacks (12) as he’s upped his total to 36.5 sacks in his career. He’s bound for even bigger things moving forward and his first year on the top 100 list is likely not his last.
Chris Jones
Kansas City Chiefs DT 52 (Last year: 36)
The small town Houston, Mississippi boy is going big time in the NFL.
Jones just helped his Chiefs to a Super Bowl win as he followed up his monster 15.5 sack season in 2018 with another big year in 2019. He had nine sacks and four pass deflections as he became a huge problem for other teams on the defensive line.
Despite catching some double teams and playing defensive tackle, he has 33.0 sacks in just four years and was paid by the Chiefs like a top of the league franchise lineman
earlier this month.
His deal on July 15 is for four years and worth $80 million. the Rookie of the Year in the NFC, he’s a two-time Pro Bowler and is rising up the record books in Dallas already with 15,778 yards, 97 passing touchdowns and another 1,221 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns.
Statistically, 2019 was his best year as he nearly touched 5,000 passing yards and had 30 touchdowns to just 11 interceptions. But the Cowboys again fell below their standards and he’s played in just three postseason games in four years. He’s still not signed a longterm deal with Dallas making his future there iffy, but he’s set to make $31.4 million this year.