Top 100 Players of 2025, Nos. 60-51: Terry McLaurin rises amid trade request; Kyle Hamilton returns

2024 stats: 16 games | 51 tackles | 3 tfl | 0.5 sacks | 6 PD | 1 FF | 3 FR

After a 2023 season of struggles in the secondary, the Eagles used their top two picks on defensive backs, including DeJean in the second round, who made an immediate impact. With his help, Philly went from the 31st-ranked defense in passing yards allowed to No. 1, a turnaround that spearheaded its return to the playoffs. To cap off his impressive opening season, DeJean was responsible for one of the most viral and pivotal moments in Super Bowl LIX, intercepting Patrick Mahomes and returning it for a touchdown to put Philadelphia up 17-0 over the Kansas City Chiefs and kick off the blowout. Celebrating his birthday that day, DeJean's first NFL interception came on the biggest stage there is.

NFL Pro Insight for DeJean: Cooper DeJean allowed just 0.8 yards per coverage snap during the regular season, the fourth-fewest among slot cornerbacks and the fewest by a rookie slot corner since 2021 (minimum 250 coverage snaps).

2024 stats: 16 games | 65.8 pct | 3,762 pass yds | 7.3 ypa | 20 pass TD | 8 INT | 41 rush yds | 6 fumbles

Stafford has been playing in the NFL since some of his teammates were in elementary school, and yet the 37-year-old quarterback has shown he still has the chops to compete with the best. Though his stats took a bit of downturn from his Pro Bowl season in 2023, Stafford led the Rams back to the playoffs last season, defeating the Vikings before falling just short of taking down the eventual Super Bowl-champion Eagles in snowy conditions. Stafford's future in Los Angeles appeared murky in the early stages of this offseason as the QB put out feelers to see if moving on was the right move. But he eventually decided to stick with the Rams, taking a hometown discount to stay in Los Angeles for at least 2025, his 17th NFL season. And as head coach Sean McVay has said, if the Rams had it their way Stafford would keep on playing in L.A. for a least a few more years.

NFL Pro Insight for Stafford: Matthew Stafford executed 67 designed rollouts this past season, the second-most in the NFL, completing 48 of 66 passes (72.7%) for 437 yards (second-most) and an NFL-leading nine touchdowns without a single interception.

2024 stats: 14 games | 245 att | 1,016 rush yds | 4.1 ypc | 9 rush TD | 36 rec | 309 rec yds | 1 rec TD | 0 fumbles

Mixon joined the Texans in the 2024 offseason after seven years in Cincinnati, but didn't miss a step with his new team, easily slotting in as the starter for Houston and recording his fifth overall and second consecutive season of 1,000-plus rushing yards. Returning to the Top 100 after two years away and earning his first Pro Bowl nod since 2021, Mixon was the undisputed workhorse for the Texans throughout the 2024 season, recording almost 3.5 times more yards than the next closest teammate while also making contributions in the passing game.

NFL Pro Insight for Mixon: Joe Mixon finished with seven games of 100-plus rushing yards and at least one rushing touchdown in 2024. Only Saquon Barkley (8) had more such games this season. Mixon's mark is also tied for the most in Texans franchise history.

2024 stats: 14 games | 52 tackles | 15 tfl | 9 sacks | 1 INT | 2 FF | 1 FR

It was a bit of a down year by the usual standards of Bosa, who has a Defensive Player of the Year honor under his belt. And yet Bosa's 2024 campaign still ranked him among the top players at his position and earned him a fourth straight Pro Bowl nod and his fifth in six seasons. Bosa's 91.0 overall grade, per Pro Football Focus, landed him sixth among defensive ends and his run defense and pass rush grades were also both top 10. Even with the 49ers' overall struggles with injuries and productivity, including Bosa's three missed games, the DE continued to lead his team and maintained his status as one of the best defensive ends in the league year after year.

NFL Pro Insight for Bosa: Nick Bosa recorded an average get-off time of 0.70 seconds last season, the quickest in his career and the second-quickest among edge defenders with at least 200 pass rushes.

2024 stats: 17 games | 65.9 pct | 3,870 pass yds | 7.7 ypa | 23 pass TD | 3 INT | 306 rush yds | 2 rush TD | 6 fumbles

Under the first year of head coach Jim Harbaugh's leadership, Herbert thrived, putting an injury-stunted 2023 season behind him to finish with what could be considered his most efficient season to date and elevating him in this year's Top 100 ranking. Herbert was notably good at taking care of the ball in 2024, recording just three interceptions through his 17 regular-season games for a 0.6 INT percentage to lead the league. That made him just the third player in NFL history to finish a season with 400-plus passing attempts and three or fewer interceptions, joining a pair of future Hall of Famers, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, per NFL Pro. The Chargers are still in search of playoff success coming into 2025, but their issues were not due to the man under center last season.

NFL Pro Insight for Herbert: Justin Herbert is the only qualified quarterback who did not throw an interception while not under pressure last season. Herbert averaged 8.4 yards per attempt when not pressured, the sixth-most among quarterbacks.

2024 stats: 5 games | 19 tackles | 7 tfl | 7.5 sacks | 1 FF

To say that Hutchinson was on a tear early in the 2024 season could be categorized as an understatement. Though he did not see the field from Week 6 onward after suffering a gruesome broken leg, even Hutchinson's short 2024 tenure was enough to earn him a spot on this list. In just five games played he accumulated 7.5 sacks, just two short of his impressive rookie season (9.5) and four off his Pro Bowl-caliber second year (11.5), both of which took 17 games to amass. Extrapolating his stats over the course of a full campaign, Hutchinson was on pace for 25.5 sacks and 23.8 tackles for loss, both of which would have put him at the top of the league rankings. The imminent return of Detroit's 2022 first-round pick in 2025 has thus been highly anticipated, and a performance that is anywhere close to last season's start could be a sight to behold.

NFL Pro Insight for Hutchinson: Aidan Hutchinson led the Lions with 7.5 sacks in 2024 despite playing in just five games due to injury -- that's the fewest games played by a team sack leader since at least 1982 (excluding replacement players).

2024 stats: 16 games | 93 tackles | 10 tfl | 5.5 sacks | 7 PD | 1 INT | 1 FR

After a down-by-his-standards 2023 season in which James missed the Pro Bowl for the first year he's been healthy since 2019, the new Chargers regime under head coach Jim Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter decided some things needed to change. James has always been a player who moves among multiple positions and has an impact everywhere, and the L.A. coaches saw that and looked to play to his strengths in the 2024 campaign. That adjustment paid off with James' fourth Pro Bowl selection and a No. 11 ranking for the defense in yards allowed. James has continued to show himself to be a dynamic defender that the Chargers can put almost anywhere on the field, and his addition to this Top 100 list reflects that respect for his versatile game.

NFL Pro Insight for James: Derwin James is one of two players (Josh Metellus) to play at least 10% of their snaps on the line of scrimmage, as a slot corner, as a safety, and as a linebacker this season (minimum 100 snaps). He also allowed 4.9 yards per target in coverage, second-fewest among all slot cornerbacks (minimum 30 targets) behind Cooper DeJean.

2024 stats: 17 games | 66 tackles | 11 tfl | 4.5 sacks | 2 FF | 2 FR

The Rams struck gold in the draft once again with Verse, adding to their rapidly growing young defensive core with an edge who terrorizes opposing quarterbacks at an obscene rate. Verse took home Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, the second year in a row an L.A. rookie was a finalist, but the first winner for the Rams since Aaron Donald in 2014. Finishing fourth in the league in total pressures and adding 12 more in the postseason, per Pro Football Focus, Verse's performance as a rookie put him among some of the best at the position last year, even if the sacks didn't follow. Verse even received a rousing endorsement of his uncanny talent from the recently retired Terron Armstead, a top offensive lineman over the last decade. After just one game lining up opposite Verse, Armstead decreed he never wanted to do so again and predicted a Defensive Player of the Year nod in the pass rusher's future. Not a bad start to an NFL career.

NFL Pro Insight for Verse: Jared Verse generated 76 pressures this season, the second-most by a rookie since 2018 (Nick Bosa, 81, 2019).

2024 stats: 17 games | 82 rec | 1,096 rec yds | 13.4 ypr | 13 rec TD

It was a year of change in Washington with the hiring of head coach Dan Quinn and the drafting of a young signal caller in Jayden Daniels. With all that newness, some experience and stability was in order, and McLaurin provided that. Putting together his fifth consecutive season of 1,000-plus receiving yards and a career-high in touchdowns that was almost double his previous total, McLaurin was the go-to option for Daniels throughout the season and the team's first trip to the conference championships since the 1991 season. That performance was unfortunately followed by ongoing discussions over an extension this offseason, but assuming the Commanders can work things out with their star wideout, he'll be expected to be back in the same steady role in 2025 as well.

NFL Pro Insight for McLaurin: Terry McLaurin gained the third-most yards (350) and tied for the most touchdowns (6) across 11 receptions when targeted on go routes this season.

2024 stats: 17 games | 107 tackles | 4 tfl | 2.0 sacks | 9 PD | 1 INT | 2 FF | 1 FR

The Ravens' passing defense took a steep dip in 2024, finishing second-to-last in yards allowed one year removed from a No. 6 ranking. But that decline was in no part due to a drop-off by Hamilton, who remained the most consistent and productive member of the Baltimore defensive back corps amid movement and frustrations in the other starting slots. Hamilton recorded a 90.1 overall grade, third among safeties per Pro Football Focus, also ranking top five in each subset of pass rush, run defense and coverage grades. The Ravens made the obvious choice to pick up Hamilton's fifth-year option this offseason, and though the now two-time Pro-Bowl safety said he was not in a rush for an extension heading into Year 4, it's likely only a matter of time before he is paid commensurate with his top-notch play.

NFL Pro Insight for Hamilton: Kyle Hamilton was one of just two players this the league who aligned on over 50 snaps at edge, inside linebacker, slot cornerback, and safety this season (Josh Metellus).