Top 100 Players of 2025, Nos. 80-71: Sam Darnold, Kerby Joseph ride breakout years to Top 100 debuts

2024 stats: 17 games | 47 tackles | 9 tfl | 15 QBH | 7.5 sacks | 1 PD | 1 FF

Even though Gary’s stats took a slight dip in 2024, he anchored Green Bay’s defense the entire season, starting every game for the first time in his career. Gary was the Packers’ leader in sacks and QB hits en route to his first Pro Bowl honor. Gary looks to continue that success on the field in defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s second season.

NFL Pro Insight for Gary: Rashan Gary generated pressure on 23.5% of his pass rushes on third down last season, sixth-highest among defenders with at least 75 pass rushes on third down. Gary managed to generate pressure on just 7.8% of his pass rushes on early downs.

2024 stats: 8 games | 64.7 pct | 1,978 pass yds | 6.9 ypa | 11 pass TD | 8 INT | 54 rush yds | 1 rush TD | 4 fumbles

Despite playing in only eight games before suffering a season-ending hamstring injury, Prescott lands on the Top 100 list for the sixth time in his career in a testament to how highly he's regarded by his NFL brethren. The Cowboys QB’s impact on the field was missed and his NFL peers took notice of Prescott’s absence as Dallas failed to make the postseason. As he enters his 10th NFL season, Prescott will work with new head coach Brian Schottenheimer and remains focused on chasing a Lombardi Trophy.

NFL Pro Insight for Prescott: Dak Prescott's 2024 season ended abruptly due to an injury in Week 9. With Prescott as the starter in Weeks 1-9, the Cowboys averaged 254.1 passing yards per game (second in the NFL). From Week 10 onward, the Cowboys averaged just 203.2 pass YPG (21st).

2024 stats: 16 games | 39 tackles | 6 tfl | 15 QBH | 6.0 sacks | 9 PD | 2 FF

Return of the Mack! The Chargers pass rusher makes his third consecutive appearance in the Top 100 ranking and 10th overall. Mack was a force to be reckoned with in Jim Harbaugh’s first year, as the nine-time Pro Bowler continued to disrupt opposing quarterbacks. This offseason, he got rewarded with a one-year, $18 million contract and has “unfinished business” heading into his 12th season.

NFL Pro Insight for Mack: Khalil Mack led the Chargers defense with 54 pressures in 2024, his 11th season in the NFL. Mack has generated 420 pressures since 2018, the fifth-most among all edge defenders in that span.

2024 stats: 12 games | 73 rec | 911 rec yds | 12.5 ypr | 10 rec TDs

Tee Time, Tee Time, Tee Time! Higgins makes his debut in the Top 100 list. The Bengals WR took a chance on playing on the franchise tag, and his NFL peers noticed Higgins’ performance took a step forward. Injuries did limit Higgins’ availability, but he was a key contributor in Cincy’s offense alongside Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase. The trio will have a chance to showcase their offensive talent in 2025 with Higgins and Chase earning a nice pay bump in the summer.

NFL Pro Insight for Higgins: Tee Higgins caught eight touchdowns on targets between the numbers last season, tied with teammate Ja'Marr Chase and Amon-Ra St. Brown for the most among wide receivers. Higgins had totaled 11 such touchdowns across his four prior seasons combined, including just one such touchdown in 2022 and 2023.

2024 stats: 16 games | 42 tackles | 10 tfl | 7.0 sacks | 13 QBH | 1 PD

A consistent defensive presence for the Buccaneers, Vea makes his first appearance on the Top 100 list. In his seventh season, Vea recorded a career high in sacks and tackles for loss in 16 starts. His consistency to wreak havoc in the run game earned Vea his second Pro Bowl nod. He’ll hope to continue to extend Tampa Bay’s NFC South title streak to five in 2025.

NFL Pro Insight for Vea: The Buccaneers defense was more effective against inside runs with Vea on the field this season, allowing only 3.7 yards per carry, compared to 4.7 yards per carry when he was off the field. Vea also generated 47 pressures, the seventh-most among defensive tackles and his most in a single season in his career.

2024 stats: 17 games | 129 tackles | 6 tfl | 5 QBH | 1.0 sacks | 7 PD | 2 FF

From Baltimore to the Steelers, Queen seemingly fit into Pittsburgh's defense perfectly and continued his high-level play. Queen, who has started 84 consecutive regular-season games since he was drafted in 2020, said he had a disappointing season despite making the Pro Bowl with his new team. But his NFL peers thought differently as Queen makes his second straight Top 100 ranking.

NFL Pro Insight for Queen: Patrick Queen is one of three players with 100-plus tackles, five-plus TFL and five-plus passes defensed in each of the last three seasons (Lavonte David, Foyesade Oluokun).

2024 stats: 17 games | 132 tackles | 10 tfl | 2.0 sacks | 8 QBH | 4 PD | 1 FF

Wagner’s arrival in Washington along with Dan Quinn was essential to a major turnaround for the Commanders’ defense. The 10-time Pro Bowler helped improve Washington's dead-last passing defense to a top-three unit in 2024 and was a key contributor to the Commanders' playoff run. Wagner appears on the Top 100 for the 10th time in his career, and he’ll get a chance to reach 11 after he signed a one-year deal with Washington in the offseason.

NFL Pro Insight for Wagner: Bobby Wagner led the Commanders with 132 tackles in 2024. Wagner has had at least 100 tackles in all 13 career seasons, tied with Ray Lewis and trailing only London Fletcher (14) for the most seasons with 100-plus tackles since the stat was first officially tracked in 1994.

2024 stats: 4 games | 50 att | 202 rush yds | 4.0 ypc | 0 rush TDs | 15 rec | 146 rec yds | 0 rec TD | 1 fumble

McCaffrey’s 2024 campaign was riddled with injuries, but he appears on the Top 100 for the third consecutive year. He began the season dealing with Achilles and calf injuries before making his season debut in Week 10. McCaffrey returned to his RB1 role, but he suffered a season-ending PCL injury in Week 13. McCaffrey is still a top RB when healthy and he’ll look forward to a bounce-back season in Year 9.

NFL Insight for McCaffrey: The 2023 rushing leader played in just four games in 2024 due to injury, but in those games McCaffrey was productive. He rushed for 202 yards and had 146 yards receiving in Weeks 10-13, the only player in the NFL with at least 200 rushing yards and 140 receiving yards in that span.

2024 stats: 17 games | 66.2 pct | 4,319 pass yds | 7.9 ypa | 35 pass TD | 12 INT | 212 rush yds | 8 fumbles

In his lone season with the Vikings, Darnold proved he could be a top quarterback in the right situation. Darnold produced career numbers across the board in passing yards, touchdowns and completion percentage, leading to his first Pro Bowl nod in his one-year stop in Minnesota. In the offseason, Darnold elected to move on from the Viking as he signed a three-year, $100 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks. He’ll get a chance to showcase that his 2024 emergence wasn't just a one-year wonder.

NFL Pro Insight for Darnold: Sam Darnold had a career year with the Vikings in 2024, throwing for 1,023 yards on deep passes (20+ air yards), over 150 more than any other quarterback. Darnold also led the NFL in deep completions (28) and tied for the most deep TD passes (9).

2024 stats: 17 games | 58 tackles | 1 tfl | 12 PD | 9 INT | 1 QBH | 1TD

Joseph was not only a key contributor in Detroit’s defense, but he led the NFL with his nine interceptions. His ball-hawking skills were a big factor in the Lions winning the NFC North for a second straight season. Even though he did not make the Pro Bowl roster, Joseph’s impressive campaign earned him a spot on the first-team All-Pro list and Top 100 rankings. The Lions awarded Joseph by making him the highest-paid safety in the league with a four-year, $86 million contract extension in April. 

NFL Pro Insight for Joseph: Kerby Joseph led the NFL with nine interceptions in 2024. Joseph has now had at least four INTs in each of his first three career seasons. The only other safety since 2000 with four-plus INTs in each of his first three seasons is Hall of Famer Ed Reed.