We're used to hearing this time of year from players who feel they are too low on NFL Network's Top 100 Players of 2017 countdown, but we can't recall a single instance of a player who bemoaned being too high on the list.
Well, here we go again. I've worked at NFL.com since the Top 100 launched six years ago, and it's weird that people -- including Justin James -- still fail to wrap their heads around the fairly simple premise behind the Top 100. I mean, it's in the damn title: Top 100 Players of 2017. This is not a ranking of who had the best season last year; it's about a player right now, spinning forward toward the new season.
Last year, Watt was coming off a healthy, obscenely productive season in Houston and was ranked No. 3 on the list. This year, coming off a season in which he missed 13 games and finished with just 1.5 sacks, he dropped 32 spots. Seeing as he is now healthy and still square in his prime, you can make a strong argument that Watt, despite last season's disappointment, should be way higher than 35.
In fact, I'll do just that. Watt should be, like, No. 12 on this list and I'm mad as hell. Nobody's going to write about me, though.
