Revis's 8th Ranking On Top 100 List Major Mistake By Players

As an attempted respite from the nonstop drama of the NFL lockout, the NFL Network just concluded the players' ranking of the best 100 players in the NFL, a symbolic drink of water to the NFL fan dying of thirst in the lockout desert. While the list has certainly sparked debate among NFL fans with its hits and misses -- and there are many of both on the list -- for the Jets fan it is not the names of the players on the list that sparks outrage, but rather a single person that was undervalued.  While the players piled on admiration for Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, and Ray Lewis, the biggest names on defense over the past decade, they didn’t share the same love for our very own Darrelle Revis. Revis was selected eighth behind not just the three players mentioned, but also Andre Johnson, and Adrian Peterson. For Revis to be selected at this spot is a shame, as it doesn’t reflect what Revis is: the best defensive player in the NFL today.

Over the last two seasons, Darrelle Revis has shut down the following receivers (keep in mind that many have been put on Revis Island multiple times): Andre Johnson, Randy Moss, Steve Smith, Roddy White, Pierre Garcon, Chad Ochocinco, Mark Clayton, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, and so on. Revis has continuously matched up against the other team's best receiver and every single week, the person he is matched up against does nothing. His dominance has been so complete over the last two seasons that most quarterbacks did not even try to throw the ball to their number one receiver.  If he was covered by Revis, his name was not called.  Period.  Nowhere does this ring more true than in the wild card matchup this season against the Colts. In what should forever stand out as one of the most dominating performances by a cornerback in NFL history, Revis held Reggie Wayne to one catch, for one yard. What was even more telling of Revis’s performance was the fact that he single-handedly flustered Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne, and eliminated a large chunk of the Colts offense by stranding Reggie Wayne on Revis Island.

This stunning level of dominance could not be replicated by any of the other defensive players ahead of Revis, simply for the fact that their positions allow them to experiment more on all sides of the fields leaving them able to make more big plays, which certainly explains Polamalu's and Reed’s place ahead of Revis. Revis has one job: eliminate the opposing team's best receiver. He does this every week. It is ridiculous that Reed is ahead of Revis, since he was hurt for much of the season, but again his penchant for an inflated stat line due to his interceptions make him seem like he has a bigger role then he does. Reed had 8 picks and 37 tackles in 2011, Polamalu had 63 tackles and 7 picks, Revis had 32 tackles and no picks, but in this case numbers are misleading. Revis had no picks because quarterbacks would not throw his way. He had so few tackles because the receiver he matched up against rarely caught the ball. As safeties, Reed and Polamalu can run to the ball, and since they mostly aren’t in single coverage, they can’t strand receivers on an island like Revis can.

So in looking back at this list, it is clear that Revis should be higher then eighth. Revis held Andre Johnson to 4 catches for 32 yards when they met this year, so he easily jumps past him. Reed was injured, and does not to deserve to even be in the top 10 at this point, so Revis jumps passed him. While Ray Lewis still puts up solid numbers, his ranking is inflated due to his leadership abilities and the intense speeches he has given that earn his respect from players across the board. While he is certainly one of the best defensive players of all time, in 2011 he is not as good as Revis. So we are left with a new top 5 featuring Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Peterson, Revis, and Polamalu. Or should it be Polamalu over Revis? Or both of them over Peterson? Hey, the lockout's still going strong so this is an argument for another day, another day of lockout, another day without the NFL, but with NFL Network.