The NFL Top 100 Players of 2026 has delivered one of its more striking early verdicts, with Lamar Jackson landing at No. 69 and Xavier McKinney at No. 70. For Jackson, it is a significant drop after being ranked No. 2 in the previous two years, while McKinney’s place reflects the respect he earned after a strong first two seasons in Green Bay.
The ranking is player-voted, which always gives it a different edge from awards built on a panel or media ballot. That makes Jackson’s slide even more noticeable, especially with the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player now sitting at his lowest placement since No. 72 in 2023.
Jackson’s fall stands out
Jackson’s 2025 season was shaped by missed time. He sat out three games early with a hamstring injury and missed another late in the year with a back contusion, and that absence clearly matters when players assess the league’s best.
Even so, the scale of the drop is hard to ignore. After two straight No. 2 finishes, moving to No. 69 means the conversation around Jackson is no longer just about his brilliance, but also about availability and how much value voters place on a full season.
The numbers from 2025 still show why Jackson remains in the upper tier of the league. He played 13 games, completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 2,549 yards, averaged 8.4 yards per attempt, and threw 21 touchdowns against seven interceptions. He also added 349 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, even with seven fumbles attached to the season.
There is still obvious production there. The question is whether a player can stay in the very top bracket of the ranking when injury interruptions break up the year and open the door for others to move ahead of him.
McKinney’s rise remains impressive
McKinney’s No. 70 placement tells a very different story. He stayed on the field for 16 games and delivered a complete defensive season: 107 tackles, one sack, 10 passes defensed, two interceptions and one forced fumble.
Those are the kind of all-round numbers that make a defensive back stand out in a player-voted list. He was active, productive and reliable, and the ranking suggests his peers continue to view him as one of the league’s more trusted defensive performers.
For Green Bay, that matters. A player who can contribute in coverage, support the run and stay available over the course of a season has real value, and McKinney’s place in the Top 100 reflects that broader impact.
The 2026 rollout is still in its early stages, with players being revealed two at a time before the Top 10 is unveiled later in the schedule. But even at this point, the Jackson-McKinney pairing has already provided one of the most telling snapshots of how the league is judging 2025.
Jackson still has the profile of a franchise-level star. McKinney has the look of a player whose consistency has made him hard to overlook. In a ranking built on peer respect, both remain firmly in the conversation — even if Jackson’s fall is the headline that will draw the most attention.
