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The Most Popular NFL Teams and Football Player (National Football League) NFC & AFC

Most Popular NFL Teams

Being an NFL fan is a tough, often thankless endeavor.

You pour your heart and soul into your team’s fortunes, and unless you’re the lucky group whose team is holding the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the year, you dealt with some level of disappointment along the way. Watching your team battle through injuries, bad luck, bad calls and more is tough emotional business.

Oh, and there’s always the looming threat of relocation unless you pony up cash for a new stadium every 25 years or so. Still, some fans do a better job than others at managing all the stresses of fandom and cheering for their guys until the end.

 

NFC Teams

  • Arizona Cardinals
  • Atlanta Falcons
  • Carolina Panthers
  • Chicago Bears
  • Dallas Cowboys
  • Detroit Lions
  • Green Bay Packers
  • Los Angeles Rams
  • Minnesota Vikings
  • New Orleans Saints
  • New York Giants
  • Philadelphia Eagles
  • San Francisco 49ers
  • Seattle Seahawks
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  • Washington Football Team

 

AFC Teams

  • Baltimore Raven
  • Buffalo Bills
  • Cincinnati Bengals
  • Cleveland Browns
  • Denver Broncos
  • Houston Texans
  • Indianapolis Colts
  • Jacksonville Jaguars
  • Kansas City Chiefs
  • Las Vegas Raiders
  • Los Angeles Chargers
  • Miami Dolphins
  • New England Patriots
  • New York Jets
  • Pittsburgh Steelers
  • Tennessee Titans


let’s rank all 32 NFL fan bases, worst to first

 

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.

The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team is headquartered in Frisco, Texas, and plays its home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which opened for the 2009 season. The stadium took its current name prior to the 2013 season.

In January 2020 it was announced that Mike McCarthy had been hired as head coach of the Cowboys. He is the ninth in the team’s history. McCarthy follows Jason Garrett, who coached the team from 2010–2019.

Except I think we’re all rooting for Dak Prescott to return to his amazing self, and there might not be a more deadly offensive group than this one. Who cares if the defense gives up a ton of points again? High-scoring games are the best to watch.

It is with a heavy heart that I must announce that Cowboys fans are more as advertised than they are a creation of Jerry Jones’ hype machine.

Unlike Steelers fans, Cowboys fans reliably fill the stadium game after game. These same fans haven’t had nearly as much to cheer about for about two decades, but they still rabidly consume everything associated with the team. They are nearly as widespread as Steelers fans, but that’s more because they became a “national” team than any sort of population exodus from Big D. If I had a complaint with Cowboys fans, it would be that they’ve almost become too cosmopolitan and a little too content with the team’s failings. But every time I start to think that, I hop onto Twitter and see fans in a full-fledged meltdown about Dak Prescott, or Jones’ latest brush with headlines, thus renewing my faith in the idea that though they might be glitzy and glamorous, Cowboys fans are just as nuts as the rest of us, if not more so.

The Cowboys are enjoying their bye week before preparing for a Week 8 Sunday Night Football matchup vs. the Vikings.

Dallas Cowboys Player

  • Bradlee Anae
  • Bryan Anger
  • Dorance Armstrong
  • Tarell Basham
  • Tyler Biadasz
  • Quinton Bohanna
  • Anthony Brown
  • Noah Brown
  • Corey Clement
  • La’el Collins
  • Amari Cooper
  • Jabril Cox
  • Trevon Diggs
  • Ezekiel Elliott
  • Matt Farniok
  • Simi Fehoko
  • Luke Gifford
  • Chauncey Golston
  • C.J. Goodwin
  • Randy Gregory
  • Will Grier
  • Malik Hooker
  • Blake Jarwin
  • Azur Kamara
  • Damontae Kazee
  • Jayron Kearse
  • CeeDee Lamb
  • Jourdan Lewis
  • Zack Martin
  • Connor McGovern
  • Jake McQuaide
  • Israel Mukuamu
  • Keanu Neal
  • Ty Nsekhe
  • Osa Odighizuwa
  • Micah Parsons
  • Tony Pollard
  • Dak Prescott
  • Cooper Rush
  • Dalton Schultz
  • Tyron Smith
  • Jeremy Sprinkle
  • Terence Steele
  • Malik Turner
  • Leighton Vander Esch
  • Carlos Watkins
  • Donovan Wilson
  • Connor Williams
  • Ced Wilson
  • Nahshon Wright
  • Greg Zuerlein
  • Lirim Hajrullahu
  • Isaiah Johnson
  • Isaac Alarcon
  • Kyron Brown
  • Ian Bunting
  • Deante Burton
  • Aviante Collins
  • Tyler Coyle
  • Ben DiNucci
  • Austin Faoliu
  • Robert Foster
  • Justin Hamilton
  • JaQuan Hardy
  • Braylon Jones
  • Osirus Mitchell
  • Nick Ralston
  • Damion Ratley
  • Brandon Smith
  • Breeland Speaks
  • Darian Thompson
  • Trysten Hill
  • Josh Ball
  • Maurice Canady
  • Rico Dowdle
  • Neville Gallimore
  • Mitch Hyatt
  • Demarcus Lawrence
  • Hunter Niswander
The Dallas Cowboys have an alarming number of Facebook fans at a staggering number of 8.37 million people.

They also have a solid Twitter following of 3.9 loyal followers, which is second only to the New England Patriots.

The Cowboys stifle the competition in categories regarding financial success via fan spending, having reported an annual revenue of 800 million dollars, leaving a minimum of 300 million dollars between the Cowboy’s annual revenue and any other NFL team.

New England Patriots

The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area.

The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is 22 miles (35 km) southwest of downtown Boston.

Along with the Carolina Panthers, it is one of only two NFL teams to represent multiple states.

Founded in 1959 as the Boston Patriots, the team was a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) before joining the NFL in 1970 through the AFL–NFL merger. The Patriots played their home games at various stadiums throughout Boston until the franchise moved to Foxborough in 1971.

As part of the move, the team changed its name to the New England Patriots. Home games in Foxborough were played at Foxboro Stadium from 1971 through 2002 when the stadium was demolished in conjunction with the opening of Gillette Stadium. The team began utilizing Gillette Stadium for home games the same year.

 

Always near the top as long as Bill Belichick is at the helm. This year, though? We’ve got rookie Mac Jones as the starting QB. You know you’re going to watch to see if he’s the next TB12. And while there’s not as much hate-watching as there was in the Tom Brady era, it’s still there.

Patriots fans are not great fans and, in fact, are not even good fans.

I can’t put them any lower on this list because they do all of the things that fans are nominally supposed to do. But I want to. They cheer for their team, they dutifully yell when the other team has the ball and they log on to social media to make fools of themselves defending “their guys.”

But make no mistake: This is a spoiled, delusional fan base that has somehow convinced itself that the league is out to get it. Yes, the fans that benefited from the Tuck Rule, from the protective aura the league mandated be placed around Tom Brady and from some particularly lenient officiating in the secondary whenever they had to face Peyton Manning. Let’s say Scott Zolak and a bunch of other anonymous nobodies had quarterbacked the team for the last 20 years, and it had no Super Bowls.

Would anyone in the New England region care about this team? I’ll answer that question for you: No. A 19-year-old second base prospect for the PawSox would get more attention. Patriots fans can whine all they want about this and scream about having six titles until they’re blue in the face, but that won’t change the truth: They’re phonies, and deep down they know it.

The Patriots once again asserted their dominance over the Jets with a 54-13 win over their AFC East foe on Sunday.

Rookie quarterback Mac Jones topped the 300-yard mark for the first time in his young NFL career while tossing two touchdown passes. Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne added a TD pass of his own on a trick play while running backs Damien Harris and J.J. Taylor added two TDs apiece.

New England Patriots Player

  • Nelson Agholor
  • David Andrews
  • Devin Asiasi
  • Jake Bailey
  • Christian Barmore
  • Ja’Whaun Bentley
  • Justin Bethel
  • Brandon Bolden
  • Kendrick Bourne
  • Myles Bryant
  • Yodny Cajuste
  • Joe Cardona
  • Jamie Collins
  • Carl Davis
  • Cody Davis
  • Kyle Dugger
  • Yasir Durant
  • James Ferentz
  • Nick Folk
  • Davon Godchaux
  • Lawrence Guy
  • Damien Harris
  • N’Keal Harry
  • Hunter Henry
  • Justin Herron
  • Dont’a Hightower
  • Brian Hoyer
  • J.C. Jackson
  • Jakob Johnson
  • Mac Jones
  • Matt Judon
  • Ted Karras
  • Brandon King
  • Shaq Mason
  • Devin McCourty
  • Jakobi Meyers
  • Jalen Mills
  • Calvin Munson
  • Gunner Olszewski
  • Mike Onwenu
  • Ronnie Perkins
  • Adrian Phillips
  • Matthew Slater
  • Jonnu Smith
  • Rhamondre Stevenson
  • Jahlani Tavai
  • J.J. Taylor
  • Josh Uche
  • Kyle Van Noy
  • Shaun Wade
  • Joejuan Williams
  • Deatrich Wise
  • Isaiah Wynn
  • Elijah Benton
  • DeVante Bausby
  • Tashawn Bower
  • Sean Davis
  • Daniel Ekuale
  • Garrett Gilbert
  • Drake Jackson
  • Matt LaCosse
  • Ben Mason
  • Bill Murray
  • Tre Nixon
  • Riley Patterson
  • Brian Poole
  • Alex Redmond
  • D’Angelo Ross
The New England Patriots, a close second to the Cowboys in their social media following

, boast an astounding figure of 4.5 million Twitter followers (the most of any NFL team) and 6.8 million Facebook fans.

They also come second to the Cowboys in both financial categories, with a 478 million dollar revenue and 4.4 billion franchise value. The Patriots have their large success and victory streak over the years to thank for this number two spot on the list, having the most Super Bowl wins of any team in the NFL.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Eagles trailed the Raiders 30-7 before the offense finally decided to wake up in the fourth quarter. By that point, it was far too late as Vegas earned the 33-23 win. To make matters worse for Philly, running back Miles Sanders exited with an ankle injury.

A fan base’s street cred immediately goes through the roof when stories abound about a jail inside the stadium.

The Vet had that, and Lincoln Financial Field does too. And Eagles fans make great use of it when they’re not berating opposing fans, opposing players, or Eagles players or fellow fans. Really, they just like to boo and yell.

It pains me to admit this, as a Penn State grad who had to tolerate Eagles fans for four straight years, but these are very good, very loyal, possibly insane and occasionally criminal fans. They are demanding, they are impatient, they are unreasonable, but they love the Eagles, and that’s obvious long before you walk into the stadium. Some of the things they do are legitimately ugly, but by and large this is a group that just loves its team and really hopes it beats yours.

They also hold their team to a very high standard and are famously unafraid to boo them mercilessly and turn on them. There was the thought that finally winning the big one and experiencing success would soften theses fans, but thankfully, they’re right back to their usual ornery selves.

I’ll tune in to see if Jalen Hurts is a starting quarterback, sure. And Devonta Smith might be fun to watch.

Philadelphia Eagles Player

  • Jack Anderson
  • J.J. Arcega-Whiteside
  • Genard Avery
  • Derek Barnett
  • Shaun Bradley
  • Andre Chachere
  • Fletcher Cox
  • Landon Dickerson
  • Andre Dillard
  • Jack Driscoll
  • T.J. Edwards
  • Jake Elliott
  • Marcus Epps
  • Kenneth Gainwell
  • Dallas Goedert
  • Tay Gowan
  • Javon Hargrave
  • Anthony Harris
  • Nate Herbig
  • Jalen Hurts
  • Tarron Jackson
  • Lane Johnson
  • Patrick Johnson
  • Jason Kelce
  • Ryan Kerrigan
  • Rick Lovato
  • Avonte Maddox
  • Jordan Mailata
  • Mac McCain III
  • Rodney McLeod
  • Zech McPhearson
  • Gardner Minshew
  • Steven Nelson
  • Sua Opeta
  • Jalen Reagor
  • Hassan Ridgeway
  • Miles Sanders
  • Boston Scott
  • Josiah Scott
  • Alex Singleton
  • Reid Sinnett
  • Arryn Siposs
  • Darius Slay
  • DeVonta Smith
  • Jack Stoll
  • Josh Sweat
  • Davion Taylor
  • Brett Toth
  • Marlon Tuipulotu
  • Greg Ward
  • Quez Watkins
  • Milton Williams
  • Eric Wilson
  • Christian Elliss
  • Nick Eubanks
  • Michael Jacquet
  • Obi Melifonwu
  • Casey Tucker
  • Michael Walker
  • Kayode Awosika
  • Deon Cain
  • Le’Raven Clark
  • John Hightower
  • Jordan Howard
  • Jason Huntley
  • Craig James
  • KeeSean Johnson
  • Matt Leo
  • Cameron Malveaux
  • Jared Mayden
  • Elijah Riley
  • Richard Rodgers
  • JaCoby Stevens
  • Noah Togiai
  • Raequan Williams
  • Marvin Wilson
  • Brandon Brooks
  • Jason Croom
  • Brandon Graham
  • Joe Ostman
  • Isaac Seumalo
  • Tyree Jackson
  • K’Von Wallace
  • Harry Crider
  • Joe Flacco
  • Travis Fulgham
The Philadelphia Eagles boast a massive Twitter following of 3.4 million followers and a Facebook following of .

The Eagles report an annual revenue of 371 million dollars (which is neck and neck with many NFL teams after the Cowboys and Patriots) and a franchise value of 3.4 billion dollars.

 

San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The team plays its home games at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, located 38 miles (61 km) southeast of San Francisco in the heart of Silicon Valley. Since 1988, the 49ers have been headquartered in Santa Clara. The name “49ers” comes from the prospectors who arrived in Northern California in the 1849 Gold Rush.

The calls for Trey Lance will get louder after Jimmy Garoppolo committed three turnovers (two interceptions and a lost fumble) in the 49ers ugly home loss to the Colts on Sunday night. But San Francisco’s defense also allowed 30 points in a driving rainstorm. Not good.

This was a tough group to place.

The 49ers play their games approximately 50 miles from downtown San Francisco

, which makes attendance at Levi’s Stadium a hard thing to quibble about.

The worst Niners fans get into parking lot altercations and conduct themselves like schoolyard bullies, or worse. The rest of the fans are pretty good though. They seem to genuinely care about the team, and should have good reason to after last year’s Super Bowl near-miss. Though this year’s team has already been gutted by injuries, the 49ers should be good for the foreseeable future, which means Niners fans should climb this list.

They are happy when the team is good, and they actually get mad when they’re not doing well. That’s a plus, for our purposes.

 

Another asterisk for Trey Lance — when he’s in, it’s going to be so exciting. But even without him, they’re a blast with Kyle Shanahan’s offense in place.

 

San Francisco 49ers Player

  • Tyrell Adams
  • Brandon Aiyuk
  • Azeez Al-Shaair
  • Arik Armstead
  • Aaron Banks
  • Travis Benjamin
  • Nick Bosa
  • Jake Brendel
  • Daniel Brunskill
  • Trenton Cannon
  • Tom Compton
  • Ross Dwelley
  • Samson Ebukam
  • Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
  • Dee Ford
  • Jimmy Garoppolo
  • Marcell Harris
  • JaMycal Hasty
  • Talanoa Hufanga
  • Maurice Hurst
  • Jauan Jennings
  • Dontae Johnson
  • D.J. Jones
  • Kyle Juszczyk
  • Zach Kerr
  • Arden Key
  • Javon Kinlaw
  • Dre Kirkpatrick
  • Trey Lance
  • Deommodore Lenoir
  • Alex Mack
  • Mike McGlinchey
  • Eli Mitchell
  • Jaylon Moore
  • Emmanuel Moseley
  • Josh Norman
  • Taybor Pepper
  • Deebo Samuel
  • Mohamed Sanu
  • Trey Sermon
  • Trent Sherfield
  • Joey Slye
  • Kentavius Street
  • Jaquiski Tartt
  • Ambry Thomas
  • Laken Tomlinson
  • Jimmie Ward
  • Fred Warner
  • K’Waun Williams
  • Trent Williams
  • Tavon Wilson
  • Mitch Wishnowsky

 

The San Francisco 49ers have 2.1 million Twitter followers and an impressive 3.81 million Facebook fans.

Thanks to their great defensive line, phenomenal coaching staff, and effective quarterback, the 49ers have reached massive popularity.

The franchise rakes in 374 million dollars a year and has a reported total franchise value of 3.8 billion dollars.

 

New York giants

The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area.

The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays its home games at MetLife Stadium (shared with the New York Jets) in East Rutherford, New Jersey, 5 miles (8 km) west of New York City.

The Giants hold their summer training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center at the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

The Giants earned a 25-3 win over the Panthers as their defense made it a long day for Sam Darnold, who was benched in favor of P.J. Walker. They’ll look to carry that momentum into next week’s Monday Night Football matchup vs. the Kansas City Chiefs, who have struggled mightily this season.

 

I want to put them lower, I really do.

Big Blue fans are just Yankees fans who remember that football exists.

However, they are pretty loyal when you get right down to it, and though they are definitely the “snobs” of the New York football scene ( which makes Jets fans the slobs, of course ) their passion is real and their tolerance for bad football minimal.

Giants fans expect the most out of their team, but they also have a good sense of when their guys just don’t have it. As much as any team can in the media cauldron that is New York City, the Giants stay out of the fray. Odell Beckham Jr. made headlines on a semi-regular basis, but even when things are bad, the G-Men never devolve into a sideshow. The only real complaint about this group is that sometimes, the fans could stand to be more rabid. I’ve met Giants fans who live and die with their team, but there’s always a little bit of dignity there. The next few fan bases will show why that isn’t necessarily a compliment.

Trying to find a good way to sum up this team, but I’m having some trouble … oh wait!

 

New York giants Player

  • Saquon Barkley
  • Sam Beal
  • Devontae Booker
  • James Bradberry
  • Ben Bredeson
  • Gary Brightwell
  • Cameron Brown
  • Lorenzo Carter
  • Carter Coughlin
  • Keion Crossen
  • Tae Crowder
  • Korey Cunningham
  • Riley Dixon
  • Nate Ebner
  • Evan Engram
  • Graham Gano
  • Cullen Gillaspia
  • Mike Glennon
  • Kenny Golladay
  • Will Hernandez
  • Darnay Holmes
  • Adoree’ Jackson
  • Austin Johnson
  • Collin Johnson
  • Raymond Johnson III
  • Daniel Jones
  • Casey Kreiter
  • Dexter Lawrence
  • Julian Love
  • Wes Martin
  • Xavier McKinney
  • Azeez Ojulari
  • Matt Peart
  • Elijhaa Penny
  • Dante Pettis
  • Billy Price
  • Reggie Ragland
  • J.R. Reed
  • Quincy Roche
  • John Ross
  • Kyle Rudolph
  • Logan Ryan
  • Danny Shelton
  • Sterling Shepard
  • Matt Skura
  • Darius Slayton
  • Kaden Smith
  • Nate Solder
  • Kadarius Toney
  • Leonard Williams
  • Oshane Ximines
  • Cole Banwart
  • Woodrow Hamilton
  • Willie Henry
  • Sam Jones
  • Dexter Williams
  • Omari Cobb
  • Devery Hamilton
  • Trent Harris
  • Jonotthan Harrison
  • Jake Hausmann
  • Ka’dar Hollman
  • Derrick Kelly
  • Niko Lalos
  • Brian Lewerke
  • Benardrick McKinney
  • David Moa
  • Chris Myarick
  • Steven Parker
  • Sandro Platzgummer
  • David Sills
  • Travis Toivonen
  • Jarren Williams
  • Isaiah Wilson
  • Aaron Robinson
  • C.J. Board
  • T.J. Brunson
  • Nick Gates
  • Justin Hilliard

 

The New York Giants have 3.71 million followers on Twitter and 1.8 million fans on Facebook.

The franchise reports 350 million dollars in annual revenue, which places it pretty far down the ranked list in yearly income; however, many of the NFL teams are within a few million dollars of each other in this category. Despite the comparable annual revenue, The New York Giants hold the third-largest franchise value, with a stunning 4.3 billion dollar worth.

(NFL) National Football League

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC).

The NFL is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues, the highest professional level of American football in the world.

The NFL’s eighteen-week regular season runs from early September to early January, with each team playing seventeen games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, seven teams from each conference (four division winners and three wild card teams) advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, which is usually held on the first Sunday in February and is played between the champions of the NFC and AFC. The league is headquartered in New York City.

 

NFL Top Players

Top 10 Most Liked Players

(Forbes – NFL.com)

It must be the hair. A Forbes poll found that fans like Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu more than any other NFL player. Which other players earned the good marks?

  1. Troy Polamalu
  2. Drew Brees
  3. Charles Woodson
  4. Peyton Manning
  5. Aaron Rodgers
  6. Rob Gronkowski
  7. Robert Griffin III
  8. Brian Urlacher
  9. Donald Driver
  10. Matthew Stafford

 

Top NFL Players of 2021

Quarterbacks drive the NFL in every way imaginable.

Now it’s more than ever. It’s why they are pushing back against their employers, with quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson all hinting in the offseason that playing for another team might be a good option.

That’s because their importance and value has never been greater, especially in an era of wide-open football.

My 2021 NFL Top 100 list is just more proof of that.

There are five quarterbacks in the top 10, with Patrick Mahomes at the top. The others are Rodgers, Tom Brady, Wilson and Josh Allen. That doesn’t even include Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, who was a top 10 player last year after earning MVP honors in 2019.

When he was seventh on my list last year, I wrote about how quickly things change in this league. He wasn’t even on the list the year before. This year, that’s Allen of the Buffalo Bills.

He was nowhere on my list last year, even though I thought he had a chance to make big strides in 2020. I just didn’t think he’d make the strides that he did. Now he’s 10th on this list.

I did have a Josh Allen on the list last year — but it was Josh Allen of the Jaguars, who didn’t come close to playing to that level in 2020 as injuries hurt his numbers.

Buffalo’s Allen is now an MVP candidate, even if there are some out there who still wonder if he’s a one-hit wonder. They shouldn’t. He’s a star now, one of the many who make up this list.

In addition to the five quarterbacks in the top 10, there are nine other quarterbacks on the list. That’s a total of 14, or almost half of the starters in the league.

 

Patrick Mahomes
Kansas City Chiefs QB

Even though he didn’t win a second straight Super Bowl, he’s still the best quarterback in the league. He would be the first pick in any open draft of the league’s players.

 

Aaron Donald
Los Angeles Rams DE

He was again dominant for the Rams defense, winning Defensive Player of the Year honors for the third time in 2020. He had 13.5 sacks. When he was hurt in the playoff loss to the Packers, you could see the difference in the defense.

 

Aaron Rodgers
Green Bay Packers QB

Happy in Green Bay or not, the reigning MVP remains one of the league’s best players. I still think he ends up back in Green Bay. Why let him go?

 

Tom Brady
Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB

Those who doubt him learned another lesson last season: Stop it. He had some rough moments in November, but he was outstanding down the stretch and throughout the playoffs on the way to another Super Bowl victory. He’s the GOAT.

 

Travis Kelce
Kansas City Chiefs TE

He was second in the league in receiving yards with 1,401 yards, which is amazing for a tight end. He also had 11 touchdown catches on his 105 receptions. He is the best tight end in the league, on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

 

J. Watt
Pittsburgh Steelers OLB

He led the NFL in sacks with 15 and was the runner-up as Defensive Player of the Year, despite missing one game. He is also a force against the run.

 

Davante Adams
Green Bay Packers WR

He led the NFL in touchdown catches with 18, even though he had little help from the other receivers opposite him. He averaged 98.1 yards per game, the best in the NFL.

 

Russell Wilson
Seattle Seahawks QB

He played loose and free early last season and had an MVP start. He cooled some down the stretch, but he remains capable of winning an MVP award.

 

Myles Garrett
Cleveland Browns DE

He had 12 sacks in 14 games and showed his ability to be a game-changer rushing the passer. If he can play an entire season, he should be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate this season.

 

Josh Allen
Buffalo Bills QB

In his third season, he blossomed into an MVP candidate. His ability to move and make plays made him a tough quarterback to defend. The biggest growth, though, came from the pocket.