Josh Allen ranked No. 1 on the NFL Top 100 this year, and the only real surprise is that it took this long. The Bills quarterback has been the most physically dominant player in the league for four straight seasons, and the players finally caught up to what the tape has been screaming.
The Top 100 is voted on by the players themselves, which is what makes it valuable. Fans overrate quarterbacks by default, and media rankings can chase narratives. Player votes tend to reflect who other pros actually fear on Sundays, and that is a much cleaner signal.
Allen at the top is a statement that his peers see him as the guy they least want to face.
Look at what he has done. He is the reigning MVP after a season in which he threw for 41 touchdowns, ran for another 12, and dragged Buffalo to a Super Bowl appearance almost single-handedly. His completion percentage climbed. His interception numbers dropped. His ability to escape a collapsing pocket and turn a third-and-eight into a chunk gain has become the single most reliable offensive weapon in football.
There is nobody in the league who combines his arm strength, his running ability, and his willingness to lower his shoulder in the open field. Patrick Mahomes is the more polished passer. Lamar Jackson is the more elusive runner. But nobody has the full toolbox Allen has, and the players know it.
The rest of the top of the list is where things get interesting. Mahomes is presumably in the top three still, though the Chiefs’ recent playoff exit may have cost him a spot or two. Jackson is up there. Christian McCaffrey, if healthy, tends to poll well among players who have to try to tackle him. Micah Parsons continues to be one of the highest-ranked defenders every year.
The player-voted list is also where the story of Allen’s career arc really comes through. He was famously mocked coming out of Wyoming for his accuracy issues, and there were legitimate questions about whether he would ever develop into a franchise quarterback. Seven years later, he is the consensus best player in the league, and his floor game after game is higher than almost anyone else in football history at this stage of his career.
For Buffalo, the honor is a nice moment in a season that has to produce more than moments. The Bills have made deep playoff runs annually for the last five years and have only one Super Bowl appearance to show for it. That is the ledger Allen actually cares about, and no player-voted trophy will change that.
The rest of the AFC East just got another reminder of what they are chasing. Miami has to hope their offense can outscore Buffalo, which is a losing proposition. The Jets have Aaron Glenn now but a quarterback question. New England is still building.
Allen is No. 1 because he deserves to be No. 1. The question this season is whether he can convert that individual dominance into the ring that would silence the last remaining critics of his career. Everything else on his resume is checked.
The Bills open on a national stage. Expect a big number from Allen right out of the gate.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
