Marlon Humphrey revealed at No. 38 on the NFL Top 100 list

The Ravens’ top cornerback makes the list for a second year in a row.

After another Pro Bowl season where he led the league in forced fumbles as a defensive back, Baltimore Ravens’ cornerback Marlon Humphrey was voted to the NFL Top 100 list by his peers for a second consecutive time.

Humphrey’s contemporaries around the league praised him for his ability to not only force fumbles but also for his middle linebacker-like physicality and positional versatility.

“He’s lining up at the nickel, he’s lining up outside at corner too so in every way that they use him, he’s special in every role,” said Buffalo Bills’ two-time Pro Bowl corner Tre’Davious White.

Even though Lamar Jackson’s 2021 ranking was already revealed in a sneak peek last Saturday, Humphrey was the first Ravens player to be revealed in proper sequence on Sunday. Unlike Jackson, who fell 23 spots from last year after he was ranked No. 1, Humphrey’s ranking improved 48 spots from 2020 — when he came in at No. 86 in his debut on the list after his First-Team All-Pro 2019 season.

While I wholeheartedly believe that Humphrey deserves to be ranked among the Top-20 players in the league, the more astonishing fact is that there were only two Ravens voted to this year’s list. In 2020, the Ravens saw six players on the list, which was second-most of any team.

Some notable snubs from this year’s list include cornerback Marcus Peters, tight end Mark Andrews and left tackle Ronnie Stanley.

Peters is still one of the best ballhawks in the league and continued to show that last year, both in regular season and playoffs. He led the Ravens with four interceptions and added another to seal team’s victory over the Titans in the Wildcard Round of the playoffs. He is still a Top 10-15 cornerback in the league, recorded the second-most fumbles on the team last year after Humphrey with four, and logged his first career sack as well.

Andrews’ production dipped a little from his breakout season in 2019 but him not making the list over T.J. Hockenson of the Detroit Lions, who came in at No. 93, is questionable to say the least.

While Hockenson earned his first career Pro Bowl nod and put up career-high numbers last season with 68 catches for 723 yards and six touchdowns, Andrews recorded just nine fewer catches, 22 fewer yards but caught four more touchdowns despite playing in two fewer games. This marks his second straight season Andrews got left off the list despite being one of the Top-5 players at his position, the No. 1 receiving threat on his team, and a touchdown monster in the red zone.

Stanley being left off is more understandable considering that he only played in eight games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Offensive linemen tend to be out of mind when they are out of sight but his absence was arguably the biggest blow to the Ravens last season. Other players that missed more time and played in fewer games than he did made the list this year.

New Orleans Saints’ wide receiver Michael Thomas played one less game than Stanley, recorded just 438 receiving yards, and didn’t catch any touchdowns but was voted to No. 72. Carolina Panthers’ running back Christian McCaffery only played in three games in 2020 and was still voted inside the Top-50 at No.44.