NFL Top 100 of 2026, Nos. 60-55: Jalen Hurts Falls 37 Spots, CeeDee Lamb Slides Despite Fifth Straight 1,000-Yard Season
The NFL Top 100 rankings for 2026 rolled on this week, and the latest batch of reveals delivered one of the bigger swings of the countdown so far: Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts tumbling 37 spots to No. 56. He wasn’t the only marquee name sliding. Six players landed in the Nos. 60-55 range, according to NFL.com, a group that mixes rising stars with proven veterans still searching for their next signature season.
The player-voted list, now in its 16th year, runs Monday through Friday through Aug. 21, with two names revealed each weekday before the countdown narrows to one reveal per day for the top 10 in late August and early September.
No. 60: Brock Bowers Battles Through an Injury-Shortened Year
Raiders tight end Brock Bowers didn’t match his rookie-year numbers in 2025, and it showed in the ranking. But the tape tells a more complicated story than the raw drop suggests. Bowers played 12 games, hauling in 64 receptions for 680 yards and seven touchdowns, numbers dragged down by knee troubles that cost him time. When healthy, he still looked like one of the league’s most dangerous mismatches. In his Week 9 return from injury, Bowers was targeted on more than a third of his 36 routes against a playoff-bound Jacksonville defense, finishing with 12 catches, 127 yards and three scores in a narrow loss.
That performance was enough to lock in a second straight Pro Bowl nod even in a lost season for Las Vegas. The Raiders overhauled their coaching staff and offense this offseason, and if Bowers stays healthy, a third consecutive Top 100 ranking is well within reach. He already owns a piece of NFL history: his 176 receptions through 29 career games are the most by any tight end in league history over a first two seasons, per NFL.com.
No. 59: Bo Nix Climbs After Leading Denver to the AFC’s Top Seed
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix threw more passes than anyone in the league in 2025, and the volume produced results. Nix led Denver to the AFC’s No. 1 seed and a second consecutive playoff berth in just his second pro season, directing a league-high seven game-winning drives along the way. His signature moment came in the Divisional Round against Buffalo, where he threw three touchdowns, including one in the fourth quarter, to push Denver into overtime and, eventually, a win.
Nix injured his ankle on the game-winning field-goal drive in that overtime period and missed the AFC Championship Game as a result. Even with the setback, his 18 games of work were enough to land him inside the top 65 for a second straight season. Nix completed a league-leading 77 passes on hitch routes in 2025, totaling 772 receiving yards — the only quarterback in the NFL to clear 700 on that route type, according to NFL.com’s advanced stats.
No. 58: Nico Collins Returns After a Third Straight 1,000-Yard Season
Texans wide receiver Nico Collins is back on the list after another dominant year opposite quarterback C.J. Stroud. Collins finished with 71 receptions for 1,117 yards and six touchdowns across 15 games, marking his third consecutive 1,000-yard campaign and second straight Pro Bowl selection. His season ended early when a concussion kept him out of Houston’s Divisional Round exit.
Offseason trade rumors swirled around Collins, but he remains in Houston heading into a season the franchise badly needs to stabilize around Stroud. The numbers behind Collins’ game are notable: he generated 918 receiving yards from a wide alignment in 2025, sixth-most in the league, while averaging 2.4 yards per route from that spot — also sixth among qualified players. He also lined up wide to the boundary on 46.3% of his snaps, the highest rate of any player with at least 400 total snaps, per NFL.com’s tracking data.
No. 57: Dion Dawkins Keeps Protecting Josh Allen’s Blind Side
Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins earned his fifth straight Pro Bowl selection in 2025 and his third consecutive Top 100 appearance. The 32-year-old allowed 33 quarterback pressures and six sacks across 957 snaps last season, per Pro Football Focus, numbers that reflect the steady, low-drama protection he’s provided Josh Allen for years.
Dawkins has become one of the more visible personalities among NFL offensive linemen, and he backed that up with real advocacy work: he helped develop the Protector Award, now handed out annually at NFL Honors to the league’s top offensive lineman. On the field, Dawkins allowed a 7.5% pressure rate in 2025, the seventh-lowest mark among left tackles with at least 200 pass-block snaps, according to NFL.com.
No. 56: Jalen Hurts Falls 37 Spots Despite a Career Year in Touchdowns
Nobody in this group moved more than Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, and not in the direction Philadelphia fans wanted. Hurts fell 37 spots to No. 56, his lowest ranking since before his 2023 debut on the list at No. 3, even after throwing a career-high 25 touchdown passes and rushing for eight more across 16 games. Philadelphia’s Super Bowl defense ended in a wild-card exit, and Hurts’ completion percentage dipped along with his rushing workload compared to prior seasons — factors that likely weighed on how his peers voted.
Still, a third Pro Bowl bid in four seasons speaks to Hurts’ standing among the league’s dual-threat quarterbacks. He enters his seventh NFL season without longtime top target A.J. Brown, who has since joined New England. One statistical wrinkle stands out: Hurts generated a league-low 39.6% of his passing yards via yards after the catch in 2025, one spot below Brock Purdy’s 40.0%, according to NFL.com’s advanced metrics — a number that speaks to how much of Philadelphia’s passing offense relied on Hurts placing the ball accurately downfield rather than leaning on receivers to create after the catch.
No. 55: CeeDee Lamb Slides 20 Spots Even With a Fifth Straight 1,000-Yard Year
Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb dropped 20 spots to No. 55, a decline that had more to do with Dallas’ offensive design than any falloff in his own play. The addition of George Pickens gave the Cowboys a second true threat at receiver, which meant fewer targets, catches, yards and touchdowns flowing through Lamb compared to prior seasons. He still finished with 75 receptions for 1,077 yards and three touchdowns across 14 games — his fifth straight season clearing 1,000 receiving yards.
That streak puts Lamb in rare company. He’s now the only player in Cowboys history besides Hall of Famer Michael Irvin to post at least 1,000 receiving yards in five consecutive seasons, per NFL.com. The five-time Pro Bowler remains Dak Prescott’s top target, and his workload could climb again if Pickens, currently playing on the franchise tag, departs in free agency next spring.
Nos. 60-55 at a Glance
| Rank | Player | Team | Pos. | Rank Change | Key 2025 Stat Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | Brock Bowers | Las Vegas Raiders | TE | -36 | 64 rec, 680 yds, 7 TD (12 games) |
| 59 | Bo Nix | Denver Broncos | QB | +5 | 3,931 pass yds, 25 pass TD, 11 INT |
| 58 | Nico Collins | Houston Texans | WR | +26 | 71 rec, 1,117 yds, 6 TD |
| 57 | Dion Dawkins | Buffalo Bills | OT | +15 | 6 sacks allowed, 33 QB pressures allowed |
| 56 | Jalen Hurts | Philadelphia Eagles | QB | -37 | 3,224 pass yds, 25 pass TD, 421 rush yds |
| 55 | CeeDee Lamb | Dallas Cowboys | WR | -20 | 75 rec, 1,077 yds, 3 TD |
Rank-change figures reflect movement from each player’s 2025 Top 100 placement, as reported by NFL.com.
The countdown continues through Aug. 21 with two reveals daily, before shifting to a single daily reveal for the top 10 from Aug. 24 through Sept. 4. The next installment, Nos. 54-50, is expected on NFL.com’s Top Players News hub in the coming days.