Top 100 Players of 2026, Nos. 30-21: Christian Gonzalez rockets up list; Devin Lloyd debuts at No. 27
Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson lands at number 30 on the Top 100 Players list of 2026.
The "NFL Top 100" -- voted on by the players themselves -- reveal is underway on X! Two players will be revealed at 10 a.m. ET and 11 a.m. daily Monday through Friday from June 22-Aug. 21, before one Top 10 player is unveiled each weekday beginning at 10 a.m. ET on Monday, Aug. 24 through Friday, Sept. 4.
2025 stats: 17 games | 54 tackles | 14 tfl | 14.5 sacks | 1 INT | 35 QB hits | 4 FF
Hutchinson's career year came at the perfect time. Fresh off signing a mega-extension, with a record $141 million guaranteed, the Lions star proved his worth. Hutch set career highs in sacks, QB hits and forced fumbles, fighting off constant chip blocks to log a league-best 89 QB pressures. That he did all this coming off a season-ending leg injury made Hutchinson's 2025 campaign all the more impressive; he just missed out on Comeback Player of the Year honors, but made his second Pro Bowl, earned his first second-team All-Pro accolade and ranked as a Defensive Player of the Year finalist. With a fully healthy offseason under his belt, there's no telling what Hutchinson and the playoff-hungry Lions can accomplish.
NFL Pro Insight for Hutchinson: Hutchinson is the first player since sacks were first tracked in 1982 to record 35+ sacks and 5+ interceptions in his first four career seasons.
2025 stats: 11 games | 33 tackles | 5 tfl | 3 sacks | 12 QB hits
Carter didn't log a snap in Philly's 2025 season opener after getting ejected for spitting on Dak Prescott, retroactively serving a one-game suspension in the process. But the Eagles pass rusher's campaign mightily improved from there. Alongside Jordan Davis, Carter held down the interior D-line on an Eagles defense that finished top-five in points allowed. The DT's pressure rates decreased in 2025 as his snap totals increased, but his peers still thought highly of him, rewarding Carter, who missed multiple games due to shoulder injuries, with a 14-spot increase in this year's ranking following last month's contract extension.
NFL Pro Insight for Carter: Carter generated a career-low 7.7% pressure rate despite facing a double-team on a career-low 41.7% of his pass rushes in 2025.
Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter lands at number 29 on the Top 100 Players list of 2026.
2025 stats: 14 games | 69 tackles | 1 tfl | 10 PD | 0 INT
The best Patriots player on the Levi's Stadium turf on Feb. 8, 2026, may well have been Gonzalez. His efforts weren't enough for New England to win Super Bowl LXI, but the league certainly took notice of Gonzalez in 2025, rocketing the CB halfway up the top 100 ahead of his fourth season. Gonzalez's three passes defensed and lockdown of OPOY Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the loss to Seattle were a fitting capstone to another excellent season, which ended in his first Pro Bowl nod. A contract extension awaits.
NFL Pro Insight for Gonzalez: Gonzalez allowed a 50.6% completion rate when targeted in 2025, the lowest of his career by 4.5% and the eighth-lowest among outside cornerbacks (min. 50 targets).
2025 stats: 15 games | 81 tackles | 6 tfl | 1.5 sacks | 5 INT | 1 TD | 10 QB hits
A former first-round pick denied a fifth year on his rookie deal, Lloyd entered his contract year in Jacksonville with something to prove -- and boy, did he. The off-ball linebacker was the heartbeat of the Jaguars' turnaround on defense, notably improving his play in pass coverage (-36.5 shift in coverage EPA from '24) and logging career highs in QB hits and interceptions, including his emphatic, tone-setting pick-six of Patrick Mahomes early in the 2025 season. Lloyd was rewarded for his efforts, with his first Pro Bowl nod, second-team All-Pro recognition and appearance on this ranking. Oh, not to mention a bank-breaking contract with the Panthers. After middling for three years in Duval, the ball-hawking Lloyd turned his career around in a major way and will now look to continue his rebirth in Charlotte.
NFL Pro Insight for Lloyd: Lloyd and Antonio Johnson led the Jaguars with five interceptions each, with Lloyd's one touchdown surrendered being the only one allowed in coverage by either.