A couple weeks ago, NFL Network kicked off its "Top 100" list, as it does every year during the slow portion of the offseason after the NFL Draft. In their first installment, a pair of star Philadelphia Eagles players -- OT Lane Johnson and S Malcolm Jenkins -- landed in the 90's, which were comically low placements.
This week, DT Fletcher Cox and TE Zach Ertz both appeared in the 60's.
Fletcher Cox - 69
(You may have to click the video twice, as the NFL forces you to watch it on YouTube for some dumb reason)
"Without Fletcher Cox, the Eagles are not in the Super Bowl. What else do you want me to say? He’s not one of these big guys who wants to do all the spins. He’s one of these big guys who wants to run through your face, who’s going to play physical, who’s going to do things the way they love to do them in Philly. The game is won where? Up front.
"I’m from the area. Fans love him, because he’s got that attitude and he plays like it. Fletcher Cox sets the tone for that team. Without Fletcher Cox, that team is not where they are man. He’s on his way to being one of the great ones, and I love watching him, because he kicks butt."
- Mike Daniels, Packers defensive tackle
"Fletch is awesome. He’s not fun to play against. He’s able to just fly off the ball, and when you give a guy like that the ability to come off the ball and come right up the field it causes problems for offensive linemen."
- Josh Sitton, Dolphins offensive guard
"Most of the time when you play against a guy, they’ll put their hands into you. It’s more like a shock, right, whereas Fletch, who you literally feel his hands grab your pads and it’s this unnerving sense of like a control that he has."
- Jason Kelce, Eagles center
"I like when he gets a sack, and all those dances. You don’t know what he’s going to do. Thriller, you don’t know if he's going to do the shake, I don’t know what you call that."
- Lane Johnson, Eagles offensive tackle
Zach Ertz - 68
"I think Zach is probably a top 3 tight end. I would probably rank him right after Gronk and Kelce."
- Tyrann Mathieu, Texans safety
"He’s a technician. He takes pride in his route and manipulating you in different ways."
- Keanu Neal, Falcons safety
"I watched a lot of film on him, and tried to study his routes, because the thing about him, he’s not very fast. And I think he knows that, so he knows how to set you up in and out of his breaks."
- De’Vondre Campbell, Falcons linebacker
"He definitely poses a challenge for the defensive backs. He actually scored a touchdown on me. I was kind of upset about that. I seen him running down the seam, and I slid outside, and I’m guessing he’s going to run a corner route on me, but he gave me a little bite to the corner, and he came back to the post and he hit him for a touchdown."
- Mike Adams, Panthers safety
"It feels like every touchdown we had Zach was getting the ball."
- Lane Johnson, Eagles tackle
Apparently, Bills safety Micah Hyde is better than Lane Johnson, Malcolm Jenkins, Fletcher Cox, and Zach Ertz:
Anyway, whatever. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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