Do the New England Patriots have any players who could be considered among the best in the NFL? Just barely, according to Pro Football Network’s Top 100 NFL Players of 2024.
Each member of PFN’s NFL staff submitted their own top 100, with the rankings then averaged into one primary list. The Patriots had one player make the cut — and a deserving one at that — but arguably their best player was left out. Let’s break it all down.
Christian Barmore: The Lone Patriots Player on PFN’s Top 100
Christian Barmore earned the No. 94 spot on Pro Football Network’s Top 100. Here’s what analyst Dallas Robinson wrote about the rising star:
“Always a dependable interior presence, Christian Barmore broke out with a career year in 2023, setting new highs in sacks (8.5), tackles (64), tackles for loss (13), and QB hits (16). He’s still ascending and could emerge as an even more dominant force in his fourth NFL season.”
In 2023, the 24-year-old Barmore established himself as one of the best defensive tackles in football. We ranked him No. 10 in our D-tackle rankings, which were published after Aaron Donald’s retirement.
A second-round pick in 2021, Barmore impressed as a rookie, especially late in the season. His numbers weren’t crazy (just 1.5 sacks), and he didn’t play much against the run, but Barmore’s explosive talent was evident.
In 2022, injuries limited Barmore to just 10 games. He also faced a significant uptick in opposing double-teams. However, Barmore caught fire over the final month, raising hope for a Year 3 breakout. And break out, he did.
Barmore led the Patriots in sacks, QB hits, QB hurries, total pressures, and batted balls, and ranked second in pass-rush win rate last season, per Pro Football Focus (PFF). His 49 pressures were the 17th-most among all NFL interior defenders, per PFF, which ranked him as the eighth-best D-tackle in 2024.
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Barmore’s playing time also increased from 49% of defensive snaps in 2022 to 66% in 2023. Notably, he saw much more action against the run.
In April, the Patriots rewarded Barmore with a four-year, $92 million contract extension, including $41.8 million guaranteed. He deserved that contract and his spot on the PFN Top 100.
Should Matthew Judon Have Been on PFN Top 100?
Full disclosure: I was one of just two PFN staffers who ranked Judon in the top 100. I put him at No. 83; the other staffer ranked him at No. 78.
I’m sorry, I just don’t think that players such as Tyron Smith and Cameron Heyward — just to name a couple — are better than Judon. But to each their own.
The last time we saw Judon, he was on a sack-per-game pace before suffering a season-ending biceps tear in October. He very much looked like the player who averaged 14 sacks the previous two seasons, including 15.5 in 2022, when he nearly broke the Patriots’ single-season sack record and finished ninth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
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Players voted Judon No. 33 in last year’s NFL Top 100. Does he really deserve to fall that far in any rankings?
That’s not to say his case for the PFN Top 100 was air-tight. Judon will turn 32 in August, and he’s coming off a major injury. Plus, for as good as his numbers were in 2021 and 2022, he faded down the stretch in both campaigns.
Judon’s detractors say his stats often are products of the Patriots’ scheme and/or pressure created by his teammates. He’s put in a position to succeed and he cleans up the trash. Judon also doesn’t get much love on PFF, for whatever that’s worth.
Some of those arguments are fair. However, Judon does dominate his 1-on-1 matchups and, when he’s at his best, can take over a game.
I also put Barmore ahead of Judon, so I don’t have any problem with that part of the rankings, but I don’t believe there are 99 NFL players better than Matthew Judon.
