Rams' Myles Garrett tops NFL's 'Top 100' list, edging out No. 2 Josh Allen

The "NFL Top 100" voters have spoken: Myles Garrett is the best player in the NFL.

Garrett, the Rams' new superstar pass rusher, has become just the third defender in the TV show's 16-year history to win the award. The first was J.J. Watt in 2015. The other was Garrett's new Rams teammate, Aaron Donald, in 2019.

After dropping from No. 11 to No. 20 following the 2022 season, Garrett rose to fifth in 2024 and placed eighth on last year's list. All Garrett did last season for the lowly Browns was break the league's single-season sack record with 23 (in 17 games), winning Defensive Player of the Year and being named first-team All-Pro.

The Browns traded Garrett to the Rams for Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick and a conditional 2029 conditional selection.

Bills QB Josh Allen finished second, followed by Falcons RB Bijan Robinson. The rest of the top 10, in descending order: Rams QB Matthew Stafford, Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey, Rams WR Puka Nacua, Packers EDGE Micah Parsons, Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs and Broncos CB Patrick Surtain II.

Is this one of the less controversial 'Top 100' No. 1 picks?

The votes are often highly scrutinized and, as the results show, strongly slanted toward offensive players at the very top. Quarterbacks have finished atop the list nine times in total, although the past two winners before Garrett were non-QBs: Tyreek Hill in 2024 and Saquon Barkley in 2025.

But perhaps the voters got this one right this time around.

Garrett's 2025 season will go down as one of the greatest individual defensive campaigns in recent memory, especially considering the circumstances. The Browns went 5-12, with six losses by double digits. It's no shock why the Rams paid a premium for Garrett ahead of his age-31 season — and why the Rams, with firepower on both sides of the ball, are considered the odds-on favorite to win Super Bowl LXI prior to the 2026 season.

You hear in the way opponents talk about Garrett. They see him as a rare specimen, uniquely qualified to mess up opposing offenses. His get-off and burst remain elite. Blockers measure their self-worth based on matchups against Garrett, even if they receive help. Offenses almost never block him straight up and just run their normal stuff without accounting for him.

That's impact . Sure, the 23 sacks are likely what pushed Garrett ahead of Allen this year. Had the Bills won the Super Bowl, well, perhaps the vote would have been slightly different. That's not to say that Buffalo winning a few more playoff games would have rendered Allen a slightly better player, but that optics do matter in these types of votes.

Garrett earned the spot, which you can't always say is true. Barkley was hardly a consensus selection a year ago. Hill finishing first two years ago might have been the biggest jumped-the-shark moment in the Top 100 history.

Other wild things have happened, like Lamar Jackson going from completely unranked the year before to No. 1 in 2020 or Cam Newton topping the list in 2016 (after being 73rd the year before). This year feels about as solid and accurate as it has been in recent years, even Allen's legion of fans might strongly push back.

Not everyone will agree with Garrett at the top, of course. But this just feels like the right time and place for him to break through to the top. If the Rams go on to win the Super Bowl, with Garrett having the impact they hope, it would only justify the rankings even more.