Lamar Jackson Defended by Ravens' Minter After Drop to No. 69 in NFL Top 100 Rankings

Even though the NFL Top 100 list has historically been an innocuous thing intended to get fans excited about the upcoming season, the 2026 rankings received a lot of attention because of Lamar Jackson's precipitous drop to No. 69 overall.

The placement of Jackson was enough of a talking point that new Baltimore Ravens head coach Jesse Minter addressed it and defended his star quarterback during an appearance on The Lounge podcast (h/t Ryan Mink of BaltimoreRavens.com):

"Look, there may not even be one other player in the league better than Lamar, yet alone 68 players in the league better than Lamar. When you have one year where he dealt with a little bit of injury and the team [missed the playoffs], certain players they hold onto that and certain players they give them the benefit of the doubt. This guy is a multi-MVP winner, has transcended the quarterback position. He knows how I feel about him. I guess I don't put too much stock into what the list looks like."

Minter added he texted Jackson after the ranking came out, resulting in what he described as an "interesting" conversation between the two without divulging specifics about it.

"I know Lamar, I don't think he worries about that," Minter said. "I think he wants to win, I think he wants to win big. I think he wants to get back."

Jackson fell to 69 on this year's list after coming in at No. 2 on the 2025 Top 100. The process of compiling the ranking is complicated with players assembling their own personal top 20 with points assigned based on placement (No. 1 receives 20 points, No. 2 receives 19 points and so on).

Ballots go out late in the season, usually around Thanksgiving, and typically get submitted before the Super Bowl.

Considering how much players have on their plate during a season, their voting process could be something as simple as looking at the leaderboards in various categories.

For instance, Saquon Barkley was voted No. 1 for the 2025 list coming off his incredible 2024 with the Philadelphia Eagles that ended with a Super Bowl victory. Jackson finished second after finishing second in MVP voting.

Jackson didn't play for a month straight last season due to a hamstring issue, so he wasn't popping up on a lot of statistical leaderboards and the Ravens missed the playoffs.

He finished with his second-fewest passing yards (2,549) and second-worst completion percentage (63.6) since 2019.

If Jackson rebounds with a strong season in 2026 and the Ravens are in playoff contention, he will almost certainly be right back in the top 10 when the NFL Top 100 list for 2027 drops next summer.