Power Ranking Troy Polamalu and the Most Irreplaceable Player on Each NFL Team
Every NFL team is built in different ways, but perhaps no team is more built around a player’s individual skill set than Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu.
Experts constantly talk about the Steelers defense as being “a completely different unit”—and not in a good way—when Polamalu is out.
Though Ben Roethlisberger or James Harrison are often considered the best player on the team, it is Polamalu who is actually the most irreplaceable.
This concept got me thinking and I started to realize that there are quite a few situations like this in the NFL. So who are the most difficult to replace players on each NFL team, and how important are they, really?
Read on to find out.
32. Cincinnati Bengals—Jonathan Joseph, Cornerback
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Perhaps Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer said it best in 2009 when he explained why he believes that his team has the best cornerback duo in the league.
"I don’t know of a better tandem," Palmer said. "The two guys in Green Bay are really good, but I don’t think I would take either of those guys over our guys. Our guys are young, fast and physical."
Both cornerbacks are very good and there is certainly a case to be made about each of them being the team’s most valuable player, but I believe the injury this season to Jonathan Joseph really helped to show why he is so valuable to the team.
No game showed that more than the Week 7 contest when Matt Ryan exploited the Joseph-less Bengals for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns while Roddy White verbally taunted the team.
“I don’t even know these guys' names,” White claimed before assaulting them for over 200 yards and two touchdowns.
While 2010 wasn’t his best season, a healthy Jonathan Joseph is still one of the game’s best corners.
31. Carolina Panthers—Jon Beason, Linebacker
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A disastrous season by the 2-14 Carolina Panthers makes it tough to call anyone on the roster truly “irreplaceable,” but if anyone is, it’s linebacker Jon Beason.
Beason failed to reach 100 solo tackles for the first time in his four-year NFL career, though he did still achieve a very respectable 90.
He’s constantly in on plays and may one of only a few players on the Panthers roster who is safe from being replaced in the near future.
The offense was absolutely horrendous, so the most irreplaceable player goes to the best defensive player on the team.
30. Seattle Seahawks—Earl Thomas, Safety
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The only rookie on the list, Seattle’s Earl Thomas established himself as not only an excellent rookie, but great player, no matter his experience.
Thomas was hyped heavily by NFL Network’s Mike Mayock going into the NFL Draft, who claimed that Thomas was actually a better prospect than the highly-touted Tennessee safety Eric Berry.
Mayock took a lot of attacks from other analysts for this opinion, but through one season of play, although both players looked good, Mayock looks to be justified.
He did make some mistakes as a rookie, but Thomas was excellent overall as he made 76 tackles, fifth best on the team, while also making a team-high five interceptions.
Things are looking up for the Seahawks, who surprised everyone by making the NFL Playoffs in the first place, and Earl Thomas could be the new face of the franchise.
29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers—Josh Freeman, Quarterback
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have long been looking for a franchise quarterback. In fact, one could argue that the team has never truly had one.
Only twice in the team’s history have the Buccaneers had the same leading passer for five straight seasons.
But Josh Freeman is looking like the player who may finally be able to break that terrible streak.
Though he is in just his second season, Freeman looked the part of a franchise quarterback this season as he threw for nearly 3,500 yards with 25 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
This came after he threw just 10 touchdowns and 18 interceptions in his rookie season of 2009.
Things are just getting started for this young stud quarterback.
28. New York Giants—Chris Snee, Guard
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There aren’t too many interior offensive linemen who are the most irreplaceable players on their teams, but Chris Snee fits that definition in a couple of different ways.
With the Giants’ run-heavy offense, Snee is often relied on as a lead blocker, particularly near the goal line, where the Giants love to smash the ball in the end zone behind their best player.
Snee was elected to his third straight Pro Bowl this season despite his team missing the playoffs in a 10-win season.
The fans have voted correctly on this one, as Snee has been and continues to be an absolutely dominant blocker up front.
Not only is Snee among the very best offensive linemen in the league, but he is also the son-in-law of Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, which perhaps makes him even more irreplaceable.
27. Buffalo Bills—Steve Johnson, Wide Receiver
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In his third season, wide receiver Steve Johnson became the team’s most irreplaceable player when he broke out in 2010.
After having just 12 total receptions in his first two seasons, Johnson exploded with 82 of them in 2010. He turned those receptions into 1,073 yards and 10 touchdowns—very impressive numbers for any player, but particularly for a player on a team that finished with a record of 4-12.
Time will tell if Johnson can continue to be as productive as he was in 2010, but there is little doubt that he has sprung past Lee Evans and Fred Jackson as the team’s top offensive weapon. So much for rookie C.J. Spiller filling that role.
26. Washington Redskins—Brian Orakpo, Linebacker
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When Donovan McNabb came to town, many expected him or the 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Albert Haynesworth to take over as the Redskins’ top player. But that didn’t happen.
While McNabb struggled and was eventually benched for Rex Grossman and Haynesworth seemed to be stuck in the Mike Shanahan dog house, it was the team’s stud second-year linebacker that stood out most.
In just his second season, Brian Orakpo was the best player on his team, as he added 8.5 sacks to the 11 he has in 2009.
Orakpo hasn’t grabbed the national attention of some of the other great pass-rushers in the league because of the lack of success his team has had, but he is playing at that elite level nonetheless.
The sky is truly the limit for this young linebacker.
25. Jacksonville Jaguars—Maurice Jones-Drew, Running Back
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At just 5’7” and 210 pounds, Maurice Jones-Drew doesn’t exactly fit the mold of what most people imagine when they think of an NFL player.
In fact, as a quick personal story, I have a sister who worked at a golf club in the Jacksonville area where Maurice Jones-Drew golfed at a couple of years ago. She didn’t believe he was an NFL player until he told her who he was.
But even given his lack of size, Jones-Drew has established himself as one of the league’s most productive running backs.
He has rushed for over 1,300 yards in each of the past two seasons and has cracked at least 1,100 total yards in each of his first five seasons.
The Jaguars have had practically no passing game to speak of throughout Jones-Drew’s entire career, but he has still broken out as one of the game’s elite running backs.
24. Kansas City Chiefs—Jamaal Charles, Running Back
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A year after Chris Johnson used his speed and explosiveness to break 2,000 yards rushing, many NFL fans were on watch for “the next Chris Johnson.”
The player who best filled that description in 2010 was Jamaal Charles, who nearly broke the NFL record for average yards per carry by a running back, finishing with an unbelievable 6.4 yards per carry.
Even while taking 15 fewer carries than his fellow backfield member Thomas Jones, Charles finished second in the NFL in rushing yardage with 1,467 yards.
He added 468 yards receiving which gave him over 1,900 total yards, in what could only be described as a complete backfield by committee.
The Chiefs would not have been in the playoffs this season without Jamaal Charles completely embarrassing opposing defenses practically every time he touched the ball.
23. Denver Broncos—Champ Bailey, Cornerback
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Considered by many to be the best cornerback the NFL has seen in the past decade, Champ Bailey is still playing at an extremely high level.
It has been Darrelle Revis, Asante Samuel and Nnamdi Asomugha who have been getting the attention from the media, but Champ Bailey has very quietly been playing at the level of those players.
He hasn’t cracked more than three interceptions since he had 10 in 2006, so many fans equate that to him not playing at a high level anymore. The truth is that Bailey has been playing a different style in recent years.
In years past, he allowed more big plays because he was taking chances to make big plays of his own. Now that he’s getting older, he has become more of a traditional coverage cornerback who blankets the receiver he is lined up against.
A case could be made that Ryan Clady is now the team’s most valuable player given Bailey’s age, but don’t forget about this 12-year veteran who is still among the league’s best defensive players.
22. Atlanta Falcons—Roddy White, Wide Receiver
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Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White is considered by many to be the best route-runner in the NFL and his talents make him the most irreplaceable player on the roster of the NFC’s top-seeded playoff team.
White’s career didn’t get off to a great start when Mike Vick was behind center, but he has truly come around as one of the game’s elite receivers.
White led all receivers in 2010 with 115 receptions, adding 1,389 yards receiving with 10 touchdowns. The excellent season marked the fourth year in a row that White has broken 1,100 yards receiving after failing to get to that number in his first two years combined.
Matt Ryan is considered by many to be the face of the franchise, and that’s fine—but Roddy White is the team’s most irreplaceable player.
21. St. Louis Rams—Steven Jackson, Running Back
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There are players who don’t get the respect they deserve—and then there is St. Louis’ Steven Jackson.
Jackson has rushed for 1,000-plus yards in now six straight seasons while also being one of the league’s best receiving backs throughout his entire career.
These incredible numbers have come while battling countless injuries and playing on a team that has hasn’t finished better than .500 since before Jackson was on the roster, back in 2003.
Jackson brings the ideal combination of speed, strength and vision while also being a very underrated blocker in pass protection.
The fact that he has been so successful on the Rams is a testament to his amazing talent and determination as St. Louis has simply been embarrassing along their offensive line for years.
He doesn’t get the recognition that Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson do, but Steven Jackson has a very legitimate claim to being the best running back in the NFL. Just imagine him being on a team that actually has some other weapons to take the pressure off of him.
20. New York Jets—Nick Mangold, Center
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This one is likely to catch a lot of people off guard, but hear me out.
Darrelle Revis is an elite cornerback and I’m not going to get into a shouting match about whether he is the team’s most valuable player. The fact is that both Revis and center Nick Mangold are perhaps the best players in the league at their respective positions.
The reason that I gave Mangold the nod in this article is because the Jets are capable of playing without Darrelle Revis and still looking good defensively, given their current personnel.
With Antonio Cromartie, Marquice Cole, Drew Coleman, and rookie Kyle Wilson on the roster as well as a solid group of safeties over the top, the Jets have the personnel to make up for the potential loss of Revis.
On offense, though, there is simply no replacing Nick Mangold. The guy is an absolute animal on the interior of the offensive line who plays well even against some of the elite nose tackles in the league, such as New England’s Vince Wilfork.
Replacing Mangold would be an absolute nightmare scenario for the Jets.
19. Chicago Bears—Julius Peppers, Defensive End
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The Bears were hoping that Julius Peppers would be able to continue his dominant career in their star-filled defense but I don’t think even they could imagine that he would have as big of an impact as he did.
Though Peppers had only eight sacks on the year, that number does not even come close to telling the story of the constant pressure and abuse he inflicted upon opposing quarterbacks in 2010.
Peppers contributed on running downs as well with 54 combined tackles, while adding three forced fumbles and nine passes defended. He even intercepted two passes.
Julius Peppers is the kind of physical freak that NFL Draft scouts are always looking for and he is still playing at an elite level, even though he will be entering his 10th season as a pro next year.
18. Detroit Lions—Calvin Johnson, Wide Receiver
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Calvin Johnson is the most physically gifted receiver in the NFL. His combination of size, strength, speed, and athleticism are the kind of un-teachable attributes that offensive coordinators absolutely drool over.
Johnson made use of his physical talents this year on his way to 77 receptions for 1,120 yards and 12 touchdowns—and he also had a touchdown stolen from him back in Week 1.
Not only was Johnson productive this year, but he did it in a season when his team had three different starting quarterbacks.
Former top overall pick Matt Stafford missed the majority of the season with an injury and even backup Shaun Hill missed significant time, leaving the job open for third-stringer Drew Stanton.
Johnson has been productive no matter who is throwing him the ball, though. He put up great numbers with all three quarterbacks.
I guess it helps that he played with practically no quarterback in college, as well. He must be used to it.
17. Minnesota Vikings—Jared Allen, Defensive End
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Along with the rest of the Vikings, Jared Allen had a tough time getting things going early this season. With the team off to just a 2-5 record, Allen had only recorded one sack in the first seven games of the season.
Allen started getting things going again in the second half of the year, though, as he finished the season with at least a half sack in eight of the final nine games of the year.
Though 2010 was a down year for the Vikings and Allen himself, he remains one of the absolute premier defensive ends in the league.
This selection is going to shock a lot of people who believe that Adrian Peterson is the clear-cut most irreplaceable player on the Vikings’ roster, but Toby Gerhart is capable of producing at least some sort of offensive production if Peterson were to go down.
Meanwhile, there are no players on the Vikings roster who would be a suitable replacement for Allen as a premier pass-rushing right defensive end.
16. Arizona Cardinals—Larry Fitzgerald, Wide Receiver
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It was a tough season for star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who struggled to get in any rhythm with the awful group of quarterbacks on the Cardinals roster.
After having reached double-digit touchdown receptions in an impressive three straight seasons, Fitzgerald fell to just six touchdowns in 2010.
Still, Fitzgerald is great enough that he continued his streak of now five straight 1,000-plus receiving yard seasons. He has caught 90 or more passes in five of his first seven NFL seasons.
Fitzgerald is scheduled to hit free agency after the 2011 season, but rumors are beginning to circulate that he is interested in a trade, perhaps even to the Minnesota Vikings, where he was a ball boy in his youth.
If the Cardinals are smart, they will do whatever it takes to keep their most irreplaceable player happy.
15. San Diego Chargers—Philip Rivers, Quarterback
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Philip Rivers joined the elite quarterback discussion this season when he somehow continued to produce at an extremely high level while seemingly everything around him was crumbling to pieces.
It started when the team got rid of former All-Pro running back LaDainian Tomlinson in the off-season but it got way worse in a hurry.
Rivers’ top receiver from a season ago and his left tackle, Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill, held out for a combined 16 games to start the season.
It got even worse yet with injuries to rookie running back Ryan Mathews, All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates, and receivers Malcom Floyd, Legedu Naanee, Buster Davis, and Patrick Crayton.
Even given all of these distractions and disadvantages, Rivers led the entire NFL in passing yardage with 4,710 yards on the year. The season marked the third straight year that Rivers has broken 4,000 yards passing.
14. Houston Texans—Andre Johnson, Wide Receiver
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2010 saw the breakout of running back Arian Foster, but it is wide receiver Andre Johnson who is certainly the best offensive player on the Texans roster.
In spite of missing three games with an injury, Johnson finished sixth in the NFL in receiving yardage with 1,216 yards. He added eight touchdown receptions which extended his streak of four seasons in a row of either equaling or exceeding that number.
If Johnson would have played the full season, he would have also likely finished with over 100 receptions for the fourth time in the past five seasons.
Johnson is the kind of game-changing receiver who can go up and make a big catch in traffic at an important point in the game or he can slowly peck away at the defense with short receptions all day—he’s not a one-trick pony.
Mario Williams could also be argued as the team’s most irreplaceable player, but defenses have been able to shut him down in the past by focusing their protection toward him.
Andre Johnson has made fools out of a few defenses even when they try to shut him down, thus giving him the edge in this category.
13. Baltimore Ravens—Haloti Ngata, Nose Tackle
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It only takes a few plays of watching Haloti Ngata to realize how important he is to the Baltimore Ravens defense.
Ngata fluidly transitions between the defensive end and nose tackle positions, making a huge impact no matter where he’s lines up on the field.
Only in his fifth season as a pro, the 26-year-old Ngata was selected to the Pro Bowl in both 2009 and 2010—and he’s only getting better.
His 6’4”, 350 lb frame makes him among the biggest players in the NFL, but don’t confuse that with him being unable to get around the field.
In fact, Ngata is one of the league’s most active defensive linemen. He flies to the ball, having made an impressive 63 total tackles in the 2010 regular season.
While Ray Lewis is the heart of the defense and Terrell Suggs and Ed Reed gets a lot of attention due to their flashy statistics, it is Haloti Ngata who is actually the most valuable player on this impressive defense.
12. Miami Dolphins—Jake Long, Tackle
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The top pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, Jake Long was drafted to be exactly what he has been—a cornerstone of the Miami Dolphins roster.
While offensive linemen don’t get much national attention, Long deserves all the attention he gets and much more.
His dominant pass-protecting skills make him one of the absolute elite left tackles in the league and even one of the elite players in the league at any position.
Long allowed just nine total sacks in the past two seasons combined and has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of his three NFL seasons.
While the Dolphins have not established a franchise quarterback, there is little doubt that they have the next most important position locked up with Jake Long at left tackle.
11. Philadelphia Eagles—Mike Vick, Quarterback
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Going into the season, no one would have expected that the team’s most irreplaceable player at the end of the year would not even be a starter on the offense in the beginning.
Mike Vick changed that, though, when he replaced an injured Kevin Kolb in the first game of the year. Though the Eagles lost the game, Vick exploded back into the limelight as he absolutely abused the Packers defense.
He continued that success throughout the season and is considered by most to be the likely runner-up for the league’s Most Valuable Player award.
Though there are players like DeSean Jackson and Asante Samuel who could be argued as the team’s most irreplaceable, there may not be a player in the league who changes his team as much as Mike Vick does.
10. Oakland Raiders—Nnamdi Asomugha, Cornerback
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It seems odd that a player whose name you almost never hear called during a game could be described as the most irreplaceable player on the roster, but that’s what the Raiders have in cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.
While many cornerbacks like Darrelle Revis, Asante Samuel, and DeAngelo Hall have made their names by making big plays and creating turnovers, Asomugha sets the standard as perhaps the best pure “shut down” cornerback who has ever played the game.
Asomugha’s stat line wouldn’t stand out as being anything special but it’s not his stat line that makes him great—it’s the stat line of the guys he’s lined up against that makes him special.
He missed two games and played through injuries in others but Asomugha is respected so much by opposing teams that the receiver he covered was only targeted 33 times on the year. He allowed just 13 catches on the year—less than one per game—and that’s really not anything new for him.
The news broke earlier this week that Asomugha is now a free agent due to a clause in his contract which means that the Raiders could very well be without their most irreplaceable player in 2011. Good luck with that.
9. San Francisco 49ers—Patrick Willis, Linebacker
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Considered by many to be the best overall linebacker in the NFL, San Francisco’s Patrick Willis has made a name for himself in spite of being on a team that has not finished with more than eight wins since 2002.
Willis has an excellent combination of strength and speed, while also having the ability to diagnose a play before it even takes place and get other players in position to make plays.
He has over 125 combined tackles in each of his first four seasons and had his best season rushing the passer in 2010, when he registered six sacks.
His amazing play has been awarded with four straight Pro Bowl seasons, two First Team All-Pro selections in 2007 and 2009, an NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2007.
Financially, he was rewarded prior to the 2010 season with a five-year contract extension worth $50 million, making him the highest paid inside linebacker in the NFL.
If the rest of the 49ers played at even half of the level that Patrick Willis does, they would be a sure-fire playoff team every season.
8. Tennessee Titans—Chris Johnson, Running Back
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It’s funny when players are considered to be in “down years” when they rush for over 1,300 yards and score double-digit touchdowns.
But that’s what some fans were saying in 2010 following Johnson’s ridiculous, record-breaking 2009 season in which he broke the single-season record for total yardage by a running back.
Johnson quietly went over 1,600 total yards with 12 touchdowns in 2010 on a team that won just six total games. Those numbers are even more impressive given that the Titans were playing quarterback roulette throughout the entire season.
No matter who is behind center, though, Johnson is by far the most important and irreplaceable player in this offense.
7. Green Bay Packers—Clay Matthews, Linebacker
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The odds-on favorite to win the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, the Green Bay Packers’ second-year linebacker Clay Matthews has really established himself as one of the faces of the next generation in the NFL.
Mathews was the 2009 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year when he made 51 tackles while adding 10 sacks and a forced fumble. But he got even better in 2010, improving to 60 tackles with 13.5 sacks and two forced fumbles—he even added an interception for a touchdown.
While Charles Woodson and Aaron Rodgers could both be argued as the team’s most irreplaceable player, Mathews edges them both out as he is still getting better while already playing at an elite level.
6. Cleveland Browns—Joe Thomas, Tackle
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Considered by many experts to be the best left tackle in the entire league, Joe Thomas’ name isn’t thrown around the media very often due to the complete lack of success that the team has had in recent years.
Thomas has played his entire career without a quality quarterback playing behind him and without any real threat at running back prior to Peyton Hillis breaking out this season.
Still, Thomas has been one of the elite pass protectors and run blockers in the league at left tackle.
With young quarterbacks like Brady Quinn and Colt McCoy often making rookie mistakes by holding the ball for too long, Thomas has still kept his sacks-allowed totals very low.
This is also particularly impressive, given how many obvious passing situations the Browns are in due to them being down late in games.
Perhaps other than the elite quarterbacks in the NFL, Joe Thomas may be the league’s most valuable player.
5. Dallas Cowboys—DeMarcus Ware, Linebacker
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What an unbelievable player this guy is.
While many pass-rushing linebackers are one-trick ponies, DeMarcus Ware is as complete of an NFL player as you are going to find. His run-stopping skills are great, and his pass-coverage is underrated as well.
But of course, the thing that everyone will talk about is Ware’s unbelievable pass-rushing skills that may make him the best overall defensive player in the league.
Ware led the entire NFL in sacks for the second time in his past three seasons this year, finishing the year with 15.5 sacks.
He has averaged 13 1/3 sacks per season in his six NFL seasons, a number that seems to only be on the rise as he learns more.
There are few players that offenses change their entire game plans to account for, but he is certainly at the top of that list and a dominant force for the Cowboys defense.
4. New Orleans Saints—Drew Brees, Quarterback
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With the up-and-down nature of the Saints running game and defense, it’s hard to expect that their passing game has been as consistently good as it has been since Drew Brees joined the team.
Following another highly productive 2010 season in which he threw for 4,620 yards, Brees has now thrown for more than 4,400 yards in five straight seasons. Unfortunately, this year’s season also was his worst professional season in one major category, as he threw for 22 interceptions.
Still, Brees is in the elite tier of quarterbacks and led his team to back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time since 1992.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers—Troy Polamalu, Safety
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It has become a cliché to say, but the truth is that the Pittsburgh Steelers defense is simply a different group when Troy Polamalu is on the field.
Polamalu’s incredible play-making skills make him an extremely valuable asset to the defense, so much so that he plays a position that is practically custom-designed to work with his skills.
While most safeties are asked to sit back in coverage and protect against the deep pass, Polamalu can often be found making tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
He is among the very best, if not the best blitzing safety in the league but he also does an incredible job of making plays in coverage. He’s simply a playmaker—and among the very best ever to play the game.
Oh, and that hair!
2. Indianapolis Colts—Peyton Manning, Quarterback
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This one didn’t take much thought and I can’t imagine that it will get much discussion.
Whether or not you want to believe that Dwight Freeney is the best defensive end in the league, he is still not anywhere near the leader that Peyton Manning is and his skills are certainly more replaceable.
Manning is a three-time NFL Most Valuable Player award winner and is well on his way to not only the hall of fame, but perhaps also breaking many of Brett Favre’s career records.
There’s no stopping Peyton Manning when he’s in a zone. He’s simply on another level from almost any other player in the NFL.
The only question is whether or not his career playoff record of worthy of giving him the ever-controversial “choke artist” tag.
1. New England Patriots—Tom Brady, Quarterback
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Sometimes selections just speak for themselves.
There are plenty of great players on the Patriots’ roster including Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo, and Wes Welker, but there is no one that stands out like future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady.
Sometimes players are born with natural talent and are expected to be elite players right out of college but Brady wasn’t expected to be anything like that and was perhaps even lucky to be drafted. When Drew Bledsoe went down with an injury, no one could have expected the legend that would be born.
Brady is a three-time Super Bowl winner who is likely to win his second NFL Most Valuable Player award this season, with a chance to become a member of a very small group who has ever won four Super Bowl titles.
Brady already holds an NFL season record for most touchdowns thrown back in 2007 when he threw for 50 touchdown passes, and he set another record in 2010 when he set a new NFL record for most passes thrown in a row without an interception.
The record just speaks to the incredible consistency and decision-making that Brady possesses which helps to make him the most valuable player on the New England Patriots roster, as well as the entire NFL.
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