Peyton Manning is now the fifth-best player and the third-best quarterback in the NFL according to his peers and the annual NFL’s Top 100 Players list, which revealed its final ten players on Wednesday. Manning slipped four spots from his No. 1 overall ranking last year. J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans took home this year’s top honor, the first time a defensive player has been the number one player on the list.
Other than 2012, which followed Manning’s last season in Indianapolis in which he did not play a single snap, Manning had never rated lower than No. 2 on the annual list, which began in 2011. (Even in 2012 he still ranked No. 50 despite his football future being fully in doubt.) But three consecutive unceremonious playoff exits and an injury that clearly caused a decline in his play in the second half of the season have led to his lowest ranking ever following a full NFL season.
Still, Manning has plenty to be happy about. He joins an exclusive list of quarterbacks who has been voted into the top five four times. Only Manning and Tom Brady (5 times) can claim a top-five ranking in four years or more.
Manning finished behind Brady, who finished third on the 2o15 list, for the third time in five years. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers bested the both of them, finishing second and marking the second time that Rodgers has been voted the top quarterback by his peers.
DeMarco Murray, the electric Dallas Cowboys running back, filled out the top five in the fourth spot. Murray jumped 83 spots on the list, the largest jump of any player.
