ESPN.com is ranking NFL players and counting them down (follow on Twitter -- @ESPNNFL) from No. 100 to No. 1 on offense and 10 per day for 10 days on defense. The top 10 on both sides of the ball will be revealed on Friday, Aug. 30.
What is #NFLRank?
#NFLrank is the Twitter hashtag to use if you want to get involved in the discussion or just follow along.
You can also follow along here: @ESPNNFL (NFL on ESPN) and on Facebook.
How did we rank the players?
We polled 63 experts to rate each player on a 0-to-10 scale, with 10 being the best regardless of position in the NFL. Ties, as denoted by an asterisk, were broken by determining which player had more ballots with the highest number (if players were tied, the player with three 10s was ranked higher than the player with two 10s. If the tied players had the same amount of the highest number -- each with two 10s -- we moved to the next number; three 9s beat two 9s).
Here is the full list of voters from ESPN.com, ESPN TV, ESPN Radio, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Insider (including Football Outsiders and Pro Football Focus), ESPN Fantasy, ESPN Boston, ESPN Chicago, ESPN Dallas, ESPN New York and ESPN Stats & Information.
Last season, the Cowboys allowed 3.4 yards per rush with Ratliff on the field and 4.8 yards when he was off the field.
-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)
62
6.79*
Lawrence Timmons | @lawrencetimmons
Pittsburgh Steelers | LB | Age: 27 | NFL experience: 7th year
ESPN Fantasy rank: LB16; overall 26
Timmons has posted 18 sacks lined up as an inside linebacker since the start of 2008, four more than the next-closest player (Daryl Washington, 14).
-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)
63
6.79*
Cortland Finnegan | @CortFinnegan
St. Louis Rams | CB | Age: 29 | NFL experience: 8th year
ESPN Fantasy rank: DB15; overall 61
Finnegan has played 3,174 snaps in the past three seasons. Only Titans safety and former teammate Michael Griffin has played more.
-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)
64
6.77
Donte Whitner | @DonteWhitner
San Francisco 49ers | S | Age: 28 | NFL experience: 8th year
ESPN Fantasy rank: NR; SF D2
Since joining the 49ers in 2011, Whitner has broken up six passes thrown more than 10 yards downfield, tied for fifth most among all safeties. Whitner had broken up one such pass in the previous three seasons with the Bills combined.
-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)
65
6.76
Chad Greenway | Team Twitter: @Vikings
Minnesota Vikings | LB | Age: 30 | NFL experience: 8th year
ESPN Fantasy rank: LB8; overall 10
Greenway has 444 tackles during the past three seasons, most in the league. Greenway has played 98.5 percent of defensive snaps during that span, third highest among linebackers with at least 48 games played.
-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)
66
6.74
Michael Johnson | Team Twitter: @Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals | DE | Age: 26 | NFL experience: 5th year
ESPN Fantasy rank: DL15; overall 53
Johnson's 11.5 sacks last season were second most in the league among defensive ends who played less than 80 percent of their teams' defensive snaps.
-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)
67
6.71
Bobby Wagner | @Bwagz54
Seattle Seahawks | LB | Age: 23 | NFL experience: 2nd year
ESPN Fantasy rank: LB5; overall 7
Wagner averaged a tackle every 5.9 snaps played last season, the third-highest rate among defensive players with at least 500 snaps played.
-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)
68
6.69*
Charles Woodson | Team Twitter: @RAIDERS
Oakland Raiders | S | Age: 36 | NFL experience: 16th year
ESPN Fantasy rank: NR; OAK 32D
Since the start of 2008, Woodson has broken up or intercepted an NFL-high 30 passes thrown less than 10 yards downfield. The Raiders allowed a 69.5 QBR on those throws last season, fourth worst in the league.
-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)
69
6.69*
Paul Kruger | @pkruger99
Cleveland Browns | LB | Age: 27 | NFL experience: 5th year
ESPN Fantasy rank: NR; CLE D18
Kruger had 4.5 sacks during last postseason, most by any defensive player in the past two postseasons. Excluding the Ravens, Kruger's 4.5 sacks were more than 10 of the 11 playoff teams had in total during the postseason.
-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)
70
6.66
Antoine Winfield | @AntoineWinfield
Seattle Seahawks | CB | Age: 36 | NFL experience: 15th year
ESPN Fantasy rank: NR; SEA D1
No cornerback had more tackles than Winfield last season (101). Since 2008, Winfield has averaged 6.1 tackles per game, more than any other corner with at least 25 games played during that span.
-- ESPN Stats & Information (@ESPNStatsInfo)