Pittsburgh Steelers: NFL Top 100 slights, snubs top players

The Pittsburgh Steelers have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL, but NFL Network’s Top 100 Players of 2019 doesn’t reflect that.

If you’re a football geek or have been waiting for meaningful games to start, then perhaps you satisfied your football cravings by watching NFL Network’s NFL Top 100 Players of 2019 series. The show ranks the top 100 players heading into the 2019 season by a vote from the players. 10 players are revealed per episode, starting with No. 100 and working all the way down to one.

Part of what makes the show so insightful is that the players decide the rankings. It isn’t a popularity contest decided by rabid fanbases or an analytics program determined by a computer and people who have never played football before. You can see what players think of their peers and it provides more insight than other kinds of rankings or articles you could find online.

I’ve followed the annual show since it premiered back in 2011, but I’ve never been more surprised or disappointed in how the rankings represented a team. The Pittsburgh Steelers had eight players make last season’s Pro Bowl. Out of those players, only five made the NFL Top 100. Ben Roethlisberger also made the countdown, but he wasn’t one of the eight players invited to Orlando.

Ordinarily, having six players on the countdown would be seen as an affirmation of a team’s strength. However, only one Steeler from last season ranked inside the top 40 and two Steelers were ranked in the bottom 13 players on the list. Two of the three players who have made the countdown in the past fell more than 20 spots. Two other Steelers who were deserving of making the countdown were snubbed entirely despite consecutive productive seasons.

Let’s take a look at these slights and snubs from the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL Top 100 for 2019.