Top 100 NFL players entering the 2020 season: Nos. 70-61
By Samuel Teets
68. Joe Thuney, LG, New England Patriots
The Patriots went through a lot this offseason. Tom Brady packed his bags for Tampa Bay, luring Rob Gronkowski out of retirement, while Patrick Chung, Marcus Cannon, and Dont’a Hightower opted out of the 2020 season. With Buffalo coming off a playoff run and the Miami Dolphins restructuring their team, the Patriots seem doomed to fall short of the postseason this year.
With the world seemingly falling down around New England, it’s very telling that the team used its franchise tag on Thuney. The $14.781 million tag keeps Thuney tied to the Patriots for another year, but the former third-round pick could target a record-breaking deal in 2021.
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Despite his relative obscurity, Thuney is one of the NFL’s best guards. If he wasn’t, Bill Belichick would’ve let him walk this offseason.
67. Shaquil Barrett, OLB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
While several players mentioned in this article experienced breakout seasons last year, Barrett’s performance was on a whole new level. The 27-year-old outside linebacker went undrafted in 2014 and only recorded 14 sacks during his first five seasons. When the Buccaneers signed Barrett last offseason, they had no idea he’d become one of the NFL’s premier pass rushers.
Playing on one of the most dominant defensive fronts in football, Barrett amassed a league-leading 19.5 sacks. The Second-Team All-Pro also recorded six forced fumbles, 58 tackles, 37 quarterback hits and 51 pressures. He went from serving as a rotational pass rusher to being a full-blown superstar in one year.
Barrett put together three games with three or more sacks in 2019, but opposing teams held him sack-less four times. Barrett is a monster defensively, but some of his production remains questionable. Now that he’s on every team’s radar, let’s see how Barrett responds in 2020.