Ravens All Pro Snubbed From NFL Top 100 List

None of the names announced should come as a surprise, as they were all First Team All Pro selections, including the last two league MVPs, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, and the last two Defensive Players of the Year. However, it confirmed one major omission from this year's annual list, as voted on exclusively by active players in the league.

Despite coming off the best season of his career, in which he also earned First Team All Pro honors after leading the AFC and tying for the third-most interceptions in the league with a career-high six, Baltimore Ravens four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey was left off this year's list entirely.

What makes it truly puzzling is that the ninth-year veteran was the only Associated Press First or Second team All Pro defensive back selection to not make the cut, even though he proved that he is still one of the league's elite and arguably the best nickel corner.

There were seven corners total voted to this year's list, with only one whose placement has yet to be revealed: Patrick Surtain II of the Denver Broncos, who became just the sixth corner to ever win DPOY honors. He has the only firm leg to stand on when it comes to having a case that their 2024 campaign was superior to Humphrey's.

After being limited by injuries to just 10 games in 2023, Humphrey bounced back last year. He was outstanding in coverage, allowing the second-lowest passer rating among cornerbacks who saw 75 or more targets last season, at 58.5. Humphrey appeared in 16 of the 17 regular-season games and finished with 67 total tackles, including a career-high five for loss, two forced fumbles, half a sack, four quarterback hits, tied his career-high in pass breakups with 15 and notched his first career pick-six.

Although Humphrey was optimized in the slot, he didn't play there exclusively and dominated on the outside as well. Even before the Ravens secondary turned their fortunes around down the backhalf of last season, whenever they needed a clutch play from their defense in the first half of the year, he was often the one who answered the call with a crucial turnover, whether it was an interception or forced fumble.

What makes Humphrey's exclusion especially dumbfounding is that there were players who didn't even play a full season or even play at a consistently elite level, even when they were on the field, who made the cut while he didn't. Meanwhile, he was one of the most impactful defenders regardless of position and had a career year.

The fact that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 79) and San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffery (No. 73), who didn't finish the year or even play double-digit games, made it over him makes absolutely no sense. Prescott's inclusion over Humphrey was especially blasphemous given the fact that he was on pace for one of the worst years of his career before a hamstring injury prevented him from doing any further damage, as he had a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 11-8 when he went down. McCaffery played just four games and didn't look like the reigning OPOY that earned Madden cover athlete honors last year.

This list is annually lambasted online via social media for its rationale and reasoning, or clear lack thereof. In the case of keeping Humphrey off, the voters deserve all the harsh criticism that has come their way because there arguably aren't 50 players who are poised to have a more successful season than him, but there definitely aren't 100-plus especially with the loaded secondary he's apart of.