2025 Best NFL Overall Players: Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen Lead Top 10 Rankings

We’ve officially made it to single digits, with the 2025 NFL season just nine days away.

Ahead of Week 1, the FOX Sports NFL Staff is ranking their top 10 players at select positions. 

Their top three players are quarterbacks — for the second consecutive year — but there is a ton of movement throughout this list.

That said, here are their top 10 overall players.

Lamar Jackson is a two-time MVP. (Photo by Logan Bowles/Getty Images)

Ben Arthur: Jackson is still getting better as a passer, and that’s a scary thought for opposing defenses considering he may already be the most talented player in the league. The two-time NFL MVP surpassed 4,000 passing yards for the first time last season, and he’s just as dynamic of a runner as he was at the start of his career. He has been great in the playoffs as of late, too. It’s just that his team hasn’t helped him get over the hump to reach a Super Bowl.

2024 rank: 5th (+4)

Josh Allen is the NFL’s defending MVP. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

McKenna: He’s the reigning league MVP, has the strongest arm in the league and might just be the most improved NFL prospect in history. There’s so much to love about Allen’s game, from his powerful running to his creative playmaking as a passer to his gotta-win-it mentality. His only problem is Mahomes in the playoffs.

2024 rank: 4th (-2)

Patrick Mahomes is a three-time Super Bowl champion. (Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

McKenna: When you win two of the past three Super Bowls, you’re clearly one of the league’s best players. Statistically, it wasn’t always pretty last year, but Mahomes and the Chiefs somehow finished atop their division and conference. This year, Kansas City’s roster might be even better-built to support Mahomes. It’s strange to think he might have a bounce-back year in 2025 when his “down” years included a Super Bowl berth, but that’s the truth.

2024 rank: 1st (-2)

Myles Garrett led the NFL with 22 tackles for loss in 2024. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

Auman: Will Garrett end up as the next Joe Thomas with a Hall of Fame career spent without any real playoff experience in Cleveland? Garrett has had at least 14.0 sacks in four consecutive years, is already at 102.5 sacks for his career and his new four-year, $160 million contract has him locked up through the 2030 season. Only two players in NFL history have more than 160 sacks, and he has a real shot at joining that group. Even 10.0 sacks a year through the end of his current contract would do that. Garrett has six Pro Bowls and four first-team All-Pro nods in his eight seasons under his belt, but will he ever see a conference championship game?

2024 rank: 2nd (-2)

Saquon Barkley posted a career-high 2,005 rushing yards in 2024. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

Ralph Vacchiano: Put the NFL’s best running back behind the NFL’s best offensive line, and you get exactly what you’d expect: Barkley’s remarkable 2024 season, which included 2,005 rushing yards (a ridiculous 125.3 yards per game) and 13 touchdowns in 16 games. That included 11 games in which he rushed for 100-plus yards and one in which he hit a whopping 255. He added three more 100-plus-yard games in the playoffs (including 205 in the divisional round). It was wild, and as long as Barkley is healthy this year, he’ll likely be just as dangerous. The one thing to worry about is that he ran the ball 436 times in 20 games last season and touched the ball 482 times. That beats his career-high by more than 100 touches. At 28, that’s a lot of contact for even his body to take.

2024 rank: Unranked

Justin Jefferson has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in each of his five NFL seasons. (Photo by Bruce Yeung/Getty Images)

Carmen Vitali: Nothing needs to be said about the former Offensive Player of the Year. Jefferson is widely acclaimed as one of, if not the best, receivers in the league. His only real competition is his former LSU teammate Chase. Minnesota’s offense is significantly altered when “Jettas” isn’t on the field, which is the mark of a true impact player.

2024 rank: 8th (+6)

Ja’Marr Chase led all wideouts in receptions, yards and touchdowns in 2024. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

Auman: The debate about who’s the NFL’s best receiver was split evenly by our six-writer panel between Chase and Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson, but it’s Chase who’s coming off a Triple Crown season — leading the league with 127 catches, 1,708 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns. He’s still only 25, with four Pro Bowls in four years in Cincinnati. It’s hard to imagine him and Burrow having a better connection than they had in 2024, and just to match last year’s production seems like an impossible challenge. Not many offenses will throw the ball more than the Bengals will, and that will always start with Chase. One real shot at history for Chase in 2025? Only two NFL receivers have caught 30-plus touchdowns over back-to-back seasons: Jerry Rice and Randy Moss. Chase only needs 13 this year to join them, though Rice’s two-year record of 37 touchdowns in 1986-87 is probably safe.

2024 rank: Unranked

Joe Burrow led the NFL with 4,918 passing yards and 43 touchdowns last season. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

Auman: Burrow had a prolific 2024 season — the best for a quarterback who didn’t make the playoffs. He led the league in passing yards (4,918), passing touchdowns (43), passing attempts and completions. There are just three instances in NFL history in which a quarterback has thrown 650-plus passes and still completed 70% or better: Burrow last year and Drew Brees twice before that. If Cincinnati’s defense isn’t remarkably better, Burrow’s 2025 will be more of the same, throwing a ton to try and keep up with high-scoring opponents. His stats throwing to wideouts Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins will be gaudy again, but if Burrow can’t find his way into the playoffs, he’s missed a chance to keep himself among the elite challengers to Patrick Mahomes in the AFC QB hierarchy.

2024 rank: Unranked

Tristan Wirfs hasn’t allowed a sack in the past four seasons. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Greg Auman: As a rookie, Wirfs protected Tom Brady and won a Super Bowl. He’s the only player to earn first-team All-Pro honors at both left and right tackle, and he was briefly the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history. Wirfs is athletic enough to jump out of swimming pools and dominant enough to earn Pro Football Focus’ 2024 best pass blocker award. Can the NFL’s new Protector of the Year award, given to the league’s top offensive lineman, be far off in Wirfs’ future? He’ll likely miss the start of 2025 recovering from knee surgery, but if the Bucs make any kind of sustained playoff run in January, he’ll be out in front.

2024 rank: Unranked

Patrick Surtain won AP Defensive Player of the Year in 2024. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

Henry McKenna: To open the 2024 season, Surtain went up against DK Metcalf, George Pickens and Mike Evans from Weeks 1 to 3. Those three receivers combined for seven catches for 75 yards. That is just plain nasty. There were some tough outings, though, but Surtain finished the season allowing just 40 catches on 55 targets for 396 yards for two touchdowns and four interceptions. That’s about as dominant as a guy can be in today’s pass-happy NFL.

2024 rank: Unranked

Honorable mentions:

• Micah Parsons, DE, Dallas Cowboys
• Derrick Henry, RB, Baltimore Ravens
• Chris Jones, DT, Kansas City Chiefs
• Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles
• T.J. Watt, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Lane Johnson, T, Philadelphia Eagles
• Trent Williams, T, San Francisco 49ers

2025 NFL Positional Rankings

These rankings were compiled by:

Ben Arthur (@benyarthur)
Greg Auman (@gregauman)
Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis)
Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano)
Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV)

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