Inside the Iggles
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Philadelphia Eagles disrespected on the NFL’s Top 100 again

By Geoffrey Knox

ST PAUL, MN - JANUARY 29: Fletcher Cox #91 of the Philadelphia Eagles speaks to the media during Super Bowl Media Day at Xcel Energy Center on January 29, 2018 in St Paul, Minnesota. Super Bowl LII will be played between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles on February 4. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
ST PAUL, MN - JANUARY 29: Fletcher Cox #91 of the Philadelphia Eagles speaks to the media during Super Bowl Media Day at Xcel Energy Center on January 29, 2018 in St Paul, Minnesota. Super Bowl LII will be played between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles on February 4. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Is the NFL Network really going to try and convince us that Fletcher Cox and Zach Ertz of the Philadelphia Eagles aren’t in the top 50 of the best players in the league?

Okay, the last time we, at ITI, brought up the NFL Network‘s Top 100 rankings list, we were discussing the disrespect that was hurled in the direction of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ Malcolm Jenkins and Lane Johnson. They made the list at numbers 96 and 95 respectively, much too low.

No member of ‘The Birds’ has been mentioned since. That is, at least, until this past Monday, when Fletcher Cox and Zach Ertz both cracked the list. Get this. They aren’t even in the top 50. Instead, Cox is seen as the 69th best player in today’s NFL. Zach Ertz cracked the rankings at 68.

Cox is, arguably, the second-best defensive tackle in football, right behind Aaron Donald. Some are wondering if Ertz hasn’t taken the title of being the best tight end in football.

Let’s look at the clips.

Just in case you missed the broadcast. Let’s get you caught up. Here’s what was said about Cox. Take a look:

Video courtesy of the NFL’s official YouTube page

Here’s Ertz’s portion of the program:

Video courtesy of the NFL’s official YouTube page

Yes, you’re seeing this correctly. Sure, it’s nice the players’ finally recognized Ertz’s talent and put him on the list. They put him at number 68 though. That’s clearly wrong.

Cox, who cracked the list at number 38 a year ago, may have seen a dip in his statistics, but again, he’s clearly one of the top two defensive tackles in the league. There’s no way to justify him falling 31 slots.

Then again, there might be one.

Okay, here’s a bit of a retraction.

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The last time this came up, we were discussing the validity of this list. The Top 100 is a list created by the players themselves.

Sure, we at ITI have often been quoted as saying ‘opinions are only as valuable as the person’s knowledge of the subject’.

It’s smart to say one of the best ways to determine a player ranking is by asking the guys who play with and against the guys on the list. There’s just one tiny component that we may have left out.

There’s a good possibility that other factors may have also crept in to the thought process, ‘player hating’ for instance.

The Eagles are the champs. They’re the guys with the targets on their backs now. You can’t question the fact that there’s clearly a ton of respect for the guys that hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, but might one venture to think that there may be some good old fashioned jealousy?

Next: Let’s not make a big deal about Jay Ajayi's situation

How else do you justify four guys who led the way to the first Super Bowl victory in Eagles history landing in the bottom 50 of a ‘Top 100 Players of 2018’ list? The underdog thing just doesn’t seem to go away, does it?

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