CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco came out with his top 100 list of the best NFL players for the 2020 season. Out of that 100, six Buccaneers were on the list, including new Tampa Bay Buccaneer QB, Tom Brady.
Brady was the highest ranking Buc on Prisco’s list, coming in at 19. He was the second highest rated quarterback from the NFC South behind Drew Brees at 11.
The returning Buccaneer who was ranked highest was receiver Chris Godwin at 29. Godwin had a breakout year last season with 1,333 yards on 86 receptions, nine touchdowns and a second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl nominations.
The other Tampa Bay players consisted of Mike Evans listed at 45, Lavonte David at 67, NFL sack leader Shaq Barrett at 82, and Ryan Jensen getting some praise representing the Bucs’ offensive line as he was ranked 87th.
Arguably the ranking that could be most questioned is Barrett’s position of 82, considering no one else had more sacks than Barrett did in 2019. With 19.5 sacks, Barrett had a career year, earning himself his first Pro Bowl invitation in his first season as a full time starter.
Prisco admitted that deciding where to rank Barrett was difficult to do because there’s only one season of production in his career that you can base it on.
“He’s a tough player to grade since he had his breakout season in 2019,” Prisco said. “He led the league in sacks with 19.5, which is more than the 14 he had in his previous five seasons.”
Two Bucs that did not make the list but were considered “Just Misses” were defensive tackle Vita Vea and inside linebacker Devin White.
You can read all of Prisco’s top 100 rankings and his explanation for each Bucs players here.
Here you go. Eat it alive. My list of the NFL's top-100 players. Guaranteed to make you mad. Good. https://t.co/MWRrpARKdC
— Pete Prisco (@PriscoCBS) May 20, 2020