This past week, Darren Waller sat down with Upon Further Review’s Eddie Paskal to discuss the newly released NFL Top 100 rankings. Coming in at No. 99, this was the Raiders tight end first appearance on the list.
The Raiders tight end is happy with his position, but what about Jacobs?
Waller was one of just four tight ends to make the list. The others were Zach Ertz, Travis Kelce, and George Kittle. That is pretty good company to be in. Waller told Paskal that those are guys that he has been studying and said that be mentioned alongside them he “couldn’t ask for anything more.”
The conversation then shifted to Waller’s teammate, running back Josh Jacobs. The running back, ranked No. 72, was the only other Raider to make this year’s list. When asked if he felt that ranking was too high or too low, Waller was quick to respond.
“I’m definitely going with too low, without even looking at the board or how things went out. I think you know minimum I think he should have been in the top half of these players at least. So yeah 72 is a little low for him. Somebody didn’t watch all the tape.”
Related: NFL Players Universally Respect Raiders RB Josh Jacobs
Darren Waller is into something
When you look at the list, you can see that Waller may have a point. Looking at some of the other running backs on the list, one of the rankings that sticks out is Todd Gurley at 51. The Falcons’ new running back had arguably the worst year of his career last season. He had a career-low 857 yards rushing, coupled with a paltry 3.8 yards per carry. Jacobs’ 2019 numbers are far superior. He rushed for almost 300 yards more and averaged a whole yard per carry more. This was despite Jacobs playing two less games than Gurley. Yet, Jacobs is somehow 21 spots behind him on the list.
Looking at those numbers, we have to agree with Waller. Jacobs probably should have been higher on this list. Also, he might be spot on when saying that Jacobs “should have been in the top half of these players at least.” Putting the Alabama product just one spot ahead of Gurley at 50 would have him in the top half. The somewhat low rankings of Jacobs, as well as Waller, are not surprising. Rookies and breakout stars tend to take some time to get recognized by their peers. We expect both Waller and Jacobs to be significantly higher on next year’s list.
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Top photo: Jane Tyska/Media News Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images
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