• Patrick Mahomes is the NFL's best player: We are watching one of the best to ever do it. Mahomes' 91.7 PFF overall grade across four playoff games was a notable and necessary jump from the 85.1 he recorded during the 2023 regular season.
• Derrick Henry and Amon-Ra St. Brown headline the Nos. 31-40 group: Henry still produced behind a poor offensive line in 2023, and only CeeDee Lamb had more catches in the regular season last year than Brown’s 119.
• Get a head start on fantasy football: Use PFF's fantasy football mock draft simulator to create real live mock draft simulations to prepare for your live draft!
Estimated Reading Time: 22 minutes
The 2024 PFF50 showcases the league's elite talent, highlighting the top 50 players in the NFL. These rankings will be based on a combination of past performance, future potential and overall impact on the game.
At its heart, PFF is a player evaluation company that quantifies hundreds of data points on any given play in an effort to identify the best players and use that information to create insights that cannot be found anywhere else.
This is a list of the best 50 players in the NFL entering the 2024 season. No single number or grade dictates this list, but the grading — along with PFF's wins above replacement (WAR) metric — has been used as a foundation while leaning toward the most recent season.
1. QB Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Mahomes is once again the best player in the NFL, and now that Aaron Donald has retired, it’s really no longer a question. The Chiefs are back-to-back champions under Mahomes' leadership after he was once more able to elevate his game in the postseason. His 91.7 PFF overall grade across four playoff games was a notable and necessary jump from the 85.1 he recorded during the regular season. We are watching one of the best to ever do it, and the only thing left to determine his spot on the all-time list is for how long we will be lucky enough to witness it.
2. EDGE Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
Myles Garrett has been an elite player for years, but the second the Browns put a supporting cast around him, he became Defensive Player of the Year. Garrett was the best player on one of the best defenses in football, earning a 94.0 PFF grade over the course of the regular season and totaling a career-high 89 pressures from 522 pass-rushing snaps. Other players may have notched more sacks, but nobody was more formidable on a down-to-down basis.
3. T Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers
Perhaps nothing better sums up Trent Williams‘ dominance than the fact that he has actual highlight reels as an offensive tackle. He didn’t give up a sack all last season while posting a 92.6 PFF run-blocking grade. He was one of only two tackles in the game to earn PFF grades of at least 80.0 as both a pass protector and a run blocker, and the only one to do so with an overall mark north of 90.0.
4. WR Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
Justin Jefferson missed seven games due to injury last season yet still comfortably eclipsed 1,000 yards for the Vikings. He has emerged as one of the most unstoppable players in the game, capable of winning in all areas and all levels of the field. He averaged 2.91 yards per route run and dropped just two of the 98 targets thrown his way. A healthy Jefferson returning in 2024 will go a long way toward smoothing the pathway for new quarterbacks in Minnesota.
5. EDGE Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys
Micah Parsons became just the fourth player in the PFF era to record 100 or more pressures in a single season, finishing the 2023 regular season with 103 from his 17-game slate. He is one of the most dynamic and explosive pass-rushers the game has ever seen, and he played the purest pass-rushing role of his career so far this past year. Only Myles Garrett had a higher pass-rush win rate than the 24.1% Parsons managed, and his pressure rate was the top mark in the league.
6. DI Chris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs
Last season was not the best year for Chris Jones, yet he still posted a 90.4 PFF pass-rushing grade and notched 91 total pressures through the Chiefs' Super Bowl run. He recorded pressure in every single game he appeared in, and when he was on, he was virtually unstoppable. At 30 years old, Jones should still have some years left at the top. Nobody has been able to perform closer to Aaron Donald over the past few years than Jones has.
7. EDGE Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers
Nick Bosa was seen as having a slow start to the season because he recorded just one sack in the first four games, but also racked up 20 total pressures and three 90.0-plus PFF pass-rushing grades in that span. Bosa was a dominant force all season long and racked up an absurd 27 total pressures in three playoff games, including 12 in a Super Bowl loss to Kansas City. He is one of the best all-around players in the game — at any position.
8. WR Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins
A unique playmaker, Tyreek Hill is impossible to match up with. No defensive player has his combination of speed, explosiveness and short-area quickness. Miami’s use of pre-snap motion is also the perfect complement to that ability, getting him into space as efficiently as possible. Hill was on pace to shatter the single-season yards per route run record last season before injury slowed him late in the year. He still finished with 3.72 yards per route run, one of the best marks PFF has ever recorded.
9. LB Fred Warner, San Francisco 49ers
Playing linebacker in today’s NFL has become increasingly difficult, and very few players do it consistently well. Fred Warner continually remains atop the PFF rankings with elite grades despite those challenges. Last season, he notched a 90.3 PFF overall grade, grading well in every facet of play despite an unusual uptick in missed tackles to 28 over his 20-game season. Warner is the gold standard at a challenging position.
10. RB Christian McCaffrey San Francisco 49ers
The most complete back in football, Christian McCaffrey remains the all-purpose yardage monster in the NFL that he was in college at Stanford. Sadly, the 49ers don’t let McCaffrey return kicks the way he did in college, but CMC racked up 2,443 all-purpose yards across 20 games last season, including the Super Bowl run. He broke 86 tackles and dropped only one pass.
11. DI Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants
Dexter Lawrence is rewriting what was thought to be possible at the nose tackle position. Over the past two seasons, his resume includes 81 quarterback pressures when lining up either head-up over the center or shaded to either side of the center. The next-closest player has 16. Lawrence disrupts the game from a true nose-tackle alignment better than any player PFF has seen over the past 18 seasons. He is a truly unique athlete who is only getting better.
12. QB Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Buffalo’s offense wasn’t as good last season as it had been in the past, and the team made a coaching change because of it, but Josh Allen remains a unique player at the position, capable of invalidating any defense with his arm or legs. Allen actually posted the best PFF overall grade (92.1) and the second-best adjusted completion rate (77.1%) of his career in 2023.
13. QB Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
It goes without saying that Lamar Jackson is one of the most unique quarterbacks the game has ever seen. Now a two-time MVP, Jackson is in rare air, and 2023 was unquestionably his best season since the last time he won MVP. His 77.0% adjusted completion rate was the top mark of his career in a new offensive system in Baltimore, and he remained an elite rushing threat. Now with Derrick Henry in the backfield behind him, Baltimore’s offense could be one of the most fun-to-watch units in the game.
14. EDGE T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers
Some players generate more pressure than T.J. Watt or beat their blocker with greater frequency, but nobody has a better knack for making a big play at the right time. Watt led the league in sacks despite ranking 25th in pass-rush win rate, and we have enough evidence by now to see it is a repeatable skill. On top of the sacks, Watt also notched four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, an interception and a defensive touchdown. There may not be a better playmaker on the defensive side of the ball.
15. TE Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
Travis Kelce didn’t have a vintage year in 2023, and at his age, it seemed he might finally be slowing down. But then he turned it on in the postseason, racking up 355 yards and three scores across four games, one of which took place at record-setting cold temperatures. Kelce showed in the postseason he is still impossible to cover and capable of producing at the highest level. If that continues into the 2024 season, he is still one of the best players in the game.
16. CB Sauce Gardner, New York Jets
The best cornerback in football backed up his spectacular rookie season with a just-as-impressive 2023 campaign. Gardner now has back-to-back seasons with a PFF coverage grade of at least 90.0, pairing that with 24 pass breakups in his NFL career so far. Sauce has allowed just 9.9 yards per catch and a 63.0 passer rating into his coverage.
17. QB Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow himself believes he has been forgotten about because of last season’s injuries, but that’s not the case on the PFF50. He is still one of the top players in the game, and we saw glimpses of it last year, even in an injury-marred campaign. He entered last season off back-to-back years with a PFF overall grade of at least 90.8, and there’s no reason to suspect that the best version of Burrow won’t be back under center for the Bengals in 2024.
18. EDGE Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders
Maxx Crosby never seems to get the recognition his play deserves, but he continues to show he belongs in the upper echelon of edge defenders. Crosby racked up 94 quarterback pressures in 2023 despite battling through a knee injury that lingered for most of the year. He was one of the most effective pass-rushers in the game and may be the best run defender of the elite players at his position.
19. TE George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
In a different offense, George Kittle would be unquestionably viewed as one of the most devastating players in the game. San Francisco has so many mouths to feed, however, that we only get glimpses of what he could do if he was given a high-volume workload. Eight different tight ends saw more targets than Kittle last season, including two rookies, but Kittle led the position in yards per route run (2.22) and averaged two full yards per reception more than any other tight end.
20. WR CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
CeeDee Lamb’s career progression has been impressive to watch. He has improved each year, and only Tyreek Hill gained more yards over the 2023 regular season. Lamb’s 91.1 PFF overall grade was tied for the third-best mark in the game, and his 2.78 yards per route run also represented a new career high. At just 25 years old, Lamb is only getting better, and may not be done improving yet.
21. T Lane Johnson, Philadelphia Eagles
No tackle has a harder role on a down-to-down basis than Philadelphia’s Lane Johnson, who for years has been the gold standard at right tackle. He wasn’t quite at his best in 2023 and still posted PFF grades of at least 78.5 as both a run blocker and a pass protector. The 34-year-old Johnson may have begun his decline, but if he can block Father Time for another year or two, he remains one of the best players in the game.
22. T Tristan Wirfs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
One of the best right tackles in the game the second he entered the league, Tristan Wirfs was moved to the left side by Tampa Bay last season and looked every bit as good. He allowed 24 quarterback pressures on the left side, earning an 84.3 PFF pass-blocking grade, and was solid as a run blocker. Wirfs has now played four straight seasons with at least an 81.1 PFF overall grade to begin his professional career.
23. S Antoine Winfield Jr., Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Antoine Winfield Jr. had a spectacular 2023 season, earning grades of at least 86.1 in every facet of play that PFF measures. He was phenomenal in coverage, tallied 18 quarterback pressures, including six sacks, on the blitz, and made 26 defensive stops. His turnovers were also directly responsible for at least two game-changing results over the course of the season. Winfield has been one of the best safeties in the league since stepping foot on an NFL field, and last season represented a new high water mark.
24. WR Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals
Even without a healthy Joe Burrow for most of the season (very much hampered and then shut down for the year), Ja’Marr Chase had a big season, catching 100 passes for 1,216 yards and earning an 85.3 PFF overall grade in the process. Every receiver needs service, but Chase showed that he can cook regardless of who is throwing him the football. With Burrow back in 2024, expect to see one of the best in the game continue to excel.
Read more: Top 32 wide receivers ahead of the 2024 NFL season
25. WR A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles
Few receivers are as physically imposing as the 6-foot-1, 226-pound A.J. Brown. He racked up almost 1,500 yards over the 2023 season and had a run of six straight games with at least six catches and 125 yards. Brown has averaged at least 2.5 yards per route run every season of his NFL career and is one of the best contested-catch receivers in the game.
26. S Kyle Hamilton, Baltimore Ravens
Kyle Hamilton‘s impact now exceeds conventional statistics. He influences how the game is actually played when he is on the field. Deployed by Baltimore as a slot defender primarily, Hamilton consistently shut down the short game to his side of the field for the Ravens all season, earning an 84.7 PFF overall grade in 2023. A versatile playmaker on defense, Hamilton is the matchup answer most teams don’t have on their roster.
27. DI Quinnen Williams, New York Jets
Quinnen Williams cemented himself as one of the best defensive linemen in the game, backing up his breakout 2022 season with one arguably even better last year. Williams set a new career high in PFF overall grade (90.6) as well as run-defense grade (90.4), racking up 70 total pressures and 42 defensive stops over the season. He is now consistently one of the most disruptive defensive linemen in the game and is playing on an elite defense.
28. T Penei Sewell, Detroit Lions
Penei Sewell was good right out of the gate in his NFL career and has also improved each season of his career. He was a dominant force in 2023, earning a 93.1 PFF run-blocking grade — one of the best single-season marks of the past 18 seasons. He allowed just one sack in the regular season as a pass protector. Still just 23 years old, Sewell is one of the best tackles in football.
29. T Andrew Thomas, New York Giants
The loss of Andrew Thomas to injury last season was a devastating blow to an already weak offensive line. Thomas ended up playing just 576 snaps, a little more than half of his 2022 total. He has elite pass-blocking chops and had brought his run blocking to a similar level in 2022 before injuries derailed him in 2023. If Thomas bounces back and enjoys a healthy season, while having some better players alongside him on the Giants' line, he is well worthy of this ranking.
30. C Creed Humphrey, Kansas City Chiefs
Following Jason Kelce‘s retirement, Creed Humphrey now has the strongest case to be seen as the best center in the game despite playing just three seasons in the NFL so far. 2023 was his weakest year of the three, and the first season he didn’t earn an overall PFF grade of at least 90.0. His run blocking is outstanding, and he has allowed just 44 total pressures in three seasons of action.
31. RB Derrick Henry, Baltimore Ravens
Derrick Henry’s production has declined over the past two seasons, but he has not declined. Instead, what we witnessed was the effect the worst offensive line in football can have on even an elite running back. Last season, Henry still averaged 3.3 yards per carry after contact and broke 57 tackles, earning a 90.1 PFF grade, but Tennessee’s blocking averaged only 0.9 yards before contact, ranking 30th in the league. Prepare for Henry’s production to bounce back significantly in Baltimore.
32. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions
Amon-Ra St. Brown has become one of the most productive receivers in the game. Only CeeDee Lamb had more catches in the regular season last year than Brown’s 119, and he moved the chains 75 times with receptions. He also caught 50% of his contested targets — a great clip for a smaller receiver — and earned an elite 90.6 PFF overall grade for the season.
33. LB Roquan Smith, Baltimore Ravens
Since arriving in Baltimore, Roquan Smith has been as good as any linebacker in football, and he built on that performance in 2023. He tallied seven pass breakups in the regular season, showing the coverage skills that made him such an enticing prospect at draft time back in 2018. Smith has also been one of the more efficient tacklers in the game, but he will have to do it in 2024 with a new defensive coach and partner beside him after Mike Macdonald left for Seattle and Patrick Queen departed in free agency.
34. EDGE Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions
There is such a glut of talent at edge rusher in today’s NFL that Aidan Hutchinson can become just the fifth player in the past 18 seasons to record 100 pressures in a single season (Micah Parsons got there first last season) and still not make first- or second-team All-Pro. Hutchinson is an All-Pro level player at a time where there just happens to be more than four of those at his position. Last year was also just his second in the NFL, so we may not have seen how good he can truly be yet.
35. CB Patrick Surtain II, Denver Broncos
Denver’s defense was in trouble for a good portion of last season, and even their best players struggled because of it. Patrick Surtain II gave up three touchdowns on the season and a 93.9 passer rating when targeted, the worst mark of his career. But when assessing the 24-year-old, it seems foolish to put that down to anything other than variance at the position and the issues around him. The tape still shows Surtain is an elite cover cornerback and one of the best in the game.
36. CB Trent McDuffie, Kansas City Chiefs
Consistently underrated, Trent McDuffie has been one of the best in the game in his brief NFL career. Given difficult assignments by the Chiefs from the outset, McDuffie has played in the slot as well as out wide, allowing 10.7 yards per catch last season and posting an 82.9 PFF overall grade. The loss of L’Jarius Sneed will force him into an even greater role within the Chiefs defense in 2024, where he might get the recognition he deserves.
37. S Jessie Bates III, Atlanta Falcons
A true ballhawk at safety, Jessie Bates III showed last season that he can take his talents to a new defense and still ball out. He notched six interceptions for the Falcons, earning a 90.2 PFF coverage grade to narrowly exceed the best mark of his Bengals career at the first time of asking. Bates is an elite coverage safety with the range to punish ill-advised passes.
38. G Chris Lindstrom, Atlanta Falcons
It’s getting harder and harder to argue against Chris Lindstrom as the best guard in football after the past few seasons. He backed up a spectacular 2022 with a 2023 season almost as good, allowing just 15 total pressures and earning an 87.5 PFF run-blocking grade. He was one of only two guards to post 74.0-plus grades as both a run blocker and a pass protector.
39. G Joe Thuney, Kansas City Chiefs
One of the best pass-blocking guards in the game, Joe Thuney posted his third consecutive season with a PFF pass-blocking grade of at least 83.0, even if it was a step down from the previous two years. He allowed two sacks from 740 pass-blocking snaps, and his run blocking was above average for the season.
40. CB Jalen Ramsey, Miami Dolphins
Injury delayed Jalen Ramsey from featuring last season within Vic Fangio’s defense, as he didn’t make it to the field until Week 8. But in two of his first three games, he posted an 89.0 PFF coverage grade or better. Overall, he allowed just a 53.0 passer rating into his coverage, showing that he can still cut it with the best cornerbacks in the game. 2024 will be an exciting season to see Ramsey, even if it’s no longer within Fangio’s defense.
41. DI Jalen Carter, Philadelphia Eagles
For the first several weeks of the 2023 season — his rookie season — Jalen Carter was grading and producing like future Hall-of-Famer Aaron Donald. That level was perhaps inevitably unsustainable, but even so, he finished his debut season with an 89.0 PFF overall grade, ranking fifth in the NFL. Carter has the talent to be at the very top of this list. Only players like Donald have showcased that kind of instant impact at the position over the past decade or so.
Read more: 2024 NFL defensive line rankings
42. CB Jaylon Johnson, Chicago Bears
Jaylon Johnson had a career year in 2023 and was arguably the best cornerback in the game. His 91.0 PFF coverage grade was the top mark in football, and he allowed just a 33.3 passer rating into his coverage — a lower figure than if opposing quarterbacks had thrown the ball into the dirt 50 times instead. The Bears brought him back on a contract extension for 2024 and beyond, so Johnson is now tasked with repeating that level of play.
43. DI Derrick Brown, Carolina Panthers
Derrick Brown is as good as it gets when it comes to defending the run from the inside, but he also brings a real pass-rushing presence. In each of the past two seasons, he has notched at least 40 quarterback pressures and a 77.9 PFF pass-rushing grade, even if he pushes the pocket more than he generates sacks. Brown is a problem for opposing offenses to deal with.
44. T Laremy Tunsil, Houston Texans
One of the best pass-protecting left tackles in the game, Laremy Tunsil posted the second-best PFF pass-blocking grade among offensive tackles in 2023, trailing only future Hall-of-Famer Tyron Smith. Tunsil can protect his quarterback with the best, but his run blocking isn’t at the same level as the other top tackles in the game, which explains the gap between him and some others at the position in these rankings.
45. LB Demario Davis, New Orleans Saints
At 35 years old, Demario Davis just continues to play elite-level football at linebacker for the Saints. Last season, he posted an 89.6 PFF overall grade, his best mark since 2019, racking up 48 defensive stops and missing only 11 tackles. He allowed an 89.3 passer rating when targeted in coverage, some 15 points lower than the average at the position.
46. TE Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
While injuries derailed part of his 2023 campaign, Mark Andrews featured in 10 regular-season games for the Ravens and showed the type of weapon he is in that offense. Passes thrown his way generated a 135.7 passer rating, the highest mark of any player, at any position, with more than 50 targets to his name. Andrews is an elite-level player, and a fully healthy season in 2024 will remind people of it.
47. C Frank Ragnow, Detroit Lions
Detroit’s Frank Ragnow is about as good as it gets at the center position, despite battling injuries at times for the Lions. He has allowed just one sack in each of the past two seasons, earning a 90.1 PFF run-blocking grade in 2023 on his way to recording the highest overall grade at the position (88.1).
48. S Jevon Holland, Miami Dolphins
Jevon Holland is a dynamic, do-it-all safety in the heart of Miami’s defense. He missed some time in 2023, but he earned a 90.4 PFF overall grade across more than 700 snaps and was one of the best coverage defenders in the game at any position. Holland can line up all over the defense and is an exceptionally good tackler. He should anchor a secondary that still looks like it can be one of the league’s best, at least on paper, heading into 2024.
Read more: Top 32 safeties ahead of the 2024 NFL season
49. WR Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers
Brandon Aiyuk doesn’t get the volume of targets that other elite receivers do, but it’s because there are so many mouths to feed in Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers offense. Aiyuk is one of the most efficient receivers in football on the targets he does receive. Only Tyreek Hill earned a higher PFF grade among wideouts than Aiyuk last season, and he averaged 3.01 yards per route run, dropping only two of the 101 targets sent his way.
50. WR Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers
Deebo Samuel is a unique offensive weapon for the 49ers. He is a very good wide receiver, but his ability to move into the backfield and carry the ball like a running back — and a very good one — is what makes him special. On 80 fewer targets than Tyreek Hill, Samuel forced only one fewer missed tackle as a receiver, and he added 19 more as a rusher. Samuel’s impact on San Francisco's offense is clear to see when he doesn’t suit up. He is an elite force, even if his true position is difficult to define.
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