CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco recently released his annual Top 100 list for the 2025 season . While eight players from Detroit made Prisco’s list, only one Lions player, Aidan Hutchinson , ranked among the NFL’s Top 20.
8 Detroit Lions Players Made CBS Sports’ Top 100 List
A year ago, the Lions were the league’s top-scoring offense, scoring more points per game (33.2) than any other team in the NFL. Detroit ended the regular season with a 15-2 record, tied with the Kansas City Chiefs for number one in the league. But it’s become almost an annual tradition to dismiss the Lions’ success as a fluke.
#15 DE Aidan Hutchinson
Hutchinson, the highest-listed Detroit player, was ranked #47 a year ago. The only EDGE to score higher than Hutchinson was Cleveland Browns superstar DE Myles Garrett. Number two on the list, Garret is a game-changer who recorded 14 sacks last year. He enters 2025 with a hefty new $160 million contract that resets the bar for defensive players.
Acknowledging Hutchinson’s impact with 7.5 sacks in five games before his Week 6 injury, Prisco called him a menace, predicting he would be in the mix for Defensive Player of the Year .
#21 OT Penei Sewell
Penei Sewell consistently performs at an elite level, qualifying for his third consecutive Pro Bowl appearance last year and making the AP First-Team All-Pro for the second year in a row. However, he inexplicably dropped from #17 to #21. Seeing Sewell ranked lower after anchoring one of the best offensive lines in the NFL last season was a surprise.
According to Fox Sports , based on both passing and rushing stats, Detroit claimed the number two spot behind the Baltimore Ravens in total team offense. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were number three while the Philadelphia Eagles came in at #eight. After their Super Bowl-winning season, OTs Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata justifiably ranked numbers 12 and 13. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tristan Wirfs just edged out Sewell for the #20 slot.
Prisco characterized Sewell’s run blocking as “exceptional” but justified his lower number based on a lower pass-blocking grade. While Sewell’s role will undoubtedly be harder this year due to the loss of Frank Ragnow, he is embracing the challenge. In acknowledgement of the added responsibility, Sewell is spending the offseason working out to increase his strength.
#32 RB Jahmyr Gibbs
Recording 1,412 yards with 52 catches and 20 touchdowns, Detroit’s exceptional running back Jahmyr Gibbs is #32 on Prisco’s list. As expected, he ranked behind Saquon Barkley (#3) and Derrick Henry(#14).
During the three games that David Montgomery missed due to injury, Gibbs stepped up admirably, recording 64 carries for 365 yards with five touchdowns. He added another 122 yards on 13 receptions with one touchdown. However, the Lions’ offense barely scratched the surface of his talents. Now reunited with Tashard Choice , his college coach and mentor as the Lions running back coach, look for Gibbs to have a breakout year.
#58 WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
One woefully underrated Lions star is Amon-Ra St. Brown , who came in at number 58 on the list. As one of the NFL’s most consistent and talented wide receivers, St. Brown was # 39 a year ago. Whether he’s making acrobatic catches in heavy coverage or lofting the ball into the end zone for quarterback Jared Goff to score, it’s inconceivable that St. Brown isn’t among the top 50 players. Named to the Pro Bowl for the third consecutive year and the AP First-Team All-Pro for the second year, St. Brown was appropriately ranked behind Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson (#5) and Cincinnati Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase at #8 on the list.
However, he inexplicably ranked lower than Dallas Cowboys’ star receiver CeeDee Lamb. Listed at #27, Lamb recorded 101 catches for 1,194 yards with six touchdowns compared to St. Brown’s 115 receptions for 1,263 yards with 12 touchdowns. St. Brown ranked lower than Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill (#30), who had 81 catches for 959 yards with six scores. Eagles’ wide receiver A.J. Brown made the list at #31 with 67 catches in 13 games for 1,069 yards and seven touchdowns. However, given the reduced number of games, the Eagles’ veteran wide receiver’s stats were impressive.
But as an All-Pro veteran receiver, St. Brown should not have been listed below two rookie wide receivers on the list. Washington Commanders rookie Brian Thomas claimed the #44 slot for catching 87 passes for 1,282 yards with 10 touchdowns. Fellow rookie Malik Nabors (#45) had an outstanding year for the New York Giants with 109 catches for 1,204 yards and seven scores. Both rookies have only their debut season to justify their ranking. It’s not uncommon for a rookie to experience a sophomore slump. Furthermore, the Commanders’ free agent acquisition of Deebo Samuel and the re-emergence of Giants’ third-year receiver Evan Neal could significantly reduce their target share.
Nonetheless, St. Brown has made a habit of reading a list of names of the 16 wide receivers drafted before him in 2021. He uses it as motivation before every practice to outperform those individuals. Discounting St. Brown merely inspires him to work that much harder. This is just another “list” to incentivize him to accomplish even more this season.
#60 SAF Kerby Joseph; #65 SAF Brian Branch
Detroit has the undisputed best safety duo in the NFL with Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch . In addition to his league-leading nine interceptions, which included a pick-six against the Green Bay Packers, Joseph racked up 83 tackles (52 solo) and 12 pass defenses. He made the 2024 First-Team AP All-Pro and the Top 100 list for the first time. During his three-year career, Joseph’s 17 interceptions are the most ever by a Lions player in that time frame.
Named to the 2024 Pro Bowl, Branch produced 109 tackles, 1.0 sacks, four interceptions, and a forced fumble. However, Prisco seemingly ignored Branch’s and Joseph’s stats in awarding Baltimore’s Kyle Hamilton the top SAF rank at #36. Hamilton retained the same ranking from a year ago based on 107 tackles, 2.0 sacks, and one interception. Looking at the numbers Joseph and Branch produced, it’s hard to understand how Prisco justified this ranking.
#77 Lions’ QB Jared Goff
Detroit’s MVP-caliber quarterback, Jared Goff , is the ninth quarterback on the list at # 77. Last year, he occupied the 76th spot. Goff, the quarterback who led the NFL’s highest-scoring offense last year with 4,629 yards and 37 touchdowns, slipped in the standings. Prisco admitted that despite the change in offensive coordinators, he didn’t anticipate much of a drop-off in Goff’s performance this year. Nonetheless, he ranked eight other NFL quarterbacks ahead of him.
As expected, Patrick Mahomes (#1), Josh Allen (#4), Lamar Jackson (#6), and Joe Burrow (#7) occupy the top tier of quarterbacks on the list. However, the next quarterback listed is Washington rookie Jayden Daniels at number 33. The three other quarterbacks to make the list ahead of Goff are L.A. Chargers’ Justin Herbert (#49), Eagles’ Jalen Hurts (#52), and Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield (#57).
Herbert finished the year with 3,870 yards and 28 touchdowns. Daniels had an outstanding rookie debut, passing for 3,568 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. But once again, to grade a rookie that much higher than Goff makes Prisco’s math and methodology suspect.
#86 TE Sam La Porta
Second-year tight end Sam LaPorta had 60 catches for 726 yards with seven touchdowns. Of the five tight ends listed this year, LaPorta comes in fourth. His ranking justifiably dipped from #58 last season based on the drop-off from his outstanding rookie season (86 receptions for 889 yards with 10 touchdowns). Las Vegas Raiders’ rookie Brock Bowers topped the list at #22, with San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle ranked at #25. Arizona Cardinals’ Trey McBride charted at #42. The only tight end listed below LaPorta was Chiefs’ Travis Kelce at #96, a steep drop off from #18 a year ago.
When Dan Campbell built the Lions’ team culture, he wanted players who would rise up after repeatedly getting knocked down. This list just adds more fuel to the raging inferno that burns within this team. They’ve shattered franchise and NFL records. This year, there’s only one objective. St. Brown said it best: “The team’s mindset is Super Bowl or nothing.”
Main Image: Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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