Horse Tracks: Aqib Talib's NFL Top 100 ranking is a joke

Good morning, Broncos Country.

In order to pacify fans through the lull of the offseason, the NFL has kept a tradition going where players across the league vote on who they believe are the Top 100 stars of the gridiron. At first, I thought it was an interesting endeavor, but as the years go by, I have come to learn that these rankings are an absolute joke — and nothing more than a ridiculous popularity contest.

Case in point: Denver Broncos premier cornerback Aqib Talib. Talib, who has been nothing short of phenomenal since signing a contract with the team several seasons ago, was voted the 37th best player in the league last season. I'm fairly confident there aren't thirty-six players in the league who had a bigger impact on their respective teams than Talib did for the Broncos in 2016. Alas, that's how the vote went down and that's what it indicates.

No cornerback played with the intensity, swagger and consistency that Talib did in 2016.  He amassed 43 tackles, defended 12 passes and had three key interceptions, one of them which was returned for a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts early on in the season. He has the ability to get into the heads of opposing wide receivers and quarterbacks, and is truly the definition of a shutdown corner.

Sure, other corners may have had more tackles, defended passes and forced turnovers, but the one stat that elevates Talib over everyone else is the fact that he allowed zero touchdowns this past season. That's not a misprint, folks. Zero touchdowns allowed — and that's going up against the best of the best week in and week out. Nobody else in the league can say they achieved that. Chalk that up for a major win for Talib, who is on pace to merit serious consideration for the Hall of Fame when his stellar career is finally over.

Talib and the rest of the No Fly Zone have been criminally underrated by analysts and talking heads across the league. To say that they aren't the best is an absolute insult to what they have proven on the field over the past three seasons, and undoubtedly will add more fuel to the fire for them to perform better than ever in 2017.

As always, thank you for reading and here is today's offering of Horse Tracks.

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