ESPN ranks Patrick Mahomes as No. 1 player for 2022; Tom Brady ranked 20th

In NFL Network’s Top 100 Players of 2022 list, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady was ranked No. 1. Kansas City Chiefs signal-caller Patrick Mahomes didn’t even crack the top five, coming in at No. 8 on the list.

ESPN released their top 100 players list for the upcoming campaign on Monday morning and their order was quite different. The list was compiled by “an ESPN panel of more than 50 NFL experts” to “rate players based on how good they will be in the 2022 season compared with their peers.”

Mahomes tops the ESPN rankings for the third year in a row.

“Mahomes is a great playmaker in part because of his ability to complete unconventional throws. He has completed passes without looking at his intended receiver, throwing left-handed and in numerous other unorthodox ways. No other quarterback has produced like him through 63 career starts, and he is primed for another big season,” ESPN NFL Nation Chiefs reporter Adam Teicher wrote. “And Mahomes will be energized by a number of factors in 2022: the significant moves made by all AFC West rivals, having a mostly new group of wide receivers, a career-low QBR (62.2) last year and his miserable second half in last season’s AFC Championship Game against the Bengals.”