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We’ve ranked the top 10 players at the most important positions in the NFL. Now, it’s time to find out who is the best player in the league entering the 2026 season.
Several players have a reasonable claim to be considered the NFL’s best player ahead of the new year. Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is the reigning MVP, while his new teammate, Myles Garrett, just broke the NFL’s single-season record for the most sacks.
There are also other quarterbacks to consider, like Josh Allen. The Buffalo Bills star has consistently played at an elite level since the turn of the decade and won MVP in 2024. Of course, there’s also Patrick Mahomes, who has widely been viewed as the NFL’s best player for several years.
So, who is the NFL’s best player ahead of the 2026 season? Here are our top 10 players in the league.
Ben Arthur: We’ll have to wait to see Parsons this year, as he’s expected to miss at least the first few games of the season recovering from an ACL tear. But a healthy Parsons is one of the NFL’s best players — a complete edge rusher with speed that elicits fear from opposing offensive linemen. Despite missing three games in 2025, he still registered 12.5 sacks and 81 pressures in his debut season with the Green Bay Packers en route to Pro Bowl honors. The former first-round pick has recorded at least 12 sacks in each of his five NFL seasons.
The quicker Parsons returns to form, the faster the Packers become a Super Bowl contender. He’s that much of a force multiplier on defense.
Greg Auman: Sewell is the oddsmakers’ favorite to win the Protector of the Year award, given to the NFL’s top offensive lineman, and he’ll do that as he tries to shift from right tackle to a new home at left tackle. It’s the same move the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tristan Wirfs has made successfully, and if it takes, it solidifies Sewell at the top of his position. Sewell has four straight Pro Bowls, three straight first-team All-Pro nods and he’s still only 25 years old.
We didn’t rank offensive linemen in our individual position rankings, so he’s making the overall top 10 here much like a write-in candidate, showing the strength of his value at his position.
Auman: What’s it like to be the best player on the best defense in the NFL? Anderson already has 30 sacks in three years and he hasn’t turned 25 yet. Give Houston credit. The Texans gave up a 2024 first-rounder and more to move all the way up from 12 to 3 to grab Anderson in the 2023 draft.
Anderson and Danielle Hunter are one of the most dangerous edge-rush pairs in the league, and Anderson’s even better in the playoffs. He’s got eight career sacks in six playoff games, with three forced fumbles in two playoff games last year. As Houston’s offense improves and they lead late in games more often, don’t be surprised if he takes another step to the 15-plus sack level in 2026.
Vacchiano: Here’s the crazy thing about the Atlanta Falcons running back: He had a combined 2,298 yards from scrimmage last season (1,478 rushing, 820 receiving) with 11 touchdowns and he touched the ball 366 times — 21.5 times per game. And there were still times he felt underused in the Falcons’ offense. It’s probably too much to ask new coach Kevin Stefanski to use him more, but it’s a good bet he’ll use him better.
Robinson, still only 24 and entering his fourth NFL season, will have to be the workhorse in Atlanta as the Falcons sort through their quarterback mess, but Stefanski will surely find more creative ways to use him and get him into open space, where his moves, acceleration and breakaway speed make him one of the most dangerous weapons in the league. With his rushing ability and his receiving skills, he’s the closest thing the NFL has to Christian McCaffrey in his prime. And if the Falcons were ever good again, he’d be in the chase for MVP.
Eric D. Williams: One of the best route runners in the league, Smith-Njigba showed he’s much more than a slot receiver in 2025. With DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett no longer on the roster, Smith-Njigba leveled up, engineering one of his best seasons as a pro. Just 24 years old, the Ohio State product set franchise single-season records for receptions (119) and receiving yards (1,793) last season, taking home the league’s Offensive Player of the Year award.
The Seahawks rewarded Smith-Njigba by signing him to a lucrative contract extension that made him the highest-paid receiver in the league, with an annual salary of $42.15 million. With Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker Jr. signing with the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency and a new offensive coordinator Brian Fluery, taking over for the departed Klint Kubiak (now the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders), Smith-Njigba will be counted on to shoulder even more of the offense. Smith-Njigba accounted for 44% of Seattle’s receiving yards, the highest percentage by any player in the league. He led Seattle in receiving yards in 16 of 17 games this year, the most in a regular season in NFL history.
Vacchiano: What Stafford did at his age in 2025 was just ridiculous, especially considering the season began with a mysterious back injury that threatened to derail everything. He threw for career-highs in yards (4,707) and touchdown passes (47) while tossing just eight interceptions — the fourth quarterback ever to throw for more than 45 touchdowns with fewer than 10 interceptions — and he did it all at age 37. And with the Rams still loaded, there’s no reason to think he’ll be any different at age 38.
It helps that Stafford’s in a perfect system for his talents, but he brings plenty of skills. His arm is still remarkably strong; he’s got picture-perfect mechanics, and no one is better at placing throws in perfect spots for his receivers. Put his mind and arm together in the Sean McVay system and you’ve got a quarterback who could win a Super Bowl and make a run at becoming just the sixth player to ever win back-to-back MVPs. He just needs his body to hold up.
Arthur: Chase is the most dominant wide receiver in football today. After winning the receiving triple crown in 2024, the Cincinnati Bengals superstar again led the NFL in receptions last season (185). The 26-year-old has recorded at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first five NFL seasons.
The fifth overall pick in 2021, Chase is a high-volume target who possesses a unique blend of speed and physicality. He’s ranked in the top two in yards after the catch in each of the last two seasons. He’s been a near-unstoppable force since entering the league despite facing constant double teams.
Williams: Returning from season-ending knee surgery after a disappointing 6-11 campaign in 2025, Mahomes is under a lot of pressure to show last year was a fluke. Mahomes should benefit from the return of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and the addition of Kenneth Walker III, implementing a more bullish rushing attack to create more balance on offense.
But the 30-year-old Mahomes also must get back to playing more efficient football, relying less on his legs to keep the chains moving and getting more from his receivers on the perimeter. Mahomes has the Super Bowl pedigree, appearing in the game five times and winning three of them. And at 30 years old, Mahomes remains one of the best at his position, with plenty of more years to chase more Lombardi trophies. Mahomes owns an astounding 17-4 record in the playoffs.
McKenna: Allen is football’s version of Atlas, putting the world on his shoulders. It’s been like that for a while now in Buffalo, with Allen being, by far, the only most notable player on offense — but honestly, on either side of the ball. Defensive tackle Ed Oliver, tackle Dion Dawkins and running back James Cook are really great players. But receiver? Tight end? Cornerback? Edge?
There really hasn’t been a big and productive name since Stefon Diggs. And Diggs’ departure coincided with the widespread respect for Allen, because people began to see just how much the QB can do for his team. The only thing he hasn’t done, of course, is win a Super Bowl. If he does that, he’ll be the No. 1 guy on this list — and perhaps even for years to come.
Auman: Garrett was a unanimous Defensive Player of the Year winner last year with the Browns after setting the NFL single-season record with 23 sacks. The thing is, he had only four sacks in his last six games, so now, joining a loaded Rams front, could he break his own record? He got 23 sacks despite Browns opponents being ahead often enough that they only passed 487 times, third-fewest of any team. The Rams, ahead much more, had opponents throw 102 more times than the Browns’ opponents, so that’s a ton more sack opportunities for the NFL’s best.
Could we see a non-QB, non-offensive NFL MVP? If Garrett has the first 25-sack season in league history and the Rams win the NFC West, he’d have a compelling case to make for that.
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