Chris Russo discussing NFL Top 100 list on First Take Photo Credit: ESPN

The 2024 NFL Top 100 list, which was voted on by NFL players, has led to several passionate takes from the media world.

Leave it to Chris Russo to take his disgust with the rankings to a whole other level. Mad Dog expressed his amazement at Patrick Mahomes’ No. 4 ranking on ESPN’s First Take Wednesday.

Mahomes, who is coming off a season where he helped the Kansas City Chiefs win their second-straight Super Bowl championship, was ranked behind Tyreek Hill, Christian McCaffrey, and Lamar Jackson. Mahomes notably beat all three of them in the postseason this past season.

There has been a ton of pushback about where Mahomes landed on the rankings. Russo added to that, specifically ranting about Mahomes being ranked below fellow quarterback Jackson.

“How can any NFL player who does this Top 100 thing… You put Lamar Jackson (at) two ahead of Patrick Mahomes? Or Josh Allen? What are you crazy? I mean that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Russo. “The man has been awful. Let’s call it like we see it. He has not been good in postseason play and he’s a quarterback. Mahomes has won three Super Bowls. I think at the end of the day, he’s gonna be the greatest quarterback of all time. And he’s fourth and Lamar is two?

“Josh Allen is better. (Joe) Burrow is better. I can give you all these quarterbacks. He’s got a chance to change the storyline. But how in the world can an NFL player rank the (top) 100 players at say ‘You know what, I’m putting Lamar at two behind McCaffrey.’ And you shouldn’t put a running back one anyways. And I’m gonna put Mahomes over here and I’m gonna put Allen over here and I’m gonna go put Burrow over here.

“Lamar Jackson is not better than those guys. That is absolutely absurd.”

Russo felt the ranking was so bad that he implored viewers to “throw those lists out the window.”

“That’s why you take those lists and you throw them out the window,” added Russo. “You do not pay any attention to them if you are a sports fan. Because players are going to have their biases and they are gonna vote for the guys that they like and get along with. They’re not going to do it like a sports fan would want to do it. You tell me anywhere in America where you ask a good sports fan that Lamar is two and Mahomes is four. Mind-bogglingly dumb.”

For all his ranting, Russo does raise a lot of good points. It’s never going to be a truly subjective list when you involve players who have relationships with one another in the voting.

It’s hard to argue that Mahomes should be anything but the top-ranked player in the NFL given his resume. But that also shouldn’t take away from Lamar Jackson’s skills and accomplishments, which Russo downplays quite a bit.

[First Take on X]

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.