Sunday open thread: How many Detroit Lions should make the NFL’s Top 100 Players of 2023 list?

In a couple of weeks, the NFL will debut its Top 100 Players of 2023 list. The list is endlessly mocked every year, as it is highly subjective and incredibly hard to compare players from different positions. And I can tell you first hand that the list—which is voted on entirely by NFL players—is not taken very seriously by the voters. While players are some of the most informed people to create such a list, they are also ones who carry some of the highest biases. And when they’re given these lists to fill out—in the middle of the previous season—they’ve got better things to do than to sit down and complete a list to their full ability.

But we’re in the midst of the offseason, so as much as we hate the list, we still talk about it.

In the past three years, only one Detroit Lions player has made the list: T.J. Hockenson in the 2021 list. The Lions were shut out in both 2022 and 2020—although Darius Slay made the list in 2020, but by the time the list was released, he was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Times are changing in Detroit, though. Last year alone, four Lions made the Pro Bowl—Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Frank Ragnow, and Penei Sewell—and there is some up and coming talent—Aidan Hutchinson and Kerby Joseph—who could get some early consideration as well.

So today’s Question of the Day is:

How many Lions should make the NFL’s Top 100 players of 2023 list?

My answer: I think the answer is three or four.

Two Lions, Sewell and St. Brown, made CBS’s top-100 players of 2023 list last week. At the very least, Frank Ragnow needs to be added to that list. He may not have been at the top of his game in 2022, but the toughness alone he showed playing through a painful toe injury shows just how valuable of a player he is.

Of the remaining players, I actually think it’s C.J. Gardner-Johnson who deserves the most consideration for a spot. Not only did he lead the NFL with six interceptions last year, but he has been playing at a high level for several years now. He may not have a Pro Bowl or All Pro selection to show for it, but he honestly deserves one.

I think he slips into the list after a highly-visible year and the stats to go with it.

So I think four should make the list, but three (probably no Ragnow) will make the list.

What do you think? How many Lions should make the top 100 list? Vote in the poll below, and then scroll to the bottom of the page to the comment section to tell us which players you think deserve it.