As the 2022 NFL season draws nearer, the prospect of seeing the best players in football take the field once more is getting ever closer.
PFF is, at its heart, a player evaluation company, quantifying hundreds of data points on any given play in an effort to identify the best players and use that information to create useful insights across the spectrum of football analysis.
This is a list of the best 50 players in the NFL entering the 2022 season. No single number or grade dictates this list, but the grading along with PFF’s wins above replacement (WAR) metric has been used as a foundation while weighting toward the most recent season.
Editor’s note: The PFF50 will be unveiled in reverse order starting on Monday, July 18. The 10 best players in the NFL will be named on Friday, July 22. Check back through the week to see where the top 50 players in the league rank heading into the 2022 NFL season.
31. WR DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona Cardinals
An injury cost Hopkins much of the 2021 season, and a suspension will cost him the beginning of the upcoming one. Before that, we saw a four-year stretch where he was as good as any receiver in the game. Hopkins dropped just nine passes over the past four seasons and caught at least 45% of contested targets in each of those years, and he continues to dominate despite the Cardinals’ offense doing little to scheme him favorable matchups.
32. QB Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Herbert didn’t just avoid regression after an impressive rookie season; he improved across the board and is now clearly one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks. He generated the lowest turnover-worthy throw rate (1.6%) in the NFL last season and remained one of the best players under pressure.
Best Turnover-Worthy Play Rate | 2021 Regular Season
| Player | Turnover-Worthy Play Rate |
| Justin Herbert, LAC | 1.6% |
| Tom Brady, TB | 1.9% |
| Aaron Rodgers, GB | 2.0% |
| Kyler Murray, ARZ | 2.1% |
| Joe Burrow, CIN | 2.4% |
33. C Corey Linsley, Los Angeles Chargers
Linsley was able to back up his outstanding 2020 season in Green Bay with another excellent one in Los Angeles after signing with the Chargers. He has back-to-back seasons with 85.0-plus PFF grades and has now allowed just 17 pressures across two years and 1,254 pass-blocking snaps. He is the gold standard at the position right now.
34. WR AJ Brown, Philadelphia Eagles
Other receivers may have more overall production than Brown, but few appear at the top of every receiver list when it comes to excelling in difficult situations, such as versus press coveragelike him. He is an elite No. 1 receiver who can win in all areas and take over games. He will bring something that’s been missing from the Eagles’ offense, and if Jalen Hurts can take advantage of that, Brown should continue to dominate.
35. S Kevin Byard, Tennessee Titans
Byard is arguably the best safety in the game right now and has been remarkably consistent while playing a position that is very dependent on outside factors. He posted a career-best 90.9 PFF coverage grade last season, notching six pass breakups to go along with his five interceptions (including the playoffs).
36. DI Vita Vea, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Vea is a walking embodiment of Bill Parcells’ “Planet Theory” — there are only so many human beings that are that big and capable of moving the way he does walking around on Earth. In a league of rare athletes, he is a rare athlete, and when he finds his groove, he can make good NFL players look overwhelmed. He generated 48 pressures and 27 defensive stops last season.
37. RB Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings
Cook hasn’t had as good of blocking in front of him as some other elite running backs, but his ability to make something out of nothing shows up time and time again for the Vikings. He has averaged 3.0 yards after contact for his career while posting double-digit breakaway runs of 15 or more yards in each of the past three seasons.
38. Tristan Wirfs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Wirfs was one of the league’s best right tackles the moment he stepped foot on an NFL field, and he only backed that up in Year 2. He was the NFL’s highest-graded right tackle and allowed just 15 pressures across 18 games (including the playoffs ).
Lowest Pressure Percentage Allowed | Among All Tackles Since 2020; Regular Season
| Player | Pass-Blocking Snaps | Pressure Percentage Allowed |
| David Bakhtiari | 440 | 2.1% |
| Andrew Whitworth | 894 | 2.5% |
| Lane Johnson | 638 | 2.5% |
| Tristan Wirfs | 1,419 | 2.5% |
39. Stefon Diggs, Buffalo Bills
Diggs justifiably wanted a larger role than he was getting in Minnesota, and now that he’s in Buffalo, he has recorded at least 27 more targets than his highest-volume Vikings season in both years with the Bills. He wasn’t quite as effective during his second season in Buffalo, but he still caught 10 touchdowns and cut his drop total in half from a year ago.
40. Adrian Amos, Green Bay Packers
Amos is one of the most underrated players in the game and has a real argument to be seen as the league’s best safety or, at the very least, one of the best. He has never had a bad season in the NFL, recording seven pass breakups along with three interceptions this past year. He has missed fewer than 10% of his tackle attempts in each of his past three campaigns.
41. T Tyron Smith, Dallas Cowboys
Smith was back to his best this past season despite missing some time due to injury. He posted a 90.0-plus overall PFF grade for the first time since 2015, allowing just 17 pressures across more than 500 pass-blocking snaps. Smith finished with PFF grades of at least 87.0 as both a run blocker and a pass protector.
42. WR Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals
Chase dominated the college football landscape in 2019 on LSU’s way to the national title before taking a year off and then doing the same thing in the NFL as the Bengals came up just short of a Super Bowl. He was one of the most dominant receivers in the league immediately, racking up 37 explosive plays and dragging Cincinnati to wins in a handful of games.
Deep Production (20-Plus Yard Targets) | 2021 Regular Season
| Targets | Receptions | Yards | Yards After Catch | TDs |
| 34 (3rd) | 15 (T-3rd) | 576 (2nd) | 141 (2nd) | 8 (1st) |
43. LB Darius Leonard, Indianapolis Colts
Few players have Leonard’s nose for the football, and his ability to perfect the “Peanut Punch“The style of forcing fumbles at linebacker has made him a major problem for offenses to deal with on any given play. He generated a ridiculous seven forced fumbles last season along with four interceptions.
44. RB Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
Chubb is as good as any running back in the game with the ball in his hands. The only thing separating him from Derrick Henry and/or Jonathan Taylor is how little impact he has in the passing game along with the Browns coaching staff’s slight lightening of his workload. Chubb accrued the third-most rushing yards last season, despite recording only the 12th-most carries, and averaged 4.2 yards after contact.
45. S Marcus Williams, Baltimore Ravens
Williams has posted 70.0-plus overall PFF grades in each of his five NFL seasons and 80.0-plus coverage grades in three. He was remarkably consistent inside New Orleans’ defense, and in 2022, we will get to see him in a Ravens system that asks a little more from its safeties.
Highest Three-Year PFF Grades (2019-21) | Safety
| Player | Grade |
| Marcus Williams | 90.5 |
| Justin Simmons | 90.5 |
| Harrison Smith | 89.8 |
| Adrian Amos | 89.5 |
| Kevin Byard | 87.2 |
46. EDGE Cameron Jordan, New Orleans Saints
Jordan continues to truck on and has recorded at least 50 pressures in every season since 2015. In 2021, he posted a career-high 43 defensive stops and the best PFF run-defense grade (87.1) of his career. Jordan may be starting to slow down from his peak, but he remains one of the best players in the game.
47. EDGE Khalil Mack, Los Angeles Chargers
Mack played only 315 snaps last season due to injury and wasn’t performing at his usual level even before he was shut down. However, he is just a season removed from a stellar 92.5 PFF defensive campaign. He is likely to bounce back with the Chargers, but at his age, anticipating the decline is always a real concern.
48. CB Xavien HowardMiami Dolphins
Few cornerbacks are as natural a ballhawk as Howard, who still recorded five interceptions and seven pass breakups in a year that was a significant step back from his previous season. Howard has allowed a 71.3 passer rating into his coverage throughout his NFL career and is a dangerous cornerback to test at any time.
49. EDGE Rashan Gary, Green Bay Packers
Gary was a raw prospect who had massive physical tools when the Packers drafted him in the first round, and last year, he realized all that potential in a major way. He recorded a 90.1 PFF pass-rushing grade while racking up 81 pressures over the course of the season and improving as the year went on. He could be even better in 2022.
50. EDGE Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders
Crosby broke out in a huge way and led the entire league in pressures during 2021, becoming just the third player since 2006 to top 100 pressures over the course of a season. Crosby faced an absurdly weak collection of tackles, but even when he faced better players, he continued to dominate. Time will tell if he can keep that up against a better slate of blockers in 2022.
Most Pressures in a Regular Season | Since 2006
| Player | Season | Pressures |
| JJ Watt, HOU | 2014 | 119 |
| Aaron Donald, LAR | 2018 | 106 |
| Maxx Crosby, LVR | 2021 | 101 |