Keenan Allen lands at No. 77 on NFL’s Top 100 for 2020

It’s a tradition unlike any other. The NFL Top 100.

OK, maybe not. It’s actually fairly scrutinized every year, but it’s still fun to read when it comes out.

The NFL began unveiling the first 30 players on Sunday and one Charger made his unsurprising appearance, except it was about 40 spots lower than expected. Keenan Allen landed at No. 77 on this year’s list after being voted to the No. 38 spot in 2019.

Allen is coming off another 100-catch, 1,000-yard season where he caught six touchdowns for the third year in a row. His 104 catches and 1,199 yards led the team in both categories while his six scores were second to Austin Ekeler’s eight.

If you’ve missed any of the social media drama, Allen was quick to take to Twitter and vent his feelings towards the drop he saw in the top 100. He tagged the Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill, as well as Mike Evans and Chris Godwin from the Bucs, to declare that he was better than all three of them although they’re likely to be unveiled at a higher spot on the list.

For context, here are the 2019 stat lines for Allen, Hill, Evans, and Godwin:

• Hill: 58-860-7 (12 games)
• Evans: 67-1,157-8 (13)
• Godwin: 86-1,333-9 (14)
• Allen: 104-1,199-6 (16)

So based on ‘19 alone, one could argue that Godwin was the only receiver better than Allen out of the group. However, if you were to extrapolate each player’s stat lines to include 16 games, some could then make a firm argument that they were all better than Allen. But we must remember that Allen is not used in the same manner as the other three. Godwin’s usage is the most similar but Evans and Hill are completely different pass-catchers.

Neither Hill, Evans, or Godwin are used as examples of elite-ELITE route running in the NFL. They do not provide nearly the same amount of teach tape that Allen gives for the younger generation and I would argue that’s what helps Allen get held in a higher regard. Allen, with just above-average speed for a wide receiver, would be much deadlier on a game-by-game basis.

Per PFF, Allen has, in fact, been the better receiver for the last three seasons combined. His elite 91.0 is tops among the group of four.

Lists like these are always good for starting discussions. Fans and professionals have differing opinions and value different traits and aspects in players. At the end of the day, this discussion teeters back-and-forth between objective and subjective to the point that no one is going to 100% have the answers.

So we might as well sit back and enjoy all this greatness at the wide receiver position while it lasts.