Jaguars DE Josh Hines-Allen gets deserved recognition in NFL's top 100 ranking

The Jacksonville Jaguars are coming off back-to-back winning seasons, so they're getting garnering attention from across the league. While they ultimately failed to make the playoffs in 2023, they had several outstanding individual performances. Two of them have been recognized in the NFL's Top 100 Players of 2024 list.

The first Jaguars player who appeared on the list was Trevor Lawrence at No. 94. This was the second time the former Clemson Tiger earned a spot, having popped up at No. 96 last year. Next was Josh Hines-Allen who made it all the way to No. 35. This is the first time in his five-year career that he's made the cut.

The NFL first unveiled Nos. 100 to 81 on July 22 and has revealed 10 more spots every day (without counting the weekend) since then. This is the first time since 2019 that the Jags had multiple players make the cut. It's also important to point out that as of this writing, the league hasn't revealed Nos. 30 to 1, so there's still a chance tight end Evan Engram, who has a legitimate shot, lands on the list.

A first-round pick in 2019, Hines-Allen had 10.5 sacks as a rookie but just a combined 17 the following three seasons. Although he had played at an elite level at times, he wasn't nearly as consistent as Jacksonville would've wanted, so 2024 was a contract year for him. The former Wildcat went on to have a career season, setting a franchise record for sacks in a season with 17.5.

On top of that, his 90 total pressures ranked sixth among pass rushers, proving once and for all he's one of the best at getting after the quarterback in the NFL.

Aside from Hines-Allen, other players who were revealed from Nos. 40 to 31 were wide receiver Davante Adams (40), quarterback Joe Burrow (39), cornerback Sauce Gardner (38), defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (37), quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (36), quarterback Jordan Love (34), wide receiver Puka Nacua (33), linebacker Quincy Williams (32), and cornerback DaRon Bland (31).

Jaguars DE Josh Hines-Allen deserves a high spot on the Top 100 players of 2024

You would have a hard time finding a consensus in a top-10 ranking, let alone in one with 100 entries. Having said that, Josh Hines-Allen deserved to land at No. 35. Some fans from other teams will argue that Tua Tagovailoa or Jordan Love should've gotten a higher spot by virtue of playing quarterback.

That argument makes sense when you take into account that quarterbacks have the biggest impact on the outcome of a football game. That said, this isn't an outlier. Hines-Allen has gotten lots of recognition after 2023, routinely cracking most top-100 rankings and every top-10 list of pass rushers. This is to say that he's definitely deserving of his spot on the Top 100 Players of 2024 list.

After all, the Jaguars struggled to win games late in the 2010s but they've come a long way. The fact that two of their players are getting widespread recognition is that they're headed in the right direction.

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