Scratch that, Finley is fast enough to take on cornerbacks and still win. The man looks like a human gazelle; he has an almost effortless grace to his athleticism, but then he makes an explosive cut or move and the suddenness of it just takes you by surprise. While his lack of exceptional strength makes him somewhat of a liability run blocking, he more than makes up for it the passing game. While currently injured he should not miss more than a month, and when he is healthy there is not a team in the NFL that he does not present a match-up nightmare for.
The only thing that can stop a god-body like Michael is if his body prematurely falls apart. Davis is such a freak that he went from being the best blocking tight end in the NFL in to the best pass-catching tight end in Davis is such a freak he demands an almost universal double-team from opposing defenses in passing situations while being capable of single handedly blocking elite edge rushers when asked to stay back.
From the moment that Joe Thomas stepped onto the field as a rookie for the Cleveland Browns he has been the best left tackle in football. And this is with rather short arms for an NFL left tackle, which many thought would keep him from being a great player.
Problem is for those doubters Thomas bounces around on his feet like he is on a bubble and his butt has the anchoring power capable of stopping a ship. Thomas is one of maybe five offensive lineman in the NFL capable blocking truly elite pass rushers like Mario Williams and Julius Peppers one-on-one.
Thomas has the speed to seal the edge, the strength to withstand a bull rush, the agility to reach the second level and act as a lead blocker and flat out push people in the run game. Peterson appears to have been chiseled from granite and willed to life by an Italian sculptor from the Renaissance, the NFL version of Pinocchio. He is an almost perfect combination of speed, acceleration, strength, balance, explosion and size.
The closer he gets to the endzone, the faster he seems to become. The guy is the rare running back who feels comfortable juking cornerbacks and trucking defensive lineman. Peterson is such a freak that a lot of NFL scouts believed Peterson was one of the few players capable of playing in the NFL right out of high school.
I loathe writing anything positive about this man. As I write this, my Staffordshire Bull Terrier Bowie is sleeping away on his bed in the corner snoring adorably loud. But while it really irritates me, I have to include Vick on this list. He has exceptional strength throughout his body. What makes Vick special though is that he combines the legs of Barry Sanders with the arm of John Elway. That is how special he is physically. The fact that he almost threw it all away in such callous fashion leads me to believe though that while Vick has a million-dollar body, he has a two-cent head.
He is turning it around though with the Eagles and Andy Reid, made easier that now he has gotten his sea legs back from sitting around in prison. It took a year, but The Vick experience is back. And even though Vick is 30, Vick is the kind of athlete who might be able to play much longer than people think because even if he were to lose two steps he would still be faster than everyone else. Revis is the only cornerback in the NFL that has the strength and size to jam Andre Johnson at the line of scrimmage, the speed to stay with Randy Moss on deep balls and the quickness to stay with Wes Welker on underneath routes.
A lot of guys can do one or the other or even a combination of two, but Revis is the only one who can do all three.
The guy can flip his hips like a switch with almost no loss of speed, he reaches his top speed in moments, his arm length is exceptional and he has an almost wiry strength that goes beyond how big his muscles are. Chris Johnson is the fastest man in the NFL, period. He is so fast that there has actually been serious debate as to whether Johnson would beat Jamaican sprinter Usian Bolt in a yard dash race. Usain Bolt might be the fastest man that planet earth has ever seen, and people mention Chris Johnson in the same breath as him.
I have seen Johnson make lateral cuts that looks like he covers five yards in distance, leaving multiple defenders in his wake. Randy Moss is perhaps the most physically gifted wide receiver that the NFL has ever seen. I also remember when the New York Giants played the New England Patriots for the Super Bowl and the Patriots were three points down with 30 seconds left deep in their own territory.
That right there sums up Julius Pepper's insane gifts. But his agility is what truly makes him special; he can turn a corner like a Ferrari and is impossible for offensive lineman to mirror him in the running game. When rushing the passer Peppers is never out of the play. Even when he is not going to sack the quarterback he inherently finds a way to position himself to bat the ball down or up as if it were at the line of scrimmage. And he is an amazing pass rusher, as the long list of quarterbacks like Eli Manning and Matthew Stafford who suffered shoulder injuries at the hands of Peppers can attest.
Ray Lewis has that privilege now, playing the same time as Patrick Willis. Anyway Willis is a true sideline-to-sideline defender; he can reach any spot on the field in a blur. Even when caught out of position his athletic gifts are so strong he can still make a play that hurts an offense. He has the strength to destroy offensive lineman at the line of scrimmage and the speed to cover Brent Celek in the deep middle of the field. Patrick Willis might be the only defender in the NFL that I would feel confident would more often than not stop Adrian Peterson when facing him one on one in a hole at the line of scrimmage or covering JerMichael Finley on over the middle.
Mario Williams is one of maybe four defensive ends in the NFL who demand a double team on every single play. Regardless of down, distance, situation or scheme Williams is always double teamed. I was one of the few who thought the Texans made the right move drafting Williams No.
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