INDIANAPOLIS – Quenton Nelson has had a historic start to his NFL career, and he has the accolades to prove it.
Tonight, he added a little more appreciation to his list.
The Indianapolis Colts left guard has just been revealed to be the 29th best player in the league on the NFL network’s “100 Best Players of 2020” list, voted by players across the NFL. He is the highest ranking guard since the show “Top 100 Players” began in 2011.
It is Nelson’s first pick “NFL Top 100”; He is also the third and last player for the Colts to earn a place in this year’s countdown, as defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who was acquired by the team in an exchange with the San Francisco 49ers in March, entered the ranked 56th, while linebacker Darius Leonard ranked 50th overall.
Nelson’s ranking is not surprising, especially considering that several other media have already placed him among the best players in the NFL.
In fact, Pro Football Focus recently ranked Nelson the fourth best player in the NFL on his “PFF 50” list, while CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco had Nelson at number 15 on his top 100 player countdown.
Nelson’s rise to NFL stardom, a player considered the best in his league position, has been swift. The sixth overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, he was named Pro Bowler and First-Team All-Pro as a rookie; He would repeat those awards in 2019.
Nelson became the seventh player since the 1970 NFL / AFL merger to be named All-Team All-Pro in his first two seasons, and is the first since Devin Hester of the Bears in 2006-07. He was also the fourth NFL offensive lineman to earn All-Pro All-Pro honors in his first two seasons, and was the first since Dick Huffman of the Los Angeles Rams in 1947-48.
Nelson was PFF’s second-ranked offensive lineman (91.2 overall grade) in 2019; his pass blocking rating of 82.8 was ranked 14th among all qualified offensive linemen and sixth among guards, while his career blocking rating of 90.1 was third among all linemen and second among guards.
Nelson spent the entire season without allowing a single loot from the left guard position, according to PFF, while he was penalized only three times. He also helped pave the way for a Colts rushing attack that ranked seventh in the league in yards per game (133.1).
Nelson becomes the second Colts offensive lineman to be selected for an “NFL Top 100” roster since the show’s inception in 2011; Center Jeff Saturday was ranked 59 on the inaugural countdown.
The “NFL Top 100 Players of 2020” program continues tonight with numbers 28-20 until 10pm ET, while numbers 20-11 will be revealed the following hour.
The countdown ends tomorrow night with numbers 10-6 (8pm) and 5-1 (9pm).
