The folks over at NFL Network are putting together their annual top 100 players list of the season with training camp just starting up.
Safety Harrison Smith is the first Viking to show up on the list (the list is released starting with 100, ending at 1) ranking 83rd overall. This is actually drop of 37 spots for the four-time Pro Bowler.
It was a down season for not only Smith, but the Vikings secondary as a whole.
Even with that, Smith is one of the better players in the NFL and the players who voted on this recognized that.
Smith, 30, finished his seventh season with 84 tackles, a career-high nine tackles for loss and three interceptions.
Per Pro Football Focus, Smith ranked as the league’s 14th-best safety with a grade of 79.7, which was a drop off of 12 points from the previous season.
He’s still very much in his prime, and if I had to bet, he’ll be higher on this list a year from now.
