The Washington Commanders enter the 2026 NFL season as the only franchise without a single player on the NFL Network's annual Top 100 list, a ranking voted on by NFL players themselves.
The list, which NFL Network has been announcing in the lead-up to the 2026 season, is determined by a secret ballot. Players vote for the top performers they faced during the previous season. Washington finished 5-12 in 2025, a record that apparently left little impression across the rest of the league.
According to a report by Yahoo Sports, NFL players did not place a single Commander in the top 100, making Washington the only team in the entire NFL to go unrepresented.
The omission of quarterback Jayden Daniels is the most striking part of the results. In last year's voting, Daniels was ranked No. 21. That placed him ahead of the vast majority of quarterbacks in the league. This year, he did not make the list at all, meaning players effectively moved him down at least 79 spots in 12 months.
Offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil also dropped off the list. He had been ranked No. 85 in the 2025 voting. Tunsil's absence from this year's list may have a straightforward explanation. He tore a triceps muscle during training camp and could miss the 2026 season entirely.
Daniels' absence is harder to explain on a football basis. He did not suffer a season-ending injury. Washington's 5-12 record, however, may have worked against him in voting that rewards players based on the impressions they made on opponents.
The structure of the voting itself may be part of the issue. NFL players are directed to vote based on who they believed were the best players they personally faced during the season, not simply who they think is the most talented in the league overall. A quarterback on a struggling team may face fewer marquee opponents and appear in fewer memorable games, reducing his visibility in the voting process.
The NFL markets the Top 100 list as a measure of current player quality, which can cause confusion about what the list actually reflects. A player missing the list one year does not necessarily mean the league considers him a lesser player than his ranking suggests.
Daniels could return to the list next season if Washington improves and he stays healthy. The Commanders do not have a known deadline or next game announced in this report, but the 2026 NFL season is now underway.
