If you follow pro football closely enough, you know who the league’s biggest stars are.
You’ve watched that guy in the Kansas City Chiefs’ red No. 15 jersey launching dart passes off-platform more times than you can count. You recognize the human bowling ball in the Los Angeles Rams’ No. 99 outfit every time you see him tear a pocket apart. Seeing a speedster playmaker routinely humiliate cornerbacks under the hot Miami sunlight is a very familiar sight.
As NFL training camps loom, we’re here to give you both a reminder and a baseline of player expectations for the 2023 season. We’re examining the best NFL players aged 26 and up, most of whom you’ve probably read or talked about aplenty already in your football fandom. Our reasoning for making the cut-off at age 26 is that it’s the most common start date for second contracts. It is when players unofficially graduate to “veteran” status and show they have uncommon long-term staying power.
From reputation to postseason honors, our logic for ranking the best NFL veterans considers everything. And we hope it’ll give you a good refresher on where to focus your eyes with meaningful football looming in September.
In case you missed it:
Quarterback: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Age: 27
Mahomes hasn’t even turned 28 and already has two MVPs and two Super Bowls. He’s the most unstoppable force in professional football when he’s locked in. And even when you think you have him up against the wall, you’re still unsafe. He has already put himself in the conversation for the best quarterback of all time. — Robert Zeglinski
Running back: Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
Age: 27
There’s no better pure runner in the league than Chubb, whose cutbacks and jukes display a mastery of traction and acceleration unlike anyone else in the game. He’s never had a season in which he averaged fewer than five yards per carry. His 389 rushing yards over expected (RYOE) was the most in the NFL by more than 100 yards. — Christian D’Andrea
Wide receiver: Davante Adams, Las Vegas Raiders
Age: 30
Adams switched teams and quarterbacks and still picked up exactly where he left off in Green Bay. Even in new surroundings, Adams remains the arguable top receiver in the game. Call it a hunch, but the veteran, now in his 30s, will age like fine wine. — RZ
Wide receiver: Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins
Age: 29
Hill separated from Patrick Mahomes and saw his numbers explode — even for a Miami team beset by uncertainty at quarterback. His 119 catches and 1,710 yards were the second-most in the NFL to only Justin Jefferson. His 10.3 average yards before catch proved he’s still a viable deep threat despite hitting the middle age of his career — and a healthy Tua Tagovailoa could put his prolific 2022 numbers even higher. — CD
Wide receiver: Stefon Diggs, Buffalo Bills
Age: 29
The Bills’ renaissance would’ve never launched if it wasn’t for Diggs’ dependability as a WR1. He is Josh Allen’s best friend and safety valve and the catalyst behind Buffalo’s championship-contending offense. Diggs gets bonus points for thriving despite Buffalo having zero legit options to draw attention away from him. — RZ
Tight end: Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
Age: 33
Kelce was 33 years old for the bulk of the 2022 season. Without Hill in the lineup, he was far and away the one guy defensive coordinators had to focus on stopping. And he still set career highs in receptions (110) and touchdowns (12). He’s going to wind down at some point, but last season’s performance suggests that’s still a ways away. — CD
Left tackle: Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers
Age: 34
No offensive lineman presents more of a sure thing every Sunday than Williams. He will be a brick wall in pass protection. He will plow over defenders at the point of attack and at the second level. He is the epitome of going above and beyond in your job responsibilities and making it look effortless. — RZ
Left guard: Joel Bitonio, Cleveland Browns
Age: 32
Bitonio is still clearing a path for Nick Chubb and is still extremely good at it. His 2022 season marked his fifth-straight All-Pro honor, giving Cleveland another Joe Thomas-esque anchor on the offensive line (while churning through a slightly more optimistic stretch of Browns football). — CD
Center: Jason Kelce, Philadelphia Eagles
Age: 35
Kelce probably lost a step between the Eagles’ last two Super Bowl appearances, but that didn’t diminish his play. He remains the central lynchpin and galvanizing force for one of the NFL’s more dominant offensive lines. — RZ
Right guard: Zack Martin, Dallas Cowboys
Age: 32
The rule is simple; if Martin plays more than 10 games in the season, it ends with an All-Pro nod. The future Hall of Famer has racked up eight such honors in his career, keeping the Cowboys’ quarterbacks upright and charging forward to clear running lanes for Tony Pollard, Ezekiel Elliott and Demarco Murray. — CD
Right tackle: Lane Johnson, Philadelphia Eagles
Age: 33
The best compliment one can pay to Johnson is his consistency. During Johnson’s career, Philadelphia has cycled through various front-line players almost everywhere save for his place at right tackle. At the age of 33, he is still a difference-making book-end most offenses would be envious of. — RZ
Edge: Alex Highsmith, Pittsburgh Steelers
Age: 26
Highsmith was presented with an opportunity thanks to T.J. Watt’s torn pectoral muscle and thrived. Despite being the pass-rushing focus of opposing offensive lines for almost half the season, Highsmith still set career highs with 14.5 sacks, 20 quarterback hits and a league-high five forced fumbles. Factor in a solid 4.5 percent missed tackle rate, and you’ve got the next budding star of the Steelers’ eternally stout defense. — CD
Defensive tackle: Chris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs
Age: 28
Now in the physical prime of his career, Jones announced his presence to a national audience by being a Defensive Player of the Year finalist in 2022. As other older greats fade away, he actually might be the new king of interior pass rushers. Mahomes and Kelce get a lion’s share of the Chiefs’ acclaim, but Jones’ name deserves to be uttered in the same breath. — RZ
Defensive tackle: Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams
Age: 32
Is this a legacy award? Donald’s production fell off in an injury-marred 2022, and he’s got more than 8,000 NFL snaps under his belt. On the other hand … he’s Aaron Donald. And it’s tough to consider anything the Rams did in last year’s disaster of a season as a signifier of things going forward. LA will have to hope he can return to form this fall; he’s one of only two returning players who started at least 10 games last season. — CD
Edge: T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers
Age: 28
Freak injuries robbed Watt of the chance to build on his first career Defensive Player of the Year honor. With Watt humbling offensive tackles in his return, you wouldn’t have been able to tell he missed almost half of the 2022 campaign. A full-fledged Watt redemption tour could be in store in 2023. — RZ
Linebacker: Roquan Smith, Baltimore Ravens
Age: 26
Smith does a little bit of everything well. He’s perpetually around the ball — just under 10 tackles per game the last two seasons — useful in coverage (a passer rating allowed under 80 each of the last four years) and effective as a blitzer (4.5 sacks in 32 blitz opportunities last fall). Now he gets to be a link in the Ravens’ chain of smothering defenses. — CD
Linebacker: Bobby Wagner, Seattle Seahawks
Age: 32
Bobby Wagner changed teams, defensive scheme and the supporting players around him were considerably worse, and he still earned another All-Pro bid. He’s back with the Seahawks, ironically at the potential onset of another “Legion of Boom” defense. It’s wild to consider that Wagner is only 32 because he definitely doesn’t play like it. — RZ
Linebacker: Fred Warner, San Francisco 49ers
Age: 27
Rock solid, dependable, strong in coverage and sure-handed as a tackler. Warner makes few mistakes and serves as a catalyst whose chain reactions make everyone around him better. He’s played at least 94 percent of the 49ers’ defensive snaps in each of his five seasons in the league. — CD
Cornerback: Darius Slay, Philadelphia Eagles
Age: 32
A nimble, intelligent and free-wheeling centerfielder on the boundary, Slay uses the Eagles’ relentless pass rush to his great advantage. Slay understands how to bait quarterbacks into ill-advised mistakes and is the unquestioned leader of a playmaking back end. — RZ
Cornerback: James Bradberry, Philadelphia Eagles
Age: 30
Philadelphia’s salary cap crunch meant almost losing its all-star cornerback combination. Thankfully, after some wrangling, both Slay and Bradberry are back in search of a return to the Super Bowl. The younger corner is coming off his best season: All-Pro honors, a 45 percent completion rate when targeted and more interceptions than touchdowns allowed in 2022. — CD
Nickel cornerback: Mike Hilton, Cincinnati Bengals
Age: 29
None of what Lou Anarumo’s sneaky-good defense tries to accomplish works without Hilton. A spirited competitor, Hilton attaches himself to receivers like a rusty anchor and does much of the requisite dirty work any good unit needs to succeed. — RZ
Free safety: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Steelers
Age: 26
The 2022 season was Fitzpatrick’s best as a pro, recording a career-high six interceptions (tied for the league lead) and a career-low five percent missed tackle rate. The Steelers kept their string of winning seasons alive against expectations thanks to a defense that allowed more than 17 points just once in its final nine games. Fitzpatrick was a major part of that. — CD
Strong safety: Derwin James, Los Angeles Chargers
Age: 26
A multifaceted defensive weapon, James does everything well. On one play, he might be a hybrid linebacker in the box. On the next, he’ll man the middle third of the field, completely taking it away as a viable option for quarterbacks. With his high-caliber profile of versatility, James might be the league’s most useful defender. — RZ
