Roquan Smith climbs in NFL Top 100 rankings for third year in a row

The NFL Top 100 Players of 2024 countdown continued on Wednesday and the fourth Baltimore Ravens player to be recognized as one of the best in the league among their peers is inside linebacker Roquan Smith at No. 19.

Not only did this mark the two-time Pro Bowler’s third straight year being voted to the list, it also marked his third straight year rising in the rankings and first cracking the top 20 although one could argue he deserves to be even higher. Last year, Smith came in at No. 24 which was a massive jump up of 60 spots from the year before when he made his Top 100 debut at No. 84. The only off-ball linebacker ranked ahead of him on this year’s list is Fred Warner of the San Francisco 49ers who came in eight spots higher at No. 11 and is his chief competition for the mantle of best linebacker in the game.

After being acquired via trade at the 2022 midseason trade deadline, Smith became a galvanizing force and one of the main catalysts for the Ravens’ dominant defensive surge in the second half of the year. Last season was his first full year with the team in which he had a whole offseason to immerse and acclimate himself with the scheme and he took his game to an even higher level.

In 2023, Smith appeared in 16 games and earned both Pro Bowl and First Team All Pro honors for the second year in a row after recording 158 total tackles—first on the team and sixth in the league—including five tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, five quarterback hits, eight pass breakups, one interception and one forced fumble.

One of the seventh-year veteran’s goals heading into the 2024 season is to contribute more in the turnover department by getting his hand on the ball more whether it is intercepting more passes, strip-sacking the quarterback or dislodging the ball from the grasp of the ball carriers and pass-catchers alike.

“My thing this year more so is getting more turnovers,” Smith said in a recent appearance on The Lounge podcast. “Last year there was a couple [interceptions] I dropped and also getting more punchouts. Getting more ball production, forcing turnovers [and] giving Lamar [Jackson] more opportunities. And when we do that, we all know great things happen.”

With Smith coming in just inside the top 20, the last Raven yet to be revealed is none other than the reigning league MVP himself. The last time he received the prestigious honor, Jackson made his debut on the NFL Top 100 at the No. 1 spot heading into 2020. Since voting is traditionally done during the regular season, the odds of him beating out Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs for the top spot on the list is high and him coming in at any ranking lower than No. 2 would be absolutely absurd.