For the third consecutive year, the NFL Network is about to begin counting down the top 100 players in the league, as voted on by the players themselves. Tampa Bay Buccaneer fans won't have to wait long to see some familiar highlight-reel plays.
The first episode of NFLN's Top 100 Players of 2013 airs Saturday night, immediately following the network's coverage of the final day of the NFL Draft. The players ranked #100-91 will be profiled on Saturday and, according to advance information from the network, two of those 10 performers will be current Buccaneer players.
Note that this does not mean that only two Tampa Bay players are included on the entire 1-100 list. This year's Top 100 will be revealed one week at a time, with Saturday's debut followed by a series of Thursday evening episodes. The player ranked 81-90 will be revealed on Thursday, May 2, and the entire series will wrap up with the top 10 on June 27. Before each episode, teams are alerted if they have players included in the coming reveal, but the exact names and rankings are not released until the show airs.
Also, each episode will be followed by a Top 100 Players of 2013 Reactions show, which will include the opinions of a current but anonymous NFL player. Fans will also get their say via Twitter and polls on NFL.com.
Last year, the NFL Network's Top 100 list found space for two 2012 Buccaneers and also included a player who has since made the move to the Bay area. Left tackle Donald Penn came in at #97 on the 2012 list, and his new OL-mate, guard Carl Nicks, was #76. The fifth-ranked player on the list, and the highest-rated defensive player overall, was then-Jet cornerback Darrelle Revis, who has been a Buccaneer since this past Sunday.
Will Penn, Nicks and/or Revis hold their spots in 2013? What other Bucs will make it onto the list, as chosen by their peers? We'll get the first few answers on Saturday night.
