When deciding who is the best safety in the NFL, there are many factors to weigh. First and foremost, there are two different safety positions: strong safety and free safety. Both have different responsibilities. Strong safeties are named such because they line up on the “strong side” – the side of the line of scrimmage where the tight end is positioned. Strong safeties often have the responsibility of covering the tight end on pass plays and providing support against the run. Free safeties usually line up further away from the line of scrimmage than strong safeties and generally more toward the “weak” side, without the tight end. As a result, free safeties were once referred to as “weak safeties.” Free safeties provide more pass coverage support, rushing to cover receivers who beat a cornerback. 

Although strong safety and free safety are two separate positions, they are often grouped when assessing defense. In our NFL safety rankings, we will consider several statistical categories from the 2022 NFL season such as interceptions, passes defended, tackles for loss, and forced fumbles to cover both strong safeties and free safeties. There are two teams with two players on our list of best NFL safeties.

The National Football League’s most recognizable players are the star playmakers on offense and the ferocious hitters on defense. There is that third phase of football, the special teams, and a man on each team that gets very little love in the spotlight: the punter. We will look back at the 2022 season to come up with the best punters in the NFL by using the data stored on Pro-Football-Reference.com. 

To complete this task, we want to share information on the players from different aspects and statistical categories to help in the determination.

Who are the best tight ends in the NFL? Today we take a look at the best tight ends of 2022. Although receptions and touchdowns are key stats in considering NFL tight end rankings, it’s important to remember that tight ends also block. Some tight ends are great blockers and highly valuable to their teams, even if they don’t post gaudy numbers. NFL tight ends can also be valuable third-down targets for quarterbacks.

The 2022 NFL season had some dynamic rushers display their skills of running the rock on game days. Many of these talented running backs were in their first season as professionals in the League. Using our robust sports information database, this Pro-Football-Reference blog post will examine the best rookie RBs of the 2022 regular season.

(last updated on January 8, 2026)

The offensive playmakers get all the glory in the media, award shows, and even in conversations around the water coolers and barber shops. But the quarterbacks, running backs, and receivers can only do their jobs with the help of their gigantic teammates in the trenches: the offensive linemen. Our objective in this post is to find the greatest linemen of all time, using the statistics of Pro Football Reference and Stathead. We will only look at numbers from the regular season as criteria to keep it fair. Still, we may consider championships and postseason awards to determine the NFL offensive linemen rankings.

(last updated on January 7, 2026)

There’s something about the defensive line that symbolizes the toughness and determination of pro football. Although not as glamorous as quarterback or wide receiver, many fan favorites played defensive line. Here is a look at some of the best defensive linemen of all time.  

Although this list compiles great defensive linemen in NFL history, it’s important to remember that there are differences between the defensive line positions. Defensive ends are often able to obtain higher sack totals rushing from the outside. Some defensive tackles play in a 4-3 alignment, with a second defensive tackle right beside them. Others, such as Curley Culp, excelled as the only defensive tackle in a 3-4 alignment. Such players, often called nose tackles, are often double and sometimes triple-teamed in that formation.  

(last updated on January 6, 2026)

Who is the best wide receiver of all time? That question is a topic of conversation amongst people who love American football. A great way to study this is to examine the fruits of the labor of those who worked in the position in the form of statistics via the robust Pro-Football-Reference database. Let’s list the names of some great wideouts in NFL history and what they accomplished to help in our quest.

There are a few different ways to look at our list of the greatest wide receivers of all time. The skill sets of the top wideouts vary, and the tasks they accomplished helped their teams gain an advantage. The offensive scheme, strategy, and rules of the era each had as much of an influence on the players’ impact on the numbers they produced.

(last updated on January 8, 2026)

Attempting to select the greatest NFL player of all time is like trying to identify the greatest cheeseburger of all time. There are so many contenders and so many different characteristics that it’s impossible to pick an absolute winner. Plus, each era owns its own legacy. Ask a fan who watched the NFL in the 1950s, and they might give a completely different opinion of what makes a great football player than someone who started watching football in the 2020s.

One can, however, possibly create a list of perhaps the greatest of the greats. That is what we’re crazy enough to tackle here at Pro Football Reference. 

The NFL released its top 100 NFL players of all time for its 100^th anniversary by position. I will use a similar template, listing some of the best NFL players of all time by position. There is no way to be completely comprehensive here, but I do believe this is a solid list to enjoy and discuss. 

The 2022 NFL season gave fans one of the most spectacular varieties of a season where offenses found schemes to put points on the scoreboard. The talent at the quarterback position and the varied skillsets of the signal-caller talent are at an unprecedented level. Below are the top 10 NFL quarterbacks in 2022. Their stats from the Pro-Football-Reference database will support the selections, so be prepared to have your jaw drop a few times. We dialed in the Stathead football settings to look at QBs with a minimum of 250 snaps. We will pull the best NFL quarterbacks during the 2022 season in various statistical categories to help. To make it as fair of a comparison as possible, only the 2022 regular season numbers will be considered.

The 2022 National Football League season has recently come to a close, allowing us to reflect on the season that passed. Who was the best? The NFL’s top linebackers this past year will be looked at in this post using their 2022 statistics. We will look at four segments of the game that an LB can be measured with and the top performers in each using the vast resources of Stathead and Pro-Football-Reference. Our pool of players will be all backers: inside, outside, strong, weak, edges, the mikes, and the wills. Only the regular season stats will be used in this study to keep things on a level playing field.