Sunday night, the NFL released its first batch of their Top 100 players list — as voted on by other players — which highlighted players 100-51 and two Denver Broncos appeared on the list.

However, it could easily be argued that both of these Broncos deserved to be named among the top 50.

Justin Simmons made his appearance on the list at No. 81, which seems far too low for someone who is arguably the NFL’s best safety. As a matter of fact, in their recent poll that interviewed 50 high-ranking decision-makers from around the NFL, ESPN discovered that Simmons was viewed by many in the league as the very best player at his position.

That’s not the case on NFL Network’s, as they have Simmons ranked as the league’s tenth-best safety. It’s already been revealed that Antoine Winfield Jr., Quandre Diggs, Tyrann Mathieu and Budda Baker are ahead of Simmons, which is head-scratching considering the struggles Winfield and Mathieu experienced last year.

Mathieu had one of his worst years of his career in 2021, and Winfield Jr. wasn’t quite as impressive as he was his rookie season. Baker and Diggs are phenomenal safeties, but ranking them ahead of Simmons also feels dubious.

What is absoulutely laughable though, is how James Conner — a fairly mediocre running back for the Arizona Cardinals — ranks at No. 80, one spot ahead of the All-Pro safety.

Conner was excellent near the goal line, tallying 15 touchdowns, but he was a limited player for the Cardinals, so his inclusion here is bizarre. He barely tallied 750 rushing yards last season, over 150 less than either Denver Broncos backs (Melvin Gordon or Javonte Williams) — both of whom are unlikely to appear on this list — despite tallying a nearly identical carry total to both Gordon and Williams (202 to 203 and 203).

Conner’s placement is a farce.

The inclusion of Cordarrelle Patterson, and Matthew Judon — who faded hard down the stretch of the season — also over Simmons is baffling.

Judon isn’t just ahead of Simmons though, as he’s also ranked ahead of Russell Wilson, who comes in at No. 61 on the list, the lowest placement of his career.

Now, to some extent, Wilson receiving the lowest ranking of his career makes some sense, given his struggles over the last two seasons, but No. 61 feels like a bridge too far.

Ranking Wilson behind players like Judon, and even Kyler Murray, after how the 2021 NFL season ended is very curious.

If you look at Wilson’s numbers from after the time his finger injury was fully healed, he averaged a box score of 217 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions, at a hyper-efficient clip of 7.5 yards per attempt, while completing 66 percent of his passes.

Over that same stretch, Murray had an average stat line of 254 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception, on a less-than-efficient 6.3 yards per attempt, while completing 64 percent of his passes. Murray does add 37 yards on the ground, but that doesn’t make up for the added mistakes.

Here’s hoping Russell Wilson and Justin Simmons blaze a trail of revenge with fire and brimstone for the Denver Broncos this coming season.