Saints: Terron Armstead should be higher on NFL Top 100

Even the NFL writer admits it: Terron Armstead should have debuted on this list years ago.

The NFL Top 100, a compilation of the league’s best players as voted by fellow NFL players, included the New Orleans Saints offensive tackle, but far, far too low on the list.

This is Armstead’s first appearance on the Top 100, where he ranks 79th. He’s ahead of Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen but behind Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.

Armstead is recognized for his “versatility” in 2020, as injuries led the Saints to use a run-heavy scheme that Armstead flourished in. Still, 79th place is pretty low for one of the best left tackles in the league right now.

The biggest slap in the face to Armstead may be the fact that his former teammate, Trey Hendrickson, ranks above him at 73rd.

Hendrickson turned heads last year due to his jaw-dropping sack count, but he didn’t fare well in many other statistical categories.

Armstead, on the other hand, didn’t take three seasons at New Orleans to break out. He’s been a consistent top-two or top-three player at his position every year, and in 2020 he allowed only three sacks and 15 pressures throughout the regular season.

New Orleans Saints tackle Terron Armstead is disrespected by peers in Top 100 rankings

“My god, you’re a murderer,” Alvin Kamara told Armstead after watching a replay of his own fifth rushing touchdown against the Vikings on Christmas last year.

Any highlight reel of Kamara’s will almost always feature Armstead on the fringe pushing back defenders like they were made of silly putty. Talk about an unsung hero.

We’re really just scratching our heads at how Armstead is ranked so low. He was such an indomitable force in the Saints’ offensive line last year, and pound-for-pound he would win a battle against Hendrickson any day.

Granted, Armstead’s successes were aided by fellow bookend Ryan Ramczyk, who has not yet been named on the Top 100 list. He’ll likely be ranked higher, and that we can agree with.

It’s just the Hendrickson thing that’s ticking us off.

There wasn’t much bad blood between Hendrickson and the Saints franchise after he joined the Bengals in the offseason, but New Orleans knows the worth of their own players.

And Armstead deserved to rank higher on that list, at the very least ahead of Hendrickson.

This is hopefully just the first of many acknowledgements Armstead can point to on his Saints’ resume. Maybe he can use this sham Top 100 list to fuel his inner fire as he leads the Saints to a Super Bowl-contending season this year.