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Plenty of Talent Left
NFL free agency 2023: Ranking best remaining players still available
7:00 AM ET
Matt BowenESPN Staff Writer
1. Dalton Schultz, TE
2022 team: Dallas Cowboys | Age entering 2023 season: 27
Schultz's postseason production -- 12 receptions, 122 yards and three touchdowns in two games -- should erase any questions about a knee injury that slowed him earlier in the 2022 season. He's a vertical seam stretcher who can be schemed on play-action or boot to use his ability to run after the catch. He has some speed when he gets free. Plus, Schultz -- another guy who played on the franchise tag -- won't turn 27 until July.
2. C.J. Gardner-Johnson, S
2022 team: Philadelphia Eagles | Age entering 2023 season: 25
Gardner-Johnson is a safety who is versatile enough to play in the slot; he had six interceptions (tied for the league lead) in just 12 games last season. That's a valuable trait, especially for a player who hasn't reached his prime. He's an urgent defender on tape, with the coverage traits and ball skills to fit in multiple defensive schemes.
3. Bobby Wagner, ILB
2022 team: Los Angeles Rams | Age entering 2023 season: 33
Wagner's declining play speed shows on the tape, but the six-time first-team All-Pro linebacker can still produce due to his high-level awareness and defensive instincts. Last season, Wagner logged 81 solo tackles with six sacks and two interceptions. He can key and diagnose with speed to track the ball. A one-year deal from a contending team adds up here.
4. Odell Beckham Jr., WR
2022 team: Unsigned | Age entering 2023 season: 30
Beckham missed the entire 2022 season after he tore the ACL in his left knee during the Rams' Super Bowl LVI victory last February. If the knee checks out in physicals, however, we know he can still make an impact as a No. 2 receiver. In 12 games with the Rams in 2021 (including the playoffs), Beckham caught 48 passes for 593 yards and seven touchdowns. Based on what I saw on that tape, Beckham has lost some of the explosion that made him one of the NFL's most dynamic players a few years ago. Still, there's detail to his route running; he can create immediate separation at the line of scrimmage.
5. Yannick Ngakoue, DE
2022 team: Indianapolis Colts | Age entering 2023 season: 28
Ngakoue had 9.5 sacks in 2022, bringing his total to 65 over eight NFL seasons. Given his subpar tape as a run defender, however, he should be targeted as a situational pass-rusher, a role in which he can use his top-end traits to win on the edge: burst off the ball, hand usage and the ability to bend around offensive tackles. We know NFL teams value edge rushers, and so Ngakoue will have a market even if he tops out as a pass-rusher on nickel snaps.
6. Rock Ya-Sin, CB
2022 team: Las Vegas Raiders | Age entering 2023 season: 27
Ya-Sin has just two interceptions over his four pro seasons, but with press-man traits, zone awareness and a competitive playing style, he is a physical corner who can disrupt at the line of scrimmage and tackle. The 2019 second-round pick had seven pass breakups last season, and he allowed just one touchdown catch as the nearest defender in coverage, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
7. Isaac Seumalo, G
2022 team: Philadelphia Eagles | Age entering 2023 season: 29
A technically sound blocker at 6-foot-4, 303 pounds, Seumalo has the foot quickness to redirect defenders. He has the body control to wrestle back against power rushers and create a firm base in the pocket. He had a pass block win rate of 93.6% last season, which ranked 15th among all guards, and his 72.6% run block win rate ranked 20th.
8. DJ Chark, WR
2022 team: Detroit Lions | Age entering 2023 season: 26
Chark, a vertical stretch target, averaged 16.7 yards per catch in 11 games for the Lions last season. He can be schemed to attack intermediate windows on deep in-breakers. At 6-foot-4, he has the ability to win outside matchups as a boundary target. He has 18 touchdowns over five seasons.
9. Drue Tranquill, ILB
2022 team: Los Angeles Chargers | Age entering 2023 season: 28
Tranquill's 95 solo tackles last season were a career high, and he can be schemed as a blitzer from multiple second-level alignments. He had five sacks and added four pass breakups. A middle linebacker who has the movement traits of a weakside linebacker in space, Tranquill has upside in both base and sub-package personnel.
10. Dalton Risner, G
2022 team: Denver Broncos | Age entering 2023 season: 28
Risner fits best in a gap run scheme as a close-quarters mauler with a strong and rugged play style. He ranked 10th in the league in run block win rate (74.4%) among guards. He can anchor in pass protection, but he has some issues when asked to redirect on his edges. He was just average in pass block win rate in 2022 (92.3%, 31st among guards).
11. Jadeveon Clowney, DE
2022 team: Cleveland Browns | Age entering 2023 season: 30
Clowney's production dropped off in Cleveland last season, as he had just two sacks in 12 games. He's a straight-line power rusher who can set a hard edge versus the run game given his physical tools. He has never fully turned those tools into production, though; the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft has zero double-digit-sack seasons. Clowney could be a rotational addition by a contender.
12. Marcus Peters, CB
2022 team: Baltimore Ravens | Age entering 2023 season: 30
Peters hasn't played a full season since 2018, but he's a true ball hawk with the coverage traits and excellent backfield vision to finish. Even though the production was down for him last year (one interception, six pass breakups), he has notched 32 interceptions and 93 pass breakups in his eight pro seasons.
13. Isaiah Wynn, OT
2022 team: New England Patriots | Age entering 2023 season: 27
Wynn started just seven games for the Patriots this past season, logging a pass rush win rate of 87.2% (outside the top 40). Despite injuries and an uneven start to his pro career -- he started only 40 games during his four years in New England -- Wynn has high-end traits. He's a good mover with upper-body power and the footwork to play inside or on the edge of the pocket.
14. Teddy Bridgewater, QB
2022 team: Miami Dolphins | Age entering 2023 season: 30
Bridgewater can be viewed as a potential bridge starter or a dependable and experienced No. 2 next season. He attempted 79 passes for the Dolphins in '22, completing 62% of his throws with four touchdown passes and four interceptions.
15. Leonard Floyd, OLB
2022 team: Los Angeles Rams | Age entering 2023 season: 31
Floyd notched nine sacks for the Rams in 2022, giving him a total of 29 over his past three seasons in Los Angeles. He's a long edge player at 6-foot-5, with the closing burst and bend to turn the corner on offensive tackles.
16. Donovan Smith, OT
2022 team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Age entering 2023 season: 30
Smith took a step back in 2022, as he posted a pass block win rate of 78.3%, which ranked 63rd among offensive tackles. He also accounted for 12 penalties. But in a shallow market at a premium position, Smith is a durable blocker who will find suitors that want him to play on the left side of the line.
17. Connor McGovern, C
2022 team: New York Jets | Age entering 2023 season: 30
I don't see high-end physical tools with McGovern, but he's a steady blocker in the middle of the offensive line who can upgrade the position for multiple teams. He posted a pass block win rate of 92.4% in 2022, 24th among centers. Despite his lower run block win rate of 64.5%, the tape tells us that McGovern can win on combos and cut off linebackers at the second level.
18. Frank Clark, DE
2022 team: Kansas City Chiefs | Age entering 2023 season: 30
Clark logged just five sacks during the regular season for the Chiefs, but the postseason numbers jumped again for the veteran edge rusher. In Kansas City's playoff run to a Super Bowl title, Clark posted 2.5 sacks and six pressures. Clark, who will turn 30 this summer, can upgrade an NFL front, even if it's in a nickel pass-rushing role.
19. Julian Love, S
2022 team: New York Giants | Age entering 2023 season: 24
What to know for the 2023 NFL draft
Love has the multidimensional traits that NFL defensive coordinators want in their secondaries. In 2022, he played 111 snaps in the slot, and he has the deep post/half ability to track the ball. The coverage traits could bump him up higher in a versatile system that deploys the safeties based on matchups in sub personnel. He posted five interceptions and 18 pass breakups over four seasons with the Giants.
20. Taylor Rapp, S
2022 team: Los Angeles Rams | Age entering 2023 season: 25
Rapp is an urgent safety with positional versatility and on-the-ball production. He should draw interest from clubs that can deploy him in multiple sub-package roles. Rapp can play in the post or split-field, or he can align as an overhang defender in dime. There's disruptive ability here. He produced nine interceptions and 24 pass breakups in his four seasons with the Rams.
21. Justin Houston, OLB
2022 team: Baltimore Ravens | Age entering 2023 season: 34
Houston's market will be impacted by his age, but the production is still there for the veteran to sign with a contending team as a rotational edge rusher. In 2022, Houston finished with 9.5 sacks (tied for 20th) and 32 pressures. He's a detailed pass-rusher who can win one-on-one.
22. Jermaine Eluemunor, OT
2022 team: Las Vegas Raiders | Age entering 2023 season: 28
In his first full season as a starter, Eluemunor logged a pass block win rate of 89.4% and a run block win rate of 69.9% at the right tackle position for the Raiders. Neither is a great number, but at 6-foot-4 and 335 pounds, he has the light feet to climb in the run game, and his movement skills allow him to mirror and match edge rushers.
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23. Melvin Ingram, OLB
2022 team: Miami Dolphins | Age entering 2023 season: 34
Ingram produced six sacks and 22 tackles in 17 games this past season. Given his age, Ingram should be targeted as a sub-package rusher who will benefit from a heavily schemed defense, one that uses multiple fronts and stunts to put him in defined one-on-ones.
24. John Johnson III, S
2022 team: Cleveland Browns | Age entering 2023 season: 27
The on-the-ball production dipped last season for Johnson in Cleveland, as he finished with one interception and four pass breakups. The veteran safety still has the range from the post and split-field alignments, though, and that will open some doors for him on the market.
25. Denzel Perryman, ILB
2022 team: Las Vegas Raiders | Age entering 2023 season: 30
In 12 games with the Raiders this past season, Perryman picked up 83 tackles and two interceptions. He's a downhill run defender with the lateral pursuit speed to cut off ball carriers.
26. Kareem Hunt, RB
2022 team: Cleveland Browns | Age entering 2023 season: 28
Hunt has the traits to carry the ball on early downs in a shared backfield approach (3.8 yards per carry), but it's the pass-catching ability that should help the veteran draw multiple suitors on the market. Last year, he caught 35 passes -- and he has logged 211 receptions in his six pro seasons.
27. A'Shawn Robinson, DT
2022 team: Los Angeles Rams | Age entering 2023 season: 28
While Robinson isn't going to generate pass-rush production (seven career sacks), he can command double-teams and create run-game disruption on the front at 6-foot-4, 330 pounds. He totaled 42 tackles in 10 games, with a run stop win rate of 39.5% last season (18th overall).
28. Ezekiel Elliott, RB
2022 team: Dallas Cowboys | Age entering 2023 season: 28
Elliott's short-area acceleration has diminished, and he lacks a second gear in the open field. But he's still a punishing runner with excellent contact balance and the pass-protection technique to pick up blitzers. Elliott should be targeted as a power back who can win in short-yardage and goal-line situations and catch the ball out of the backfield on screens and swings. In 2022, Elliott rushed 876 yards at 3.8 per carry. It was his seventh season with the Cowboys, who released him as free agency officially opened.
29. Adam Thielen, WR
2022 team: Minnesota Vikings | Age entering 2023 season: 33
In 17 games for the Vikings last season, Thielen averaged 10.2 yards per catch on 70 receptions and scored six touchdowns. Now heading into his 10th pro season, Thielen might be at his best working as a No. 3 option with slot flex alignments and could be looking at a short-term deal.
30. Damien Harris, RB
2022 team: New England Patriots | Age entering 2023 season: 26
Harris missed six games in 2022 and finished with 426 yards rushing and 17 receptions. A veteran back who can handle run-game volume, he has upside as a receiver if he is deployed consistently out of the backfield. And he can win in pass protection, too.
31. Poona Ford, DT
2022 team: Seattle Seahawks | Age entering 2023 season: 27
Ford's tape against the run game slipped in 2022. But NFL teams can look back to the 2021 season, when Ford registered a run stop win rate of 34.7% (tied for 37th among defensive linemen). He is quick off the ball, with short-area speed and lower-body control. Ford can also provide some interior disruption in passing situations, posting three sacks last season.
32. Austin Hooper, TE
2022 team: Tennessee Titans | Age entering 2023 season: 28
Hooper finished the 2022 season with 41 receptions and two scores. He's a chain mover in the pass game and a tight end who can work the second and underneath levels to make himself available to the quarterback from attached or flexed alignments.
33. Devin Singletary, RB
2022 team: Buffalo Bills | Age entering 2023 season: 26
Singletary put up 1,099 total yards in Buffalo this past season on 215 offensive touches. With his sudden running style and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, Singletary should draw interest from teams looking to add some juice to the running back room.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/ins...-sign-new-deal
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this offseason is weird. So many of the guys above still available, yet everyday I see guys I've never heard of getting signed around the league.You'd think the league was in a recession or something.
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