Currently I’ve been unveiling the NFL’s All Decade Teams using Z-score to determine the best individual seasons. We have the decade of the 2000s (coming this week) and from 2010 to the present left to unveil, and we’ll do that at the end of this season.

Check out these articles for all you need to know about Z-Score. The short version is that a score is assigned to each qualifying player on a scale of -4.0 to +4.0, where 0.0 is average.

Anything over 1.96 is considered in the top 5% or “elite” by some definitions. Scoring above 1.96 means you should at least be in consideration for the league’s MVP.

Discuss your thoughts on this topic on our message board.

Here is a look at the elite players, MVP candidates if you will with 10 weeks in the books. There were eight of them when we did this following week 4. They were DeMarco Murray, Steve Smith, Andrew Luck, Julio Jones, Jordy Nelson, Peyton Manning, Marshawn Lynch and Antonio Brown. Four of them didn’t make the cut this time around. The field narrowed slightly down to seven. Two QBs, two RBs, and three WRs.

NFL’s elite through 10 weeks

Jordy Nelson – sRBZ: 2.026 – Six weeks ago, Nelson was the league leader in catches and yards. He’s fallen off just a tad as Randall Cobb emerges in the Green Bay offense. Nelson is tied for 6th with 56 catches, and ranks 3rd at 104.1 yards per game. He has eight TDs through nine games as well.

Demaryius Thomas – sRBZ: 2.238 – With so many weapons on the Denver offense, it’s a little surprising that one guy puts up such big numbers and it’s not more spread out. Thomas ranks 3rd in catches with 65, he just cracked 1,000 yards and leads the league with 111.3 per game, and has found the endzone six times.

Peyton Manning – sRBZ: 2.250 – Manning is on pace for yet another 5,000+ yard, 50+ TD season. He sports a 67.7% CMP, 8.2 Y/A for 2,912 passing yards, a league best 29 TDs and just 9 turnovers. Second best TD/turnover ratio in the league.

Marshawn Lynch – sRBZ: 2.252 – Lynch isn’t putting up huge yardage numbers as he amassed 103.9 Y/G up to this point. That is good for 5th. But he has a nose for the endzone with a league best 12 TDs, and has protected the football well with just one fumble on the year.

Antonio Brown – sRBZ: 2.314 – Brown was the lead dog after week four as our highest rated player by the sRBZ metric. He slips down to third here but by no fault of his own. He is still the highest rated WR as he leads his peers in targets (112) catches (79) yards (1,070), and has eight TDs as well.

Aaron Rodgers – sRBZ: 2.489 – Aaron Rodgers is one of three new faces on the list this time around, and deservedly so. His recent 6 TD performance pushes his numbers that much higher. He posts a 67.5% CMP, a league best 8.7 Y/A with 2,407 yards. He also ranks third with 26 TDs and has only turned the ball over seven times for the best TD/turnover ratio in the game.

By .011 points, Aaron Rodgers misses out on our top spot in lieu of this guy…who no one wanted to draft in their fantasy leagues in August…

Arian Foster – sRBZ: 2.500 – Foster silenced the critics citing wear and tear and lingering injuries that were supposed to hamper him this year. He ranks third in yards per touch at 5.6. He averages the second most yards per game at 131.4 and is one of four backs with over 1,000 scrimmage yards. He ranks second behind Lynch in TDs with 10 of them and just 2 fumbles thus far.

The following is a list of positional rankings through 10 weeks, noted with +/- for their change in the rankings since week 4. (UR – Unranked after week 4, N – No change). A good way to see who’s production is rising and falling.

Quarterbacks

QBZ 10

Running Backs

RBZ 10

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

WR-TE Z 10

Mike Randall
Mike Randall

Ravens Analyst

Mike was born on the Eastern Shore, raised in Finksburg, and currently resides in Parkville. In 2009, Mike graduated from the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland. Mike became a Baltimore City Fire Fighter in late 2010. Mike has appeared as a guest on Q1370, and FOX45. Now a Sr. Ravens Analyst for BSL, he can be reached at [email protected].

X