Atlanta Falcons superstar gets laughable ranking by NFL personnel

ESPN's annual NFL personnel position rankings releasing ahead of the 2025 season.
Atlanta Falcons v Washington Commanders
Atlanta Falcons v Washington Commanders | Scott Taetsch/GettyImages

Every year ESPN polls NFL executives, coaches, and scouts to find out the top ten players at each position.

Oftentimes, this brings more clarity to who the best players are in the NFL. But, that doesn't mean it is protected from making eggregious mistakes.

And one was made at the interior offensive line rankings, as the Atlanta Falcons' star lineman wasn't even ranked in the top five.

Chris Lindstrom blatantly disrespected in ESPN annual positional rankings

Chris Lindstrom is the best interior offensive lineman in the NFL. It is as simple as that.

That said, he won't always get the recognition he deserves because he has yet to play in a postseason game.

You can live with him being in the top three; maybe even the top five. But anything lower than that is laughable.

And the people you would trust the most say there are six interior linemen better than Chris Lindstrom. Here is how the position was ranked:

  1. Creed Humphrey - Chiefs
  2. Tyler Smith - Cowboys
  3. Quenton Nelson - Colts
  4. Trey Smith - Chiefs
  5. Landon Dickerson - Eagles
  6. Joe Thuney - Bears
  7. Chris Lindstrom - Falcons
  8. Quinn Meinerz - Broncos
  9. Elgton Jenkins - Packers
  10. Tyler Linderbaum - Ravens

There is a clear pattern here: Humphrey, Smith, Dickerson, and Thuney played in the Super Bowl, and Tyler Smith plays for the Cowboys—it is all about popularity.

Quenton Nelson is the lone player who beat the odds.

This shows that there is still bias inside the NFL, and you can never trust anyone to put these rankings together.

The Falcons wouldn't trade Lindstrom for anyone; he has been the best and most consistent guard over the past handful of years.

Nevertheless, Lindstrom can find the respect he deserves if the Falcons make a run this year. The issue is, he can only do so much; it will be up to those around him to perform.

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