The Top 11 Seasoned NFL Players to Watch in 2024

Discover the top 11 seasoned NFL players to watch in 2024. From Tyreek Hill to DeForest Buckner, explore the veterans who are set to dominate the field this season.

Top 11 Seasoned NFL Players to Watch in 2024

Ali Bhanpuri, Tom Blair, Gennaro Filice, and Dan Parr were tasked with answering that question. Without consulting one another, they first put together their own ranks, then combined the rankings of all four people to generate an overall starting point.

The real fun started at that point. Disagreements erupted about portfolios, professional paths, and positional significance; fervent appeals were made to prioritize the visual assessment over numerical data, and vice versa; specific athletes advanced across the board as breakthroughs occurred.
 
The dispute ended eventually, once the effects of the coffee wore off. The ranks you see below are all that’s left, coupled with a list of honorable mentions who almost missed the cut.

Although nobody is pleased that Nickelback Mike Hilton did not make it to the main stage, difficult choices lead to hurt sentiments.

Not many people have ruled like Hill, regardless of age. Despite missing a game last year due to an ankle injury, the lightning-fast wideout has accomplished the feat in both of his campaigns since joining the Dolphins (1,710 in 2022 and 1,799 in 2023). He is the only player in NFL history to record 1,700+ receiving yards in multiple seasons. Hill presents an unmatchable challenge to the opponent, whether he’s flying down the field on deep throws or making defenders miss with his speed and wiggle after the catch on shorter routes.

Observe how the Miami offense changes when he isn’t playing. According to Next Gen Stats, Tua Tagovailoa had a 23.7 percent QB pressure rate with a 4.3 percent sack rate in 2023 while Hill was on the field and a 30.9 percent QB pressure rate with a 6.5 percent sack rate when he wasn’t. I’m not sure if Hill will play long enough to be considered the greatest of all time or if aging will eventually sap his explosiveness, but one thing is certain: there is only one Cheetah.

Williams is the oldest non-quarterback player on the list and the third-oldest player overall, but there’s no denying he belongs here, ranking above some elite players who are only recently out of their 20s. In addition to setting the path for Christian McCaffrey and keeping Brock Purdy clean, he is undeniably one of the top players in the game, and there is a strong case to be made for him to be named #1 because he embodies probably the archetypal 30-and-over star. 

Recall where Williams was on July 19, 2018, the day he turned 30. Prior to his ultimately last season as a Washington player, Williams was ranked 57th on the list of the Top 100 Players of 2018. Since then, he’s made three first-team All-Pro selections, made his Super Bowl debut, overcome a cancer diagnosis, and joined the 49ers, a team that is always in the running.

Not only that, but he was just one tackle shy of breaking the tackle record for the 11th time. After achieving the big 3-0, he essentially accomplished the accomplishments of a full lifetime, and his fame (as well as his Top 100 ranking) skyrocketed. He might be the featured guy on the Top Couple of Guys Over 40 very soon. 

Regardless of age, Jones is perhaps the best interior defensive lineman in sports. The two-time first-team All-Pro and three-time Super Bowl champion is without a doubt the cornerstone of the Chiefs defense, having led (or co-led) the group in sacks each of the past six seasons. Few people on earth are as swift and large as Jones, a vicious combination that has embarrassed adult men on national television for years.

Being as quick off the ball as Aidan Hutchinson, who is 40 pounds lighter than you (both averaged.81 seconds per get-off in 2023, per NGS), at 6 feet 6 inches and 310 pounds, seems completely unjust. In large part because he consistently seems to provide his finest performance on the grandest platform, Jones commands a hefty penny. Even though Patrick Mahomes has been exceptional, the terms “Kansas City” and “dynasty” are not currently used in the same phrase when No. 95 is on the other team.

It’s easy to forget that the Cowboys’ quarterback ended the season ranked among the top in the league in most standard and advanced throwing metrics, given how disastrously Dallas’ season ended (which was hardly entirely Dak’s fault). Dak was actually a front-runner for MVP late in the season, having easily secured his fourth season with ten or more victories. Since joining the league in 2016, he has won seventy-three games overall, third only to Tom Brady (79) and Patrick Mahomes (74).

Despite this, the three-time Pro Bowler is in the last year of his deal and might perhaps be able to sign free agency. If Dallas is unable to come up with the huge money by March 12, 2025, I am confident that at least half of the league—including a few clubs that recently acquired bright new possibilities under center—would not hesitate to give Prescott $50 million or more a year. 

This is the quarterback that your favorite quarterback loves to play. Ask C.J. Stroud, please. With a football that most quarterbacks would never even contemplate, Stafford can do wonders with it thanks to his amazing arm skill and endless arm angles. When you consider Stafford’s well-established toughness and daring play style, it’s understandable why quarterbacking peers constantly like him. The previous first overall pick, though, hasn’t always been a popular choice. Not at all. Stafford amassed throwing yards in Lions defeats on a regular basis for more than a decade in Detroit, earning him the mocking moniker “Stat Padford.”

However, the crows had to taste humble pie when a trade to the Rams resulted in an instant Lombardi Trophy. Due to injuries, Stafford’s second season in Los Angeles was shortened. However, the quarterback recovered spectacularly in 2023, leading the Rams back to the postseason and playing some of his greatest football to date after Thanksgiving. What can we anticipate from his 36th season? that a top-five attack will be led by the extraordinary talent of the passer.

Adams is a master of the route, and his basketball-inspired releases terrify cornerbacks and titillate tape munchers. But his ability to create separation has always been what defines him. We have to ask ourselves, though, if the 31-year-old is declining because he just missed the Pro Bowl for the first time since 2016.

The fact that the individual managed to log a 2023 slash line of 103/1,144/8 indicates that he did not fall off a cliff. However, what about his distinguishing quality as a superior separator? On that aspect, Next Gen Stats offer some insightful information. Adams’ separation at the arrival of the ball was by far the lowest on record for the ’23 season (NGS data goes back to 2016), while his separation following the release of the pass stayed consistent with his career average.

To put it another way, Davante was still opening up, but the ball wasn’t going to where it needed to go. Considering his quarterback predicament, that makes sense. Adams spent the previous season receiving passes from Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer, and youngster Aidan O’Connell. This was after he had been frying the league for years with four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers and then recording some of the finest stats of his career in 2022 with four-time Pro Bowler Derek Carr.

The three-time first-team All-Pro’s journey wasn’t always fun, as the glaringly detailed Receiver series on Netflix shows. For the 2024 Raiders, quarterback is still a question mark, so filmmakers would do well to keep their eyes on No. 17. However, I continue to have faith in his exceptional capacity to integrate corners.

In NFL slang, the term “dual threat” is typically applied to extremely athletic quarterbacks, but Kittle might also qualify for the designation. Do you need a tight end with ball-catching ability? After Travis Kelce (6,465) and Jimmy Graham (6,280), Kittle has 6,274 career receiving yards, which is third-most by a tight end in his first seven seasons in the NFL. Do you require a tight end with block-making ability? According to PFF, Kittle was the best player at the position last season in clearing defenders in the run game.

Although the TEU alum was muted in Super Bowl LVIII, there are still plenty of memorable moments from the big stage. He pancaked one of the top defensive players in the league in the NFC Championship Game of the previous postseason, and he made an incredible grab against the Cowboys in the Divisional Round of the 2022 season. Even though Kittle is now unmatched in all areas of the game, Kelce may end up being the greatest tight end of all time.

Four springs in a row, Philadelphia selected Johnson, Fletcher Cox, Jason Kelce, and Brandon Graham. Over several coaching regimes, these “core four” linemen came to define Eagles football. However, Johnson is the final player starting because Graham has been playing on a rotating basis recently and Kelce and Cox are retiring in March. And he’s not just getting started; after being named an All-Pro for three straight seasons, he’s thriving.

Johnson has suffered a number of ailments over his career, but generally speaking, if he can walk, he can play, and when he does, he dominates. According to PFF, in the last six seasons (including postseason games), the right tackle has only allowed five sacks overall. Johnson, who is also an athletic mauler in the run game, has contributed to Philly’s top-10 ground attack each of the previous four seasons.

Most likely, Tunsil’s three-year agreement isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you consider the pivotal moments that led the Texans from worst to first place. However, the decision to make this dancing bear the highest-paid tackle in NFL history during the offseason by Houston’s brass came just weeks before the team selected franchise cornerstones C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. with the second and third overall picks, respectively, in the 2023 draft. A shaky Houston offensive line was stabilized by the four-time Pro Bowler’s dependability, leadership, and consistency last season, which set the stage for Stroud to light up the league as a rookie.

Despite missing three games early in the season due to a knee ailment (which he has since had surgery to treat), Tunsil was unstoppable in the stretch run, receiving PFF’s highest pass-blocking grade among tackles in the last six weeks of the season. While Tunsil may not be as dominant in the run game as players like Trent Williams or Lane Johnson, his ability to keep Stroud clean more than makes up for his shortcomings in other areas.

If Kelce weren’t so old, I would be more worried about his declining statistical performance in 2023, as he missed 1,000 receiving yards for the first time since 2015 and had his career-low per-catch average (10.6) go below 12 for the first time. I’m not totally ignoring the knee and ankle issues he had to deal with the previous season; any player who is farther into his 30s should certainly be monitored for health issues. Simply put, I believe Kelce is at a place in his career where his ability to influence the offense in big individual games and moments counts more than his output. 

A poor season from a largely inexperienced 20-something could point to major long-term problems underneath the surface, but Kelce unquestionably knows how to triumph when it matters most. Even though he will likely become less quick and explosive as he ages, he currently possesses the knowledge and expertise to defeat his opponent, particularly when he collaborates with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. There aren’t many combinations I would trust more than that trio if I had to make a play via the air, which is why Kelce is ranked in my top ten.

The 49ers general manager John Lynch commented on the trade of Buckner to Indianapolis for the No. 13 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, saying it was “probably the toughest thing I’ve done since I’ve been a general manager here.” One that, when you move on from a player that personifies everything you want to be about, I don’t think you can truly prepare yourself for. Chris Ballard, a towering game wrecker who made the Pro Bowl in two of the last three seasons and was named to the first team of the Colts, has been a consistent source of inside pressure in Indianapolis. Lynch has suffered because of him.

Javon Kinlaw, the defensive tackle San Francisco selected with their 2020 first-round pick, had four injury-plagued, ineffective seasons with the 49ers before agreeing to a one-year contract with the Jets this offseason.

All images and reference used in our articles are sourced from NFL.com. We acknowledge and thank NFL.com for providing these images.