2025 NFL Position Rankings: Top 50 Wide Receivers

 ()=Previous Ranking

+=Unranked or ineligible in 2024

50.(38) Tank Dell (Texans)

49.(29) Tyler Lockett (Titans)

48.(30) Christian Kirk (Texans)

47.(+) Alec Pierce (Colts)

46.(35) Rashee Rice (Chiefs)

45.(39) Adam Thielen (Panthers)

44.(45) Jayden Reed (Packers)

43.(+) Darnell Mooney (Falcons)

42.(48) Josh Downs (Colts)

41.(46) Jordan Addison (Vikings)

40.(+) Marvin Harrison Jr. (Cardinals)

39.(23) Deebo Samuel (Commanders)

38.(33) Calvin Ridley (Titans)

37.(+) Jauan Jennings (49ers)

36.(21) DeAndre Hopkins (Ravens)

35.(+) Jameson Williams (Lions)

34.(49) Khalil Shakir (Bills)

33.(43) Jerry Jeudy (Browns)

32.(+) Ladd McConkey (Chargers)

31.(40) Jakobi Meyers (Raiders)

30.(17) Michael Pittman Jr. (Colts)

29.(28) George Pickens (Cowboys)

28.(34) Courtland Sutton (Broncos)

27.(14) Stefon Diggs (Patriots)

26.(16) Cooper Kupp (Seahawks)

25.(22) Chris Godwin (Buccaneers)

24.(8) Brandon Aiyuk (49ers)

23.(15) Chris Olave (Saints)

22.(+) Jaxson Smith-Njigba (Seahawks)

21.(9) Jaylen Waddle (Dolphins)

20.(25) DeVonta Smith (Eagles)

19.(37) Zay Flowers (Ravens)

18.(+) Brian Thomas Jr. (Jaguars)

17.(7) Davante Adams (Rams)

16.(20) D.K. Metcalf (Steelers)

15.(10) D.J. Moore (Bears)

14.(+) Malik Nabers (Giants)

13.(18) Garrett Wilson (Jets)

12.(26) Tee Higgins (Bengals)

11.(12) Mike Evans (Buccaneers)

10.(27) Terry McLaurin (Commanders)

9.(19) Nico Collins (Texans)

8.(31) Drake London (Falcons)

7.(2) Tyreek Hill (Dolphins)

6.(11) Puka Nacua (Rams)

5.(4) A.J. Brown (Eagles)

4.(6) Amon-Ra St. Brown (Lions)

3.(3) CeeDee Lamb (Cowboys)

2.(5) Ja'Marr Chase (Bengals)

1.(1) Justin Jefferson (Vikings)

Final Destination Ranked

On this week's special edition of "Ranked", I'm ranking the Final Destination franchise from worst to best ahead of the release of "Final Destination: Bloodlines" in theaters tomorrow.  

5.The Final Destination (2009):

While I do agree with the consensus that The Final Destination is the weakest entry in the series by a wide margin, I also think it gets far more shit than it deserves. There's a certain charm to how heavily it commits to the cheap, schlocky 3D bit (this was the first entry of the series to be released in 3D) and a few of the deaths are among the most absurd/sadistic (flying tire decapitation, a rock launched by a lawnmower from a cartoonishly long distance away going through somebody's eye as they walk out of a salon, a pool drain sucking someone's intestines out through their butthole) of the entire franchise.  

Grade: C+

4.Final Destination (2000):

It needs to be noted that the next three entries on this list are basically interchangeable. What landed the original film at the bottom of this closely contested hierarchy is very simple: the deaths just aren't as memorable as the pair of sequels that beat it out. Other than the comparatively tamer/less creative accident sequences, there's a lot of fun to be had watching this franchise birth its clever "Death comes to collect the souls that evaded its grasp" concept and an all-star lineup of familiar faces from late 90's/early 2000's pop culture (Devon Sawa, Kerr Smith, Seann William Scott, Ali Larter) get picked off one by one.   

Grade: B

3.Final Destination 5 (2011):

5 is definitely the most underrated entry of the series in my book. The introduction of the "kill somebody and get their remaining life" rule in the second half of the film is a gloriously demented wrinkle that brings the dark comedy elements that have always been a part of this series' DNA closer to the forefront, the characters that get the chance to stick around for long enough to get some backstory are actually pretty well-defined by franchise standards and the twist ending leads to an all-timer of a death/end credits transition that very well could be the hardest I've ever laughed at a Final Destination movie. Bonus points for also backing up my longstanding fears of LASIK eye surgery and gymnastics routines going horribly wrong.  

Grade: B

2.Final Destination 2 (2003):

How there was a time in my life not too long ago that I thought this was the weakest entry outside of The Final Destination is a real head-scratcher. The efforts to up the absurdity pay dividends here as the accident sequences are way more unpredictable/entertaining than they were in the first one, the opening disaster scene with the logging truck is the chaotic, grisly peak of the entire franchise that will almost certainly never be topped and save for the aforementioned classic walk-off of Final Destination 5, it features the most insane/hilarious ending of the bunch.   

Grade: B

1.Final Destination 3 (2006):

Original director James Wong returned to the fold hungry to up the stakes and lean into the more ridiculous tone that David R. Ellis established with Final Destination 2. He didn't just succeed in his mission; he crushed it to the point where he made the best damn entry in the series that he helped create. Wong creates an ever-present feeling of impending doom that provides the film with a playfully sinister atmosphere that adds a nice layer of dread to the otherwise goofy proceedings, Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Wendy is easily the most dramatically compelling protagonist the series has ever had and the pseudo-detective angle to the plot is a fun, unique way to approach these characters scrambling to find a way to cancel the plans Death has for them.  

Grade: B+

2025 NFL Position Rankings: Top 50 Running Backs

=Previous Ranking

+=Unranked or ineligible in 2024

50.(+) Ty Johnson (Bills)

49.(+) Braelon Allen (Jets)

48.(28) Devin Singletary (Giants)

47.(41) Javonte Williams (Cowboys)

46.(+) Cam Akers (Free Agent)

45.(44) Jaleel McLaughlin (Broncos)

44.(+) Ray Davis (Bills)

43.(+) Tyrone Tracy Jr. (Giants)

42.(4) Nick Chubb (Free Agent)

41.(33) Austin Ekeler (Commanders)

40.(31) Jaylen Warren (Steelers)

39.(47) Antonio Gibson (Patriots)

38.(42) Justice Hill (Ravens)

37.(23) D'Andre Swift (Bears)

36.(16) Travis Etienne (Jaguars)

35.(+) Tank Bigsby (Jaguars)

34.(35) Jerome Ford (Browns)

33.(+) Emmanuel Wilson (Packers)

32.(+) J.K. Dobbins (Free Agent)

31.(18) Najee Harris (Chargers)

30.(49) Zach Charbonnet (Seahawks)

29.(+) Jordan Mason (Vikings)

28.(36) Tyler Allgeier (Falcons)

27.(+) Rico Dowdle (Panthers)

26.(43) Kareem Hunt (Chiefs)

25.(25) Rhamondre Stevenson (Patriots)

24.(17) Breece Hall (Jets)

23.(32) Rachaad White (Buccaneers)

22.(22) Brian Robinson Jr. (Commanders)

21.(15) Isiah Pacheco (Chiefs)

20.(8) Kenneth Walker III (Seahawks)

19.(24) Alvin Kamara (Saints)

18.(+) Chase Brown (Bengals)

17.(12) Tony Pollard (Titans)

16.(+) Bucky Irving (Buccaneers)

15.(20) De'Von Achane (Dolphins)

14.(6) Aaron Jones (Vikings)

13.(19) Joe Mixon (Texans)

12.(30) Chuba Hubbard (Panthers)

11.(11) Jonathan Taylor (Colts)

10.(7) Kyren Williams (Rams)

9.(9) David Montgomery (Lions)

8.(5) James Conner (Cardinals)

7.(14) James Cook (Bills)

6.(21) Jahmyr Gibbs (Lions)

5.(13) Josh Jacobs (Packers)

4.(27) Bijan Robinson (Falcons)

3.(1) Christian McCaffery (49ers)

2.(2) Derrick Henry (Ravens)

1.(3) Saquon Barkley (Eagles)

Movie Review: Fight or Flight

 

C-grade action flicks are a timeless staple of the film industry. In today's landscape, often times what happens is that some producers will enlist a mercenary director (Simon West, Renny Harlin, Jesse V. Johnson) and fading familiar Hollywood face (Aaron Eckhart, Thomas Jane, Stephen Dorff) to make something with a premise that can be explained in one sentence ("Ex-Green Beret must stop terrorist plot". "Hitman gets double crossed by his employers and must fight for survival", etc.) that can make a quick buck or two on the VOD/international sales market before swiftly reinvesting the profits and starting the cycle all over again. Fight or Flight shows that there's a different path forward for this ultraspecific subgenre. 

First time director James Madigan-whose been a VFX supervisor and second unit director for 20+ years-and star Josh Hartnett-who adds another notch to the zany character actor belt he's been carrying around since Guy Ritchie brought him back to Hollywood's big leagues in 2021's Wrath of Man with a hoot of a performance as a disgraced Secret Service Agent who has his extended exile in Thailand interrupted when his former flame (Katee Sackhoff) enlists him to track down an elusive cyber terrorist known only as "Ghost" on board a flight from Bangkok to San Francisco that just so happens to also have dozens of assassins from all over the world on board looking to kill "Ghost" before the plane lands-overcomes the burden of making a dumb, microbudget action flick designed to be half watched on a Roku through sheer gonzo energy. The fights being confined to a plane in mid-flight turns them into frantic, cartoonish mad dashes with choreography that is unrefined yet very creative and easy to follow, Madigan shows a pretty strong understanding of when to deploy an explicit joke and when to just let the ludicrousness of the plot speak for itself and Hartnett is having the time of his life playing around in the role of a perpetual fuckup trying to stay alive for long enough to potentially earn a chance at redemption (or at least not die on a plane doing his ex-girlfriend's dirty work). While the Bullet Train comparisons are inevitable given the "a bunch of trained killers let loose on a mode of transportation" plot, it's honestly more like a slightly less over-the-top version of something like Shoot' Em Up or Crank. Making an action movie with personality, fun fights and a real sense of madness in its DNA is a surefire way to make an impression and best of all, you can do that on any sized budget if the creative team is spirited and malleable enough. My hope is that the right people see Fight or Flight and get inspired to make action movies that use outside-the-box creative flourishes to jazz up well-worn premises. It's high time that VOD actioners stepped their shit up and Fight or Flight provides a blueprint for how that's possible without sacrificing the charm of this crucial ecosystem's shoddy production value and inherent grime.                 

Grade: B

Vince Vaughn Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Vince Vaughn-whose latest project "Nonnas" is now streaming on Netflix. 

Vince Vaughn's Filmography Ranked:

26.Be Cool (F)

25.The Dilemma (D+)

24.The Break-Up (C-)

23.Mr. & Mrs. Smith (C)

22.Queenpins (C)

21.Wake Up, Ron Burgundy (C+)

20.Unfinished Business (C+)

19.The Binge (B-)

18.The Watch (B-)

17.Delivery Man (B-)

16.The Internship (B-)

15.Swingers (B-)

14.Clay Pigeons (B-)

13.The Cell (B-)

12.Fighting with My Family (B)

11.Seberg (B)

10.The Lost World: Jurassic Park (B)

9.Old School (B)

8.Wedding Crashers (B)

7.Brawl in Cell Block 99 (B)

6.Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (B)

5.Starsky & Hutch (B+)

4.Hacksaw Ridge (B+)

3.Freaky (B+)

2.Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (B+)

1.Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (A+)

Top Dog: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

As we approach the 21st anniversary of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, it's hard for me to not continue to be in awe of this film. This is one of those touch the sun comedies that has alluded the cruel aging process that haunts the genre through the sheer force of its brilliant absurdity and the great lengths everyone involved with this project goes to play it up. When we look back on the seemingly dead creative partnership between Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, this will stand alone as the most valuable gem in a vault full of comedic jewels. 

Bottom Feeder: Be Cool (2005)

Quite a few of the members of the huge ensemble cast of Be Cool have starred in some huge pieces of shit over the years-particularly John Travolta and Uma Thurman who have been largely relegated to the VOD circuit in recent years, but I'd argue that none of these efforts are as agonizingly awful as Be Cool. The ill-conceived loose sequel to the 1995 cult hit Get Shorty is the ultrarare comedy full of jokes that are so relentlessly lazy and deeply unfunny that it's hard to not feel kind of bad for everybody who attached their names to such a humiliating disgrace to the medium.        

Most Underrated: Freaky (2020)

This could just as easily go to Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, but I've written enough about that one often enough of late that I felt compelled to switch it up here. Freaky was one of those movies that just got lost in the void of the COVID lockdown (it got released in theaters in November 2020 before bowing on VOD a few weeks later) and has kind of struggled to find an audience since. What's particularly unfortunate about its fate is that it's easily one of the best slasher movies to come out in the past 10-15 years. The whole serial killer/high school girl body swap device that drives the plot works really well due to how seamlessly Vaughn and Kathryn Newton flip between both sides of this tricky character dynamic, nearly all of the kills are creative, gnarly home runs and like all of Christopher Landon's best movies, it bowls you over with its pure heart when you least expect it.     

Most Overrated: Swingers (1996)

While Swingers is a fine enough buddy comedy that's driven by the good chemistry that exists between Vaughn and Jon Favreau, its status as a comedy classic has always mystified me, particularly since it came out around the same time as way funnier, sharper movies that were part of the same subgenre (Friday, Clerks, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion).  

2025 NFL Position Rankings: Top 25 Quarterbacks

A May tradition is officially back as I'm happy to announce the beginning of the 2025 edition of my NFL Position Rankings. It's kind of like the Met Gala without the glamour, celebrities or widespread public interest. For those of you who aren't familiar with the series, I like to kill time during the NFL offseason by going through every single position in the league (outside of long snapper and kick/punt returners) and rank the best players at each spot heading into the upcoming season. It's a fun exercise to engage in every year and a fair number of people have told me that they enjoy reading it over the year, so I'll continue to do for as long as this blog exists. Here are a few notes on the series before we officially get started:

1.Rookies are excluded from inclusion.

2.Players are judged on where they currently stand in my opinion, not the player they once were or could potentially go onto be.

3.Each player is listed as a member of the team they're currently rostered by. If they're not on a roster at the time of the post, they'll be listed as a free agent.

As usual, Quarterback is kicking things off. While the top 4 remained unchanged from last year, there was a lot of shuffling and newcomers throughout the rest of the list. Hope you enjoy and I encourage you check to back over the next 8 weeks or so as I unveil the remainder of the series.    

Note: Saints QB Derek Carr is currently expected to miss the entirety of the 2025 season with a shoulder injury and has been excluded from the rankings as a result. 

()=2024 ranking

+=Unranked or ineligible in 2024

25.(17) Aaron Rodgers (Free Agent)

24.(+) Caleb Williams (Bears)

23.(+) Bryce Young (Panthers)

22.(21) Russell Wilson (Giants)

21.(22) Justin Fields (Jets)

20.(+) Drake Maye (Patriots)

19.(15) Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins)

18.(16) Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars)

17.(14) Jordan Love (Packers)

16.(19) Kyler Murray (Cardinals)

15.(+) Sam Darnold (Seahawks)

14.(18) Geno Smith (Raiders)

13.(12) Brock Purdy (49ers)

12.(11) C.J. Stroud (Texans)

11.(13) Baker Mayfield (Buccaneers) 

10.(7) Dak Prescott (Cowboys)

9.(10) Jared Goff (Lions)

8.(+) Jayden Daniels (Commanders)

7.(5) Matthew Stafford (Rams)

6.(8) Justin Herbert (Chargers)

5.(6) Jalen Hurts (Eagles)

4.(4) Joe Burrow (Bengals)

3.(3) Josh Allen (Bills)

2.(2) Lamar Jackson (Ravens)

1.(1) Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs)

Movie Review: Thunderbolts*

In kind of a cruel twist of fate for a film that's establishing a new set of characters, Thunderbolts* arguably became the most important MCU movie in ages as it was forced to serve as a crucial litmus test of whether or not Marvel Studios was going to change the way they do business after their longstanding practice of rewriting movies on the fly and openly meddling with their director's vision through a variety of channels (reshoots, execs taking control of the edit, VFX changes that go down to the wire) has really started to screw with their bottom line over the last couple of years. This film that brings together a collection of misfits with checkered pasts (Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes, David Harbour's Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell's U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen's Ghost, Olga Kurylenko's Taskmaster) to do battle with a mysterious new threat (Lewis Pullman's Bob/Sentry/The Void) was notably the first MCU project to go into production after the conclusion of the WGA/SGA strikes in the fall of 2023. Whether it was merely a coincidence or a targeted response to the MCU having just put out their biggest bomb to date in The Marvels and having Brave New World's principal photography thrown into chaos as a result of the WGA strikes beginning mid-shoot is up for debate, but the fact of the matter is that Marvel took the unprecedented step of further delaying the start of production on Thunderbolts* by a few months after the conclusions of the strikes so that another pass on the script could be completed before cameras began to roll. If how Thunderbolts* turned out is any indication, Marvel's major shift in the way they conduct their business could lead to a stabilization in quality that has long alluded superhero juggernaut at a time where they needed it most.

Let me make this clear from the jump, I feel that Marvel's practice of haphazardly assembling their films on the fly extends well beyond the post-Endgame films that have earned most of the vitriol directed towards them of late. This has been their calling card from day 1 (go and look up Jeff Bridges' comments about working on Iron Man) and the prevalence of this practice has led to a catalogue that has been consistently inconsistent. The only difference between now and then is that all of the audience goodwill they earned during The Infinity Saga (aka all of the films they released from May 2008-April 2019) has evaporated. Unless it's an untouchable character like Spider-Man or Wolverine, people are absolutely going to think twice about sitting through prospective future installments of the franchise if the current movie sucks shit. The only antidote to the bitter yet inevitable end of the MCU's consistent cash cow days is them putting more effort into their movies before they see the light of the day and that's exactly what Thunderbolts* delivers.

After the latest round of soulless, messy and/or obnoxiously nostalgic MCU affairs that have followed their most recent triumph (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3) prior to this, it was just nice to watch something made by people who clearly give a shit about the material they're working with. They care about the characters, their struggles with facing the sins of their past and start of their unlikely journey down a redemptive path. They care about building a team dynamic from the ground up and earning the viewer's faith that they can become a crucial part of this machine moving forward. They care about crafting action sequences driven by practical stuntwork and fight choreography that isn't obscured by an array of quick cuts. They care about delivering a crisp, detailed sound mix that immerses the viewer in the world. They care about visual effects (the design of The Void is the most inspired, inherently cool CG creation Marvel has put together in a minute) that actually look like they were created in more than 30 seconds by a team of overworked, underpaid artists. They care about shepherding in a new era of Marvel without making an entire movie that's solely exists to set up the next Avengers movie. All people really want out of these movies is characters and stakes that they can get invested in. It's a simple, timeless formula that execs regularly lose sight of for whatever reason and Thunderbolts* is a reminder of just how far delivering on those things can take you. Please allow your projects to be made by passionate, talented people like director Jake Schreier, writer Joanna Calo (best known as the co-showrunner of The Bear)-who handled the final draft of the script and this entire cast (Pullman going full rising movie star God mode with his powerhouse take on a really emotionally difficult character to portray is enough for him to edge out the pretty great work from his peers) Mr. Feige. The survival of your brand may very well depend on it.

Grade: B+