NFL Top 100’s Biggest Snub: Why Trey McBride at No. 13 Proves Tight Ends Are Still System Players, Not Superstars

PHOENIX — Trey McBride is No. 13 on the NFL Top 100. The All-Pro tight end posted 112 receptions, 1,387 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2025. He set a Cardinals franchise record for receiving yards by a tight end. He earned First-Team All-Pro honors, the first by an Arizona tight end since 1984. The list dropped Thursday. He didn’t crack the top 10. That’s the story.

The ranking stings. Not because 13 is a bad number, but because the voters got it objectively wrong. McBride led all tight ends in yards per route run (2.61) and contested catch rate (68%) per Next Gen Stats. He did this on a Cardinals team that ranked 24th in pass attempts. He wasn’t fed by a system. He was the system.

Three wide receivers with worse numbers landed ahead of him. The No. 7-ranked receiver posted 1,180 yards and 7 touchdowns last season. Inferior output. Six spots higher on the list. The math doesn’t work.

McBride joins safety Budda Baker (No. 75) and linebacker Josh Sweat (No. 78) as Arizona’s only representatives. Los Angeles Rams safety Quentin Lake called McBride “one of the bigger (expletive) talkers” in the league. That’s respect. The kind that comes from facing a matchup nightmare every down.

Here’s the historical pattern. Travis Kelce landed at No. 15 in 2024. George Kittle finished No. 18 in 2023. No tight end has cracked the top 10 since Rob Gronkowski in 2017. That’s nearly a decade of elite tight ends being pushed down the board. The position carries a tax. Voters see tight ends as extensions of the offensive line, not game-wreckers.

The gap between McBride at No. 13 and the No. 14-ranked safety was closer than the gap between him and the No. 12-ranked quarterback. That’s a statistical anomaly. It reveals a voter psychology that rewards flash over consistency. Deep balls. Highlight catches. SportsCenter moments. Not 68% contested catch rates from the slot or inline.

Arizona’s 8-win season hurt him. Voters reward team success even when individual dominance is obvious. Budda Baker said it plainly: “Trey’s the best TE in football, period. The guys in that locker room know it.” His peers know it. They still ranked him 13th.

The ranking becomes fuel. McBride enters 2026 on the final year of his rookie deal. A top-5 finish in 2027’s list would guarantee a record-breaking extension north of $20 million AAV. There’s precedent. Kittle used his No. 18 snub in 2023 to post a career year and force a restructured contract in San Francisco.

The Cardinals are expected to add a deep-threat receiver in the draft. That should open the middle of the field further. McBride’s target share stays high. His efficiency should rise. The analytics project a monster season.

The NFL Top 100 isn’t about talent. It’s about narrative. Players vote, but the list is shaped by ESPN highlights and fantasy football storylines. Blockers and route-runners don’t make the SportsCenter Top 10. That’s the reality.

Here’s the bottom line. If McBride repeats his 2025 numbers in 2026, he’ll be a top-5 lock. That’s not a prediction. That’s media inertia catching up to on-field merit. The list will adjust a year late, as it always does.

The snub is clear. The data is clear. The list is wrong. For Cardinals fans, take the disrespect personally. Let it fuel the season. And when McBride hoists the Lombardi in February, remind everyone who was No. 13 on their precious list.

Extended Reading

Cardinals Wire reported the rankings Thursday. McBride joined Baker and Sweat as Arizona’s only top-100 selections. The full list is available on the official NFL platform.