'The Old Man' Larry Fitzgerald still in NFL Top 100, comes in at No. 68

Talk all you want about whether or not Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald is still one of the NFL's best players, the players think he still is. Although he continues to move down the list, he is still on the NFL Top 100 players, coming in this year at No. 68.

When NFL Network began this in 2011, he was 14th. In 2012, he moved up to seventh. He began his fall in 2013, ranking 22nd by his peers. In 2014, he dropped to 38th.

His drop to 68th is steep, but despite the numbers, he gets an insane amount of respect from players.

Damian Williams of the Rams, Emmanuel Acho of the Eagles, Perrish Cox of the Titans (formerly of the 49ers) and Ike Taylor (recently retired from the Steelers) all spoke highly of him.

Williams recalled a play when the Rams were in Arizona and ultimately lost the game.

"It was like third-and-16 and basically, if we got the stop, we were going to get a punt and we were probably going to go down and score," Williams explained. "We had all the momentum.

"I remember it was a simple in-route. We were thinking on the offensive side we know Larry was going to get the ball. Somehow we had people there and somehow he came down with it.

"He's one of those guys. He's a warrior and he gets excited. He got up and spun the ball and pumped the crown up. It was a big momentum killer for us and they had a lot of steam going."

Acho spoke of how good Larry's hands are and how all you have to do is get the ball in his radius, but also cited his 80-yard touchdown play against the Eagles when he outran all the defensive backs to score. Perrish Cox remembers a play against the 49ers when he caught the ball and took a hit from Patrick Willis, but just bounced right off him and then, after the play was over, doing what Willis does before games. (In fairness, Fitz makes same gesture often after big catches.)

Williams also says, "Every play it's like 'stop him, don't let him catch the ball," and somehow he does."

The narrator referred to him as "The Old Man," but noted his achievement in 2014 to be the second-youngest in league history to reach 10,000 career yards. It was noted his numbers were down, but the the three different QBs throwing the ball to him was emphasized.

Former Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor also spoke very highly of Fitz.

"You gotta watch out for Larry because he can have his breakout day," Taylor explained. "Heck with his speed, he never really had that speed. You want to talk about ball skills and body control? That's Larry."

In a league where production is everything, it is amazing to see the respect he gets from his peers. Fitz truly is something special. If the players in the NFL think Fitz is still one of the 100 best players in the game, who are we to argue?