​The third week of the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026 countdown concluded on Friday, with the reveal focused on players ranked 80 through 71. Among the eight or so players announced this week, two Arizona Cardinals members and two players who were scheduled to oppose the Cardinals in 2026 appeared in the top ten reveal. The week’s lineup included Zay Flowers of the Baltimore Ravens at No. 71, and the slate of ten revealed players featured a mix of Cardinals connections, past matchups, and future opponents for the 2026 season.
During this stretch of the countdown, eight of the ten players announced were connected to the Cardinals in some way: several were current Cardinals, such as Sweat and Baker; others had faced the Cardinals in the 2025 season, including Mayfield, Horn, Jacobs, and Love; and a couple were foes the Cardinals are set to encounter in 2026, such as Kelce and Allen. It’s worth noting that Allen is a former Cardinals player. The format calls for ten players to be revealed each week through August 24, after which the release pace shifts to five players per week until the No. 1 overall player is unveiled.
The full list for No. 80 includes Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown. This week’s presentation and the broader countdown are part of Cards Wire’s ongoing coverage of the NFL Top 100, with additional context and analysis provided by Cards Wire’s team, including Jess Root and other contributors. To stay updated, readers can follow the Rise Up, See Red podcast, which features discussions on Cardinals-related developments and broader NFL topics. The podcast is available on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Cards Wire and highlights eight Arizona Cardinals connections to players ranked 80-71, aiming to enhance search visibility while offering a detailed recap of the week’s reveals and the broader structure of the NFL Top 100 countdown. The emphasis is on how the Cardinals intersect with the revealed players, whether through current affiliation, past matchups, or future schedule implications for 2026.