Rich’s Power Rankings: The NFL’s Top Ten Game Wreckers

Most valuable player is a subjective award. Game wrecker is something else. Rich's definition is specific: the game goes one direction, then this guy is on the field for a snap or two or three, and it goes the other way permanently.

Here are the ten, brought to you by SoFi.

10. T.J. Watt. Rich started with two players who did not have great 2025 seasons and still belong here, and Watt is the first. He is the king of the moment when the Steelers are losing momentum and cannot score, and then here he comes around the edge. Sack, forced fumble, maybe the recovery, maybe six. Rich expects him to play this year with a shoulder chip.

9. Saquon Barkley. A 2,000-yard campaign and an offensive player of the year award, followed by a season where he barely cracked a thousand. "I can't quit him," Rich said, and pointed anyone who doubts it toward a Rams fan. Barkley did it in Los Angeles and did it again in the Philadelphia snow.

8. Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The reigning offensive player of the year did not finish strong and did not have a big Super Bowl, which is worth watching during the title defense. Rich briefly considered putting the entire Seahawks defense in this spot instead, with DeMarcus Lawrence as the individual pick, before tipping the cap to the champs on the other side of the ball.

7. Maxx Crosby. Rich gave him an All-Pro vote. The Condor could have been a Raven, which is why Baltimore offered two first-round picks, and Rich would love to see him wreck games in Las Vegas again.

6. Will Anderson Jr. Somebody from the Texans defense had to be here. Rich called his shot and said Anderson ends a game coming around the edge at least twice this year. There is a reason Houston pays him $50 million a year.

5. Bijan Robinson, plus a running mate. This was the admitted fence sit. Rich could not choose between two backs and refused to leave either out, so both go here.

4. Puka Nacua. End around, 50-50 ball, crossing route, gone. Rich pointed to overtime in Seattle last year, the game Seahawks fans still use to poke Rams fans, and noted that Nacua scored first before Seattle marched down and Mike Macdonald went for two.

3. Ja'Marr Chase. Whether it is Joe Burrow finding him when healthy, or Jake Browning, or Joe Flacco, the question is always the same. Is anybody aware Chase is on the field? Why is he open? Why is he getting free releases? Then he is gone for 80.

2. Josh Allen. Rich once called him the Mandalorian quarterback. Impenetrable, helmet always on, a code of honor and a different weapon for every situation. Behind him is the guy who led the league in rushing, and the two of them matched at 14 rushing touchdowns apiece last season, 28 on the ground between them.

1. Myles Garrett. End of story. Garrett being in Los Angeles is why everyone is picking the Rams to win the Super Bowl, and why Rich keeps getting accused of becoming a Rams fan. He offered one more thought to make Niners and Seahawks fans miserable: if Aaron Donald ever comes back, that front becomes something the language does not have a name for.

The obvious omission was the secondary. Rich left off Derwin James, Kyle Hamilton, Christian Gonzalez and Patrick Surtain, conceding that it is genuinely hard for a defensive back to wreck a game, and that Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu would have made this list because Polamalu wrecked games from places he was not supposed to be.