ESPN's NFLRank project annually proclaims the best 100 players for the upcoming season.
Upon closer inspection, the project also reveals much more about the profile, demographics and background of league's elite talent. Let's take a look through the lens of their universities, ages and other factors.
Frequency by college conference
If you watch college football or follow the NFL draft, you won't be shocked to know that the SEC provided 25 percent of this list. The Big Ten wasn't far behind.
Alabama leads all schools with five players on this list: Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones; New York Giants safety Landon Collins; New England Patriots linebacker Dont'a Hightower; Oakland Raiders receiver Amari Cooper; and Baltimore Ravens linebacker C.J. Mosley. Two other SEC teams -- LSU and Georgia -- accounted for four players apiece.
Players who transferred during their college careers were assigned to the last school they attended. That's why Wisconsin is credited with Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who spent all but one of his NCAA seasons at NC State. As a result, the Badgers joined Ohio State as the two Big Ten schools to put four players on this list. Meanwhile, USC was the only Pac-12 institution to deliver at least four players.
Frequency by NFL team
By this accounting, the teams with the highest number of elite players are the Patriots, Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys. Each has seven players on this list. Two of the Cowboys' representatives -- quarterback Dak Prescott and tailback Ezekiel Elliott -- were part of their 2016 draft class. The Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers contributed six apiece.
Thirty-one teams managed to squeeze at least one player into the top 100 -- yes, even the Cleveland Browns (left tackle Joe Thomas) and New York Jets (defensive end Leonard Williams). The only team to get shut out? The San Francisco 49ers, who overhauled their leadership team this offseason after losing 29 of their past 37 games, were the only franchise without a single representative.
Frequency by age
Now it's time for a short quiz. What's the sweet spot in the NFL aging process?
As of Aug. 31, there will be more 28-year-olds among the top 100 (20) than any other age.
Think about that for a second. Imagine a job that you'll never perform better, on average, than when you are 28. That's the case in football. Unless you are a quarterback, of course.
Eighty percent of this list is comprised of players under 30 years old, but half of its 12 quarterbacks are at least 30: The Falcons' Matt Ryan (32); the Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers (33); the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger (35); the San Diego Chargers' Philip Rivers (35); the New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees (38); and the Patriots' Tom Brady (40).
The only non-quarterback among the six oldest players? That's Miami Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake, of course, who is -- what?! -- 35.
Brady is the oldest player on this list -- and in the entire league, for that matter. Elliott is the youngest. Elliott, by the way, was born on July 22, 1995 -- when Brady was set to begin his first year at the University of Michigan.
Frequency by position
The voting panel projected 12 of the NFL's 32 starting quarterbacks to be among the best 100 players in the league, leaving 88 spots for positions with much higher representation on NFL rosters.
The cornerback position led the field, placing 14 players on the list.
That includes three relative elder statesmen whose time chasing the NFL's fastest players would seem to be drawing near a close: The Denver Broncos' Aqib Talib (31); the Seahawks' Richard Sherman (29); and the Washington Redskins' Josh Norman (29).