As we get closer and closer to opening night I wanted to give us a picture of the NFL RC card landscape. I am going to do a top 20 list, which as you can imagine is QB heavy. In the end, I will give a Top 5 RB and WR/TE list. Similar to my baseball RC report, I will have 3 checkpoints for this report. I will update this week 9, and then before the playoffs start. NFL RC cards are a different beast compared to baseball and basketball. The biggest difference from my view is the supply. Pop reports for football cards are much lower compared to Basketball and Baseball. I do believe this does give football a bit more stability. Football has higher injury risk, so it’s not completely safe but I do feel better about getting proven players in football when their prices dip. I will reference this report often on my podcast and make sure to follow me @numbers_behind for links to my content.
#1 Tom Brady 2000 Bowman Chrome RC
$16,100
Pop: 1088
#2 Patrick Mahomes 2017 Prizm RC
$8300
Pop: 877
#3 Ben Roethlisberger 2004 Topps Chrome RC
$1061
Pop: 169
#4 Aaron Rodgers 2005 Topps RC
$935
Pop: 2075
#5 Russell Wilson 2012 Prizm RC
$932
Pop: 481
The elite group at the top as you would expect is all Qbs. Tom Brady will be the football Rc to have that in my opinion will be stable and steadily grow over time. He is the best QB of all time, he will overtake the major QB all-time statistical categories by next year. All QBs on this list have a Super Bowl title, which we know defines greatness for the QB position. Mahones lost his chance (mostly due to his OL) to make his mark on Brady’s career. While Mahomes is the most talented QB I have ever seen play, he is in a big pivot year. Can he get the momentum in his career to have multiple titles, or will he be similar to Brees and be capped at one title and great career numbers? Big Ben is back for another year, he is a very stable Rc card long term. He has multiple championships and has been a major reason Pittsburgh has been competitive ever since he took the team over his RC Season. Rodgers and Wison could see a nice bump if either of them can win a Super Bowl before their time is done.
#6 Matthew Stafford 2009 Topps Chrome RC
$911
Pop: 99
#7 Josh Allen 2018 Prizm RC
$845
Pop: 1125
#8 Dak Prescott 2016 Prizm RC
$677
Pop: 1150
#9 Lamar Jackson 2018 Prizm RC
$660
Pop: 593
#10 Deshaun Watson 2017 Prizm RC
$610
Pop: 2223
Staffords rise is very surprising to me. In his career, he doesn’t have a playoff win. Now that is not all on him, as the hapless Lions did not help him at all. My biggest concern with Stafford is consistent health. Losing Akers is a big loss for the Rams’ offense as well. Allen, Prescott, and Jackson are all in big years in terms of their hobby value. Allen needs to come back and prove last year’s MVP performance wasn’t a fluke. Dak coming off his major injury, getting Dallas back to the playoffs with their high octane offense. Lamar bouncing back close to his 2019 MVP form or is 2020 more of what to expect going forward in his career? We all know the cloud over Watson, but his talent as QB is unquestioned but the Texans roster is depleted. If a miracle trade were to happen I think anywhere would be better than Houston at this point for him.
#11 Derrick Henry 2016 Prizm RC
$519
Pop: 137
#12 Justin Herbert 2020 Prizm RC
$500
Pop: 1717
#13 Joe Burrow 2020 Prizm RC
$440
Pop: 1438
#14 Carson Wentz 2016 Prizm RC
$380
Pop:712
#15 Baker Mayfield 2018 Prizm RC
$365
Pop: 887
Derrick Henry is the first Non-QB to make the Top 20. It does make sense as his running style and physical nature make it feel like he will have a longer career than expe
#16 Kyler Murray 2019 Prizm RC
$360
Pop:2319
#17 Christian McCaffrey 2017 Prizm RC
$315
Pop:928
#18 Larry Fitzgerald 2004 Topps RC
$311
Pop:215
#19 Travis Kelce 2013 Prizm RC
$291
Pop:107
#20 Tyreek Hill 2016 Prizm RC
$275
Pop: 243
In our chunk of 5, the non-Qbs make a push. Fitzgerald is a surefire Hall of Fame WR that will have great long-term value. I do think he will be around once he retires in a way that people will still know of his name. The Chief’s tandem of Kelce and Hill round out the list. As long as they are in KC they will continue to produce great numbers, it is too bad Mahomes didn’t arrive earlier for Kelce as he could have been looking at the best TE of all time if he had more time with him Mahomes. CMC returns for 2021 and is still a #1 overall pick for Fantasy even after missing all of last year. Shows how special his skill set is. I hope he can maintain health for the next couple of years and I can see his cards rise again with his fantasy value. A lot of this hinges on QB play from Darnold. Kyler is really cheap and somewhat similar to the 2020 RCs his Pop is quite high which limits his upside. He is in a tough division and I believe the Cardinals and their staff are in a make-or-break year. I don’t see the Cardinals having a chance at the division, but my hope is they can compete and Kyler can see a bump in his card value.
Top 5 Running Backs
Derrick Henry 2016 Prizm RC $519 Pop: 137
Christian McCaffery 2017 Prizm Rc $315 Pop: 928
Ezekial Elliott 2016 Prizm Rc $237 Pop: 893
Alvin Kamara 2017 Prizm Rc $185 Pop: 670
Dalvin Cook 2017 Prizm Rc $ 184 Pop: 499
Very interesting to me that with running back being hard to invest in, the top 5 RBs are all in 2016-2017 classes. I do think that this list is guys at peak or on the decline, so it is a question of which guys have done enough to sustain value. Zeke is looking to bounce back from a rough 2020 without Dak and a beat-up OL. Kamara is the one guy on the list that I can see a long career with his style of play. I love Dalvin Cook’s game, but he would be the guy in the group I would sell. Smaller market and has a tough time being healthy, even though he is a great player when healthy.
Top 5 Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Larry Fitzgerald 2004 Topps Rc $311 Pop: 215
Travis Kelce 2013 Prizm Rc $291 Pop: 107
Tyreek Hill 2016 Prizm Rc $275 Pop: 243
Deandre Hopkins 2013 Prizm Rc $237 Pop:229
Julio Jones 2011 Topps Chrome Rc $230 Pop:105
I was quite shocked that DK Metcalf or AJ Brown didn’t make the Top 5. They’re Not proven but thought their upside would be commanding more value. Julio is on the decline and has been battling injuries. Julio and Hopkins are guys on the list I would be selling as I don’t see them improving their careers in 2021. Hopkins can turn in a fine season, I just don’t see it having much value if the Cardinals finish 4th in the division. The top 3 seem to have stable value with great situations and/or locked up HoF careers. Looking forward to week 9 check-in and see where the movement is with this top 20. We will have some breakout stars and can’t wait to see who is making noise to start the season. Tune into my podcast Behind the Numbers for all the updates and values to keep you up to date with Football within the hobby!