The 2023 NFL season will officially get underway tonight when the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs play host to Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions at GEHA Field at Arrowhead.
With the season about to start, all sorts of lists and comparisons have made the rounds on all the sports talk shows, with seemingly everyone chiming in on a number of different topics about players during the upcoming season.
One interesting topic that doesn’t get talked about much is toughness when it comes to NFL players and which players in the league are the toughest.
ESPN newcomer Shannon Sharpe recently talked about the subject, and as a former NFL star, he gave his list of the five toughest players in the NFL today, via Dov Kleiman.
Top 5 Toughest players in the NFL according to @ShannonSharpe#Rams DT Aaron Donald #Chiefs DT Chris Jones
##49ers LB Fred Warner#Chargers S Derwin James #Titans DL Jeffrey Simmons(via B/R on TikTok) pic.twitter.com/Nos1BssE1p
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 7, 2023
It’s not all that surprising that all five players that Sharpe put on his list are on the defensive side of the football, with Los Angeles Rams superstar Aaron Donald sticking out amongst the pack.
Although Donald is coming off a year that was cut short due to injury, few would contest the fact that he’s on Sharpe’s list, as he is about as tough as they come in the NFL and still going strong at 32 years old.
As for the other four, Chris Jones is an interesting one, considering his holdout situation with the Chiefs, as he’s set to miss tonight’s season opener against the visiting Detroit Lions.
Derwin James is also an intriguing addition as he’s struggled to stay healthy his entire career in the league but remains one of the hardest-hitting safeties in the game, while Fred Warner and Jeffery Simmons are welcome additions to the list.
NEXT: Nick Wright Predicts The Super Bowl Teams For This Season
