NFL’s Top 100: All-time Ole Miss great Laremy Tunsil comes in at No. 71

NFL.com on Tuesday released 10 additional honorees in its ‘Top 100 Players of 2024.’ Laremy Tunsil came in at No. 71. 

The NFL Top 100 is selected each preseason by the players themselves. The Top 10 will be announced on Friday, August 2 at 7 p.m. CT on NFL Network. A full rundown of Nos. 100-11 airs Wednesday, July 31 at 7 p.m. CT.  

The selection of Tunsil follows that of another former Ole Miss Rebel, DK Metcalf. Metcalf, a wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks, was ranked No. 84 on Monday.

Tunsil is one of the NFL’s elite offensive tackles. He’s also — along with another all-time Ole Miss great, AJ Brown — one of the Top 11 highest-paid players in the NFL by position. Brown is a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I feel like I’m the best left tackle in the league and have been the past three years,” Tunsil said.

Tunsil was one of four Ole Miss Rebels named Pro Bowlers last season.

Tunsil has now been to four.

He allowed just 10 pressures and four sacks last season as the primary blind-side protector for breakout Texans quarterback CJ Stroud. Stroud was himself a Pro Bowler, as well as the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. 

Tunsil finished fourth among NFL tackles with an AFC-leading 84.9 pass-blocking grade. He signed a three-year extension last off-season, becoming the NFL’s highest-paid tackle for the second time in his career. Tunsil is a four-time Pro Bowler and joined Houston in a trade with the Miami Dolphins in 2019. 

He’s started every game in which he’s appeared (94) since being drafted No. 13 overall by the Dolphins in 2016. Tunsil was one of three first-round Rebels that year. He’s entering his ninth NFL season.

Tunsil was an All-American and All-SEC selection in his three seasons at Ole Miss. 

He was a first-team All-SEC honoree twice. His myriad career accomplishments include a dominant, no-sacks-allowed performance against Texas A&M as a junior.

Tunsil completely neutralized then-Texas A&M EDGE Myles Garrett. Garrett went on to become an NFL Draft No. 1 overall pick. Tunsil also helped Ole Miss to the Sugar Bowl and a win over Oklahoma State.

“The guy who recruited me, Chris Kiffin, was persistent every day,” Tunsil said, in an interview on ‘The Pivot Podcast’ in the fall. He was speaking on his decision to choose Ole Miss in recruiting over Georgia and others as a five-star recruit.

“He would text or call — reach out out to me every single day. We built a relationship. He was like, ‘Whenever you take visits, come take a visit on this day.’ I get to Ole Miss, beautiful. I had a great time. Players up there (like) Robert Nkemdiche, Laquon Treadwell and Evan Engram. We had Quincy Adeboyejo, Tony Conner. I can go on for days. We had some dogs.”

Chris Kiffin is the younger brother of Lane, now the fifth-year Ole Miss head coach.

Chris was the defensive line coach at Ole Miss under Hugh Freeze. 

Tunsil has starred for Houston the last four seasons. He’s been selected to the Pro Bowl in three of the last four. Thumb surgery limited Tunsil to just five games in 2021. He was with the Dolphins for three seasons. 

Tunsil earned All-Rookie in 2016.

“Me, Laquon and Robert, we sat in this circle, right? It was like, ‘Man, why would we go tot Alabama? Why would we go to Georgia? To Florida? We can just do it here and have a legacy behind us.’ I took that to heart,” Tunsil continued. 

“I was like, ‘Yo, listen, if y’all commit, I’m gonna commit, and I actually committed when I went on that visit. Just had a feeling (this was) the right move. My mom came with me (on the visit), of course, and they wined and dined her. Her favorite thing at the time was Blue Bell Ice Cream, the vanilla. Man, she gets to her hotel room, it’s ice cream all over the place.

“When I was there, I actually committed silently and made it happen.”