A team’s most underrated player can take on many forms, which is what we’re counting on for the purpose of this exercise. Every year, I try to tab 32 players whom I don’t feel get enough love, even though the football media as a whole is the engine primarily responsible for doling out said love. I am like an oil company producing dish soap to clean off all the ducks that have been impacted by my oil spilling. And, brother, business is good.
It’s a strange world, but the reality of this post is that there are players I notice upon rewatching as many games as possible during the offseason, and I want to talk about those players. From there, we’ll explore the various avenues of underrated-ness. It could be a player you’ve heard of. It may be a player who barely played at all. But they are all connected by the singular idea that I may like them just a little more than you do.
Here, we’re looking at the AFC. On Wednesday, I’ll have one player from each NFC team.
Khalil Shakir, wide receiver
I would have to imagine that Shakir, a third-year pro out of Boise State, was a major factor in the Bills decision to approach the offseason the way they did. Buffalo did not replace Stefon Diggs with a true No. 1 wide receiver and traded back when the opportunity arose to draft Keon Coleman at the back end of the first round. Shakir had a really solid season in 2023, hauling in 86.7% of his targets and accounting for 611 receiving yards. These catches were also not simple. Shakir had some high-difficulty grabs, such as the touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders just before the half after Josh Allen spent his time extending the play. Shakir plays incredibly well off blocks and seems to understand the spacing of an offense well. I’ve made the Cooper Kupp comparison before, and I do think there’s sort of a budget Kupp element to Shakir’s game. Perhaps that is where the Bills are trending offensively, where they’ll manufacture more touches than depend on winning athletically in a division that has some stellar cornerback play.
Bradley Chubb, edge
O.K., you’ve heard of Chubb. But the reason I put him on this list (as I sometimes do for other highly regarded players) is that we don’t think of him properly. Chubb is one of the best edge defenders in the NFL. Last year, he had just three fewer sacks and four fewer pressures than Myles Garrett, who won the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award. He plays well against top-flight offensive tackles and tends to wear them down, and blows up different protection schemes where running backs and wide receivers try to contain him without help from the tackles. Against lesser opponents, he’s what you want: dominant. Go back and watch the Dolphins’ 30–0 shutout of the New York Jets last year. The first drive alone, Chubb adeptly contained a cutback run, the success of which was predicated on his being sucked in or blocked out of the play. Then he had the key pressure that produced a costly Zach Wilson fumble. All of this occurred within just a few minutes. Because of the high price tag that Chubb came with—the Dolphins traded a first-round pick for Chubb in 2022—he’s going to be held to a high standard, but no one player can transform a defense on their own. Chubb comes close despite playing on a unit that doesn’t have the same aid that other top pass rushers such as Garrett enjoy.
Jahlani Tavai, linebacker
Tavai had 110 tackles and four quarterback hits for the Patriots last season, to go along with five pass breakups and two interceptions. What I love about Tavai is that he perfectly fits the modern NFL defense. The key for defensive coordinators is making a quarterback feel like more pressure is coming than what is actually the case. In order to do that, you need players who are stout against the run and athletic enough to feign a blitz before drifting back into coverage. Bill Belichick—when he was successful in 2023—seemed to lean on the fake blitz into coverage or the delayed blitz a ton, and Tavai shone in that role. Another aspect of Tavai’s game that I love and find particularly valuable: Against a lot of the play-action-heavy teams that utilize a lot of boot action, Tavai is a menace. He’s in the backfield, he can chase down most quarterbacks and he’s big enough to swat down a lot of passes.
Tyler Conklin, tight end
A few candidates for the Jets stood out offensively, including Jeremy Ruckert and Xavier Gipson, but I landed on Conklin for how much he was able to balance a heavy responsibility in the blocking scheme versus some critical catches. Conklin had game-altering grabs in wins over both the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos last year, but was primarily relied upon as an anchor amid a horrendous injury storm. The Jets’ offensive line needed help even before a rash of injuries last year, but by the end of the season the unit was unrecognizable and Conklin ended up being arguably their best pass protector. The tight ends are so critical to this Kyle Shanahan–Matt Lafleur hybrid offense Nathaniel Hackett runs, and it’s not easy to draw top-tier pass rushers when you know you won’t be getting much help. Conklin was admirable and was the team’s third-most targeted receiver in 2023.
Marlon Humphrey, cornerback
Humphrey got a plug on NFL Network’s list of the top 100 players before last year, which was great. I think he deserves it again for his game against the San Francisco 49ers alone. He allowed just one completion and five yards after the catch in that game. He muscled up and played physically against the NFL’s biggest bully-ball team and he was involved in the Ravens’ pass-rushing package. I don’t think we talk enough about Humphrey’s ability to be a tone setter and uniquely fit Baltimore’s defense. I greatly respect Pro Football Focus’s rankings, which have never featured Humphrey as a top-10 overall cornerback (he was close, coming in 12th one year). And, I don’t think they are necessarily wrong when we’re talking about the cornerback position globally and traditionally. But I don’t know many more players who were as essential to the Ravens’ being the Ravens last year as Humphrey. The 2017 first-round pick out of Alabama has always been on the radar. I’m not telling you about a “hidden gem” per se. I am asking you to ask yourself: What would the Ravens be without him?
Maurice Hurst II, defensive tackle
This Browns defense is frighteningly star-studded, and I was going to put Pro Bowler Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah here and try to convince you that you really have no idea exactly how good he is. But that’s only fun a few times in this exercise. Hurst is part of a very interesting and very talented middle class of defensive tackles who are incredibly smart and athletically gifted, but haven’t found a long-term home for one reason or another. Hurst played fewer than 400 total snaps last year (between defense and special teams), and his season was truncated by a pectoral injury. However, when he was on the field he was picking off a pass against the Seattle Seahawks or weaving deep into the Tennessee Titans’ backfield to wrap up Derrick Henry. Hurst was one of the most talented defensive prospects of the 2018 class but dropped off many teams’ boards after skipping the combine after the diagnosis of a heart condition. Hurst is a good stylistic complement to the rest of the Browns’ defensive line and can slot in as a down-specific player and still play stout enough to plug the A-gap on a third-and-short. Finding cheap talent such as this is critical to the upkeep of the team’s lifeblood, which is its front seven.
Jordan Battle, safety
Honestly, backup QB Jake Browning would’ve been a good pick here if we’re being honest. Alas. The Pro Football Writers’ of America named Battle to its All-Rookie team this offseason, which was a fine nod for a player whom, I think, is absolutely necessary to surviving in the AFC North. When you ask a defense for a theoretical show of hands as to who is interested in covering top-tier wideouts, marking Lamar Jackson when he leaves the pocket, covering Gus Edwards out of the flat and generally slamming their body into whomever needs slamming into, you’re not going to get many consistently volunteering with the vigor of Battle. Battle prevented a lot of runs from becoming bigger runs last season, which is not a stat that anyone keeps but is incredibly valuable to a team that was missing its starting quarterback and in need of keeping the score down. Battle also had an incredibly low 6.6% missed tackle rate, which, for a guy involved in as many physical run plays as he was, is noteworthy.
Nick Herbig, edge
Mostly a rotational player, Herbig may have led the league last year in plays made where someone quickly pulls out their phone to Google: Who the hell is this guy? Herbig played mostly on special teams and logged roughly 200 total defensive snaps, but I’d argue that having a font of these skilled pass rushers and hybrid edge-type players is critical to what Mike Tomlin wants to do defensively and is a necessary insurance for the Steelers’ most valuable player, T.J. Watt. Herbig has really fast hands and showed well against big, physical offensive lines. Despite a (relatively) slender looking frame, he plays much larger than he really is and doesn’t shy away from physical contact. He had three sacks, five tackles for loss and three QB hits despite not starting a single game last year.
Shaq Mason, guard
No Texan played more offensive snaps last year than the 30-year-old former Patriot and Tampa Bay Buccaneer. And while there are certainly better players on the Texans’ offensive line, I think Mason adds a critical element to the right side of Houston’s unit. Go back to the playoff game last year against the Browns, which could have gotten out of hand quickly. Cleveland’s defense was hurling curveballs at the Texans’ offensive line almost immediately, attempting to play Dalvin Tomlinson off Za’Darius Smith and get some free shots at the young C.J. Stroud. Pressure on a rookie quarterback in the postseason, no matter how good the rookie is, could be enough to sink a game plan. Mason is strong and sturdy, a bodyguard type who allowed just three sacks last year.
Tyquan Lewis, edge
In an effort to watch more of linebacker Samson Ebukam this offseason for this post, I ended up really enjoying Lewis. I’m not trying to say one is better than the other; this is merely a way to suggest that the Colts’ defensive line was really underrated as a whole when you consider how well Ebukam and Lewis both played a season ago. Lewis did much of the unappreciated work. While he’s not as fast as some of his counterparts, he seems to be talented at drawing and breaking through multiple blockers. Every defense needs these kinds of unselfish players in order to be successful as a unit. There was a play that I believe earned him a half sack against the Titans last year where he started at the nose tackle position, found himself out wide where an edge rusher might be and was still able to close on Ryan Tannehill. Again, I think a lot of this is in the tallying. Lewis is almost always there, but may be doing other ancillary projects necessary to free up more rushers.
Parker Washington, wide receiver
O.K., this may be a tad out of left field and more of a projection. Washington had some difficult moments last year, but did rise to the occasion when getting worked into the offense toward the end of the season. The catches he did make were often difficult ones and showed some clear finesse on his part. Having a solid contested catch reputation as a rookie is always worth noting. Relative to his draft slot—Washington was a sixth-round pick out of Penn State in 2023—the Jaguars asked a lot of him. All indications from this offseason seem to be that he’s growing in the offense, and while the Jaguars imported a lot of talent at the position, Washington is healthier than he’s ever been. Plus, the great John Shipley, the king of the Jaguars beat, likes him, too. Isn’t that enough?
Harold Landry III, edge
Sure, you’ve heard of Landry. But after suffering a torn ACL and missing the entirety of the 2022 season, he came back last year with 10.5 sacks and continually elevated a middling Titans defense. Against the Ravens last year in a tight game, he took on a Patrick Ricard block full speed, shed the block and brought down Lamar Jackson before he reached the end zone. Landry is such a heady player at a closer watch and always seems to default to the right football play, not necessarily what is best for him. That may mean passing up certain opportunities to try to force a fumble in critical moments, or to stick in coverage when there’s a clear opportunity for him to abandon assignment and go for the quarterback.
Michael Burton, fullback
I was planning on making this a Jaleel McLaughlin appreciation, post but kept seeing Burton absolutely destroying people. I go back to McLaughlin’s first career touchdown last season against the Washington Commanders, and Burton clocked two separate defenders on a path of relentlessness. Burton also made quite possibly the most taxing downfield block of the 2023 season. After picking up a blitzing linebacker against the Los Angeles Chargers, he sprinted almost half the football field to pave the way to the end zone for Lil’Jordan Humphrey. For a coach such as Sean Payton who is trying to establish something—we’re not quite sure what yet, but I digress—this is probably the first play on the teaching tape.
Leo Chenal, linebacker
The man who stripped Christian McCaffrey in the Super Bowl already has his place cemented in Chiefs history. But the third-round pick in 2022 also cut his missed tackle percentage from 12.5% to 4.4% in his second season and became a much larger part of Kansas City’s pressure package. Chenal also cut his yards per completion allowed total from 15.4 to 7.9, despite facing a much higher volume of targets. There were a couple of times in Super Bowl LVIII when his speed was enough to force Brock Purdy to pass up a checkdown option and allow the Chiefs’ pass rush time to get into the backfield. With that speed, he was also able to get into the backfield and stop some of the 49ers’ quick game from establishing itself. We’ve seen so often how the range of an interior off-ball linebacker can give good defenses some breathing room when they’re forced into base looks. Chenal is certainly developing into one of those players who shouldn’t have to leave the field as much.
Alohi Gilman, safety
The Chargers’ secondary was disastrous in 2023, and that was ultimately the death knell in coach Brandon Staley’s tenure. Because of that, Alohi Gilman stood out. Gilman broke up 10 passes, recovered two fumbles, made 73 tackles and picked off two passes. Sometimes you attribute these picks and recoveries to fortuitous timing, but with Gilman it seemed like an example of good stuff happening when there’s a consistent willingness to be around the football.
Michael Mayer, tight end
I would have been really interested to see Mayer in a different offense last year. I thought his run blocking was better than advertised and, really, was functionally good enough to get him more separation. On the plays when the Raiders made him commit initially as a blocker before transitioning to the receiving role, he looked solid. He’s absolutely a different kind of tight end than Brock Bowers, and I think a play-caller such as Luke Getsy should be able to strike the right chord and find some nuance there. Again, when Jimmy Garoppolo was playing, it felt like a lot of Mayer’s routes were pretty pedestrian and not functioning within the flow of an offense. He’s capable of being more than the five-yard choice route and rumble player, and had some nice catches last year even when split out wide. While it’s hard to isolate Mayer directly in this stat, the Raiders were the second-best team in the NFL last year when running outside the tight end spot when on the left side. There are a lot of factors there, depending on which side, who is getting help and what formation the Raiders were in, but clearly Mayer was a big part of it.
