NFL players are underrated for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes, no matter how good they may be, they’re on the wrong end of the depth chart behind someone even better. They might be in systems in which coaches fail to recognize how their attributes are best deployed. Or, they may be part of a team where so many things are broken, nobody really pays attention to their efforts.
No matter why, there are a lot of NFL players whose work deserves more recognition than it gets. Here’s our list of the most underrated player on every NFL team.
Arizona Cardinals: EDGE Dennis Gardeck
No offense to the University of Sioux Falls, which has has just four NFL alumni in its history, but it’s fair to say that Dennis Gardeck came from an unusual place as an undrafted free agent in 2018 to his current status as the Cardinals’ most productive edge-rusher. It was a career for Gardeck in 2023, as he put up six sacks and 42 total pressures. Not world-beating numbers, but when you consider what Gardeck had around him, and the fact that he got home to the quarterback without a lot of help more often than not, the arrow is pointing up here.
Gardeck is currently in the last year of a three-year, $10 million deal, so another season like his last one could give him some decent bank in the next free agency cycle.
Atlanta Falcons: EDGE Arnold Ebiketie
Last season, the Falcons had just 29 sacks from their edge defenders, which wasn’t exactly impressive. And Bud Dupree, the team leader with eight sacks, is now with the Chargers. So, someone is going to need to step up from the edge. It could be that Arnold Ebiketie, selected in the second round of the 2022 draft out of Penn State, is ready to do just that. Last season, on just 175 pass-rushing snaps, Ebiketie amassed seven sacks and 28 total pressures. As the Falcons didn’t do a ton in the draft or free agency to accentuate their outside pass-rush, it’s possible that the team sees Ebiketie as the proverbial Next Man Up.
Baltimore Ravens: RB Keaton Mitchell
It seems counter-intuitive to say this about an undrafted rookie running back from East Carolina, but had Keaton Mitchell not suffered a torn ACL last December, the Ravens’ postseason might have gone differently, and in a more favorable fashion. We all remember Baltimore’s inexplicable decision to give their running backs just six carries in the AFC Championship game against the Chiefs’ vulnerable run defense, but had Mitchell been good to go, I doubt offensive coordinator Todd Monken would have taken the same tack.
Because when you have a back who averages 8.4 yards per carry, forces 15 missed tackles, and has seven runs of 15+ yards on just 47 carries, that’s a guy you want to deploy in the most important moments. The addition of Derrick Henry in free agency should give the Ravens a highly interesting one-two punch when Mitchell is able to return from his recovery.
Buffalo Bills: CB Rasul Douglas
Throughout most of his career since he was selected in the third round of the 2017 draft out of West Virginia by the Eagles, Rasul Douglas has been a good-to-great cornerback. His best season to date came in 2021 with the Packers in his first year there, when he allowed 34 catches on 66 targets for 360 yards, 114 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, five interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 46.3.
Things started to go south with the addition of defensive coordinator Joe Barry, and that was true for most of Green Bay’s defense. So, when the Bills acquired Douglas in a Halloween trade, they must have known that Douglas had a lot left in the tank despite a brutal start to the 2023 season, and that certainly bore out on the field and in the metrics.
2024 is the final year of Douglas’ three-year, $21 million contract with the Packers that he signed in 2022, and if he plays for the Bills in 2024 as he did in 2023, that’ll be a big bargain. As is so often the case, all it takes for a player to show his best work is the ideal home.
Carolina Panthers: Safety Xavier Woods
Selected in the sixth round of the 2017 draft by the Cowboys out of Louisiana Tech, Woods had four good seasons in Dallas, one with the Vikings in 2021, and then a spectacular campaign in 2023, his second season with the Panthers. Not that a lot of people were watching, but Woods allowed 18 catches on 25 targets for 132 yards, 63 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, two interceptions, five pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 50.7. Able to cover everywhere from the slot to the middle of the deep third, Woods will look to build on that outstanding season in 2024, which also marks the final season of his three-year, $15 million contract.
Chicago Bears: CB Jaylon Johnson
The Bears selected Jaylon Johnson out of Utah in the second round of the 2020 draft, and watched as his coverage profile expanded in a positive sense over the next four seasons. Johnson went from allowing an opponent passer rating of 106.7 in 2020, to 101.3 in 2021, to 96.8 in 2022… to 33.3 in 2023. That was the lowest passer rating allowed by any NFL cornerback playing at least 50% of his snaps, and that was the case to an amazing degree. DaRon Bland ranked second with an opponent passer rating of 52.6.
How do you get an opponent passer rating of 33.3? If you’re Johnson, you allow 25 catches on 50 targets for 195 yards, 115 yards after the catch, one touchdown, four interceptions, and six pass breakups. That got Johnson a new four-year, $76 million contract with $43.8 million guaranteed, so he’s not internally underrated. But if he has another season like he just did, it will be time to talk about Johnson as one of the NFL’s best at his position.
Cincinnati Bengals: Safety Geno Stone
Given the importance of the deep safety in today’s NFL, it’s a bit bizarre that former Ravens safety Geno Stone could do no better on the 2024 open market than the two-year, $14 million contract he got from the Bengals. It’s a great move for Lou Anarumo’s defense, which had been struggling at safety for a while, but when a guy plays in the deep third on 80% of his snaps and allows 28 catches on 42 targets for 197 yards, 145 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, seven interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 53.5…
Perhaps it was the fact that Stone had a rough season in 2022, or that he had limited snaps in his first two NFL seasons as a seventh-round pick out of Iowa in 2020, but there was no element of one-hit wonder in Stone’s game last season, and the Bengals reaped the rewards.
Cleveland Browns: CB Martin Emerson Jr.
Emerson ranked third in my recent list of the NFL’s best press cornerbacks, which he did by dint of his eight catches allowed in press on 26 targets for 4.2 yards per catch, three explosive plays, no touchdowns, and no interceptions. Overall last season, regardless of scheme, Emerson gave up 36 catches on 73 targets for 498 yards, 161 yards after the catch, one touchdown, four interceptions, nine pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 53.3 — the fourth-lowest in the NFL among cornerbacks playing at least 50% of their snaps.
Not bad for a guy the Browns absolutely stole in the third round of the 2022 draft out of Mississippi State.
Dallas Cowboys: DL Osa Odighizuwa
Micah Parsons is the superstar of the Cowboys’ defensive fronts, but it’s unwise to underestimate Odighizuwa, who Dallas selected in the third round of the 2021 draft out of UCLA. Odighizuwa has never had a season in which he’s created less than 38 total pressures, which he did in each of his first two NFL seasons, and he upped that to 44 pressures (along with three sacks) last season.
Whether he’s playing in the B-gaps or over the tackles, Odighizuwa has become a consistent, dynamic pressure creator who’s especially conversant with taking interior offensive linemen, walking them back into the pocket, and dumping them on the ground on the way to the quarterback.
Denver Broncos: EDGE Jonathon Cooper
Cooper lasted until the seventh round of the 2021 draft despite a somewhat productive career at Ohio State in which he broke through the Buckeyes’ insane pass-rush depth to show what he could do. He had three sacks and 33 total pressures on just 228 pass-rushing reps in 2020, and he was right there for the picking when the Broncos took him with the 240th overall pick.
Cooper had the same challenge early on in the NFL, as he once again had to break through limited reps to prove that he belonged. It all kicked in last season, as Cooper set career highs in sacks (nine) and total pressures (55) on 421 pass-rushing snaps. Eventually, Cooper tends to prove that he should be playing more often than he is, and he does it against the best possible competition.
Detroit Lions: DL Alim McNeill
From John Randle to Geno Atkins to Aaron Donald, I tend to have a weakness for the potential of smaller defensive tackles. So, when McNeill hit my radar in 2020, I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed his disruptive tape. The 6′ 1⅞”, 317-pound McNeill was selected by the Lions in the third round of the 2021 draft, and while it took him a second to get the reps he needed to become a real force on Detroit’s defensive line, he had no issue doing so in 2023. Last season, McNeill totaled six sacks and 43 total pressures, embarrassing a lot of Pro Bowl-level guards and centers along the way.
Green Bay Packers: DL Karl Brooks
Brooks first hit my radar when I watched him wreck opposing offenses for Bowling Green as a 6-foot-4, 300-pound guy who played the edge on more than 75% of his snaps in 2022. Brooks totaled 12 sacks and an FBS-high 69 total pressures despite his size, and the Packers stole him in the sixth round of the 2023 draft. The decision was made to put Brooks inside on 74% of his snaps last season — which wasn’t as fun, but Brooks managed to be a very good disruptor in his new role. He had four sacks and 30 pressures overall on 309 pass-rushing snaps, and one sack and nine pressures came from the edge. So, here’s an ascending young player who can win from just about anywhere on the line.
Houston Texans: WR Nico Collins
Obviously, the Texans’ 2023 turnaround from 3-13-1 afterthoughts in 2022 to prime-time contenders in 2023 had its roots in rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud’s excellence, but Nico Collins both amplified, and benefited from, Stroud’s efforts. The Texans took Collins in the third round of the 2021 draft out of Michigan, and he was unable to turn that opportunity into very much in his first two NFL seasons. But the chemistry between Stroud and Collins was obvious from the start, and that’s why Collins was able to catch 91 passes on 126 targets for 1,461 yards and nine touchdowns. Given the chance, Collins proved to be a do-it-all receiver — he caught 15 passes of 20+ air yards on 23 targets for 533 yards and two touchdowns, and he ranked sixth in the NFL with 646 yards after the catch.
Indianapolis Colts: EDGE Dayo Odeyingbo
Had Odeyingbo not suffered a torn Achilles tendon prior to his Senior Bowl, he might have gone even higher in the draft than the 54th overall pick, which is where the Colts got him in 2021. The 6-foot-6, 286-pound Odeyingbo had already shown the ability to win with speed and power on the edge, and a real knack for bombing opposing blockers from inside the tackles. He was a bit of a late bloomer in the NFL, with just one sack and 12 total pressures in 2021, and six sacks and 25 total pressures in 2022.
Then, as we say of a lot of players on this list, the proverbial light went on. Last season, Odeyingbo totaled 12 sacks and 29 total pressures on 365 pass-rushing reps, creating chaos for opposing quarterbacks more often than not.
Jacksonville Jaguars: DL Roy Robertson-Harris
An undrafted free agent out of UTEP who first signed with the Bears in 2018, Robertson-Harris is a bit of a tweener at 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, and he’s never put up huge pressure numbers. But in his last three seasons with the Jaguars after four years in Chicago, he has been more of a factor in both playing time and quarterback pressure. Moreover, he’s the kind of guy — and this is a relative intangible you need to see on tape — who glues a defensive line together with his ability to play everywhere from nose tackle to the edge.
Last season, Robertson-Harris compiled four sacks and a career-high 42 total pressures, and his combination of athleticism and awareness makes him an underrated force on Jacksonville’s defensive line. New defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen should have a lot of fun with Robertson-Harris’ skill set.
Kansas City Chiefs: WR Marquise Brown
Not that the Chiefs have a lot to repair this offseason — when you win two straight Super Bowls, and you don’t lose a lot of personnel, it’s all good. But Patrick Mahomes completed just 24 of 76 passes of 20 or more air yards in the 2023 season for 817 yards, two touchdowns, six interceptions, and a passer rating of 49.1 — the worst in the league among starting quarterbacks. The marquee move to try and correct the deep receiver deficit Mahomes has had since his team traded Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins was the selection of Texas speed receiver Xavier Worthy with the 28th overall pick in the draft, but let’s not underestimate one signing that could pay off — former Ravens and Cardinals receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to a one-year, $7 million deal.
Last season with the Cardinals, Brown caught just six passes of 20 or more air yards on 21 attempts for 175 yards and a touchdown, but it could also be said that Brown’s quarterback deficit was roughly equivalent to Mahomes’ receiver deficit, so maybe this pairing could pay off for all involved.
“He’s a smart kid and he just kind of gets it,” Andy Reid said of Brown on May 22. “Pat [Mahomes] and he – there’s so much talking going on which I look at and I think that’s important. As long as the receivers are willing to listen and then share what they saw and it’s accurate, you normally can develop a pretty good relationship relatively quick as you go.”
As Greg Cosell and I discussed in a recent edition of “The Xs and Os,” Brown’s tape shows a speed separator who might be a perfect fit in his third NFL offense.
Las Vegas Raiders: EDGE Malcolm Koonce
In 2014, the Raiders selected Khalil Mack with the fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft out of Buffalo, and that worked out pretty well for them. They went back to the well in 2021, taking Buffalo edge-rusher Malcolm Koonce with the 80th overall pick in the third round. Not that Koonce came out with Mack’s terrestrial skill set, but he put up some pretty good numbers in college, and he was the 2019 Bahamas Bowl Defensive MVP with two sacks against Charlotte in what turned out to be Buffalo’s first bowl game victory.
Still, Koonce got very little play in his first two seasons with the Raiders — he had a total of two sacks and six pressures in 2021 and 2022 on just 73 pass-rushing snaps. But given a chance in 2023, Koonce really showed what he could do — he had eight sacks and 52 total pressures, and the only more productive Raiders pass-rusher last season was Maxx Crosby.
Los Angeles Chargers: WR Josh Palmer
The Chargers’ risk-averse passing game over the last three years under Joe Lombardi and then Kellen Moore has driven a lot of people nuts when there’s a quarterback in Justin Herbert who would seem to have the ability to drive the ball all over the field on a no-matter-what basis. But the tape and the metrics bear it out — last season, Herbert had just 55 attempts of 20+ air yards — to put that in perspective, Jordan Love of the Packers led the league with 90. Herbert did complete 20 of those passes, which is about the standard ratio for deep completions, but the hope is that Jim Harbaugh and new offensive coordinator Greg Roman will unleash things a bit more often.
That dink-and-dunk approach has also done receiver Josh Palmer no favors. Selected in the third round of the 2021 draft out of Tennessee, Palmer is a big (6′ 1¼”, 210-pound) target who can singe cornerbacks and safeties downfield when given the chance. Last season, even under those circumstances, Palmer had seven deep catches on 14 targets for 299 yards and two touchdowns.
Some players are underrated simply because their coaches aren’t in the mood to let them show what they can do best. Hopefully, that changes for the Chargers this season.
Los Angeles Rams: CB Darious Williams
Who says you can’t go home again?
The Ravens were the first team to display an interest in UAB cornerback Darious Williams, signing the undrafted free agent to a contract in 2018, and then waiving him when Jimmy Smith returned from a four-game suspension. The Rams picked Williams up on waivers, and over the next four seasons, Williams worked his way up from roster afterthought to top-tier defender. In 2022, the Jaguars stole him away with a three-year, $30 million contract, but released him from that contract in March. That’s when the Rams came charging back in, signing Williams to a three-year, $22.5 million contract.
Williams is built like a slot-only cornerback at 5-foot-9 and 187 pounds, but he’s been a great outside cornerback for years, and that was just as true in 2023, when he allowed 51 catches on 86 targets for 613 yards, 178 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, four interceptions, 18 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 69.6. Through his NFL career, Williams has allowed 10 touchdowns to 11 interceptions, and has a lifetime opponent passer rating of 76.7. It’s safe to say that nobody expected that when he came out of college.
Miami Dolphins: DL Zach Sieler
Former Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins is recognized as one of the NFL’s premier interior disruptors — that’s why the Raiders gave him a four-year, $110 million contract with $57.5 million guaranteed this offseason. Taking a bit of the sting out of that loss for Miami is the performance of Zach Sieler. Selected by the Ravens in the seventh round of the 2018 draft from Ferris State (go, Bulldogs), Sieler was a bit player in Baltimore until the Dolphins picked up on waivers on December 5, 2019. Sieler has seen his profile rise ever since, and 2023 was his best season to date. Not only did he total nine sacks and 20 total pressures (one less than Wilkins’ 10 and 61 last season), but he also took a Will Levis pass to the house for a #THICCSIX in Week 14.
At 6-foot-6 and 305 pounds, Sieler can make things happen all over the line, but he’s especially effective when he’s asked to upend interior offensive linemen with power moves. And his current contract extension, signed in August, 2023, costs the Dolphins $30.75 million with $20 million guaranteed over three seasons.
Minnesota Vikings: Safety Josh Metellus
The key to being a standout defensive back in today’s NFL is versatility, and that’s true no matter where you line up. It’s certainly been the case for Josh Metellus of the Vikings. Listed as a safety, Metellus has all kinds of tricks up his sleeve. The 2020 sixth-round pick out of Michigan saw a bit of playing time in his first three NFL seasons, and it all came together for him in 2023. That’s when he totaled three sacks, 29 total pressures, 86 solo tackles, and 45 stops. Metellus also demonstrated the ability to cover receivers everywhere from press on short crossers to the deep third on vertical routes. And he’s great at making the most of Brian Flores’ blitz looks by either hammering home to the quarterback, or dropping into coverage.
New England Patriots: DB Jabrill Peppers
Earlier in his NFL career, Peppers suffered from what I call the “piano in the living room” problem — a great centerpiece for a house, but nobody’s quite sure where to put it. The Browns selected Peppers with the 23rd overall pick in the 2017 draft out of Michigan, trying him first as a primary free safety, and then as a hybrid defender. Then, Peppers was shipped to the Giants as part of a massive trade that also saw Big Blue get Kevin Zeitler and Cleveland’s first- and second-round picks in the 2019 draft in exchange for Odell Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon. The Giants made Peppers mostly a box and slot defender over the next three seasons.
Then, the Patriots signed Peppers to a one-year, $2 million deal in 2022, and let him do what he does best — act as a guided missile all over the field. Peppers’ real game is less about specific positional value and more about athleticism and awareness. In 2023, New England re-signed him to a two-year, $9 million deal with $6 million guaranteed, and Peppers paid the Patriots back with his best season to date — one sack, five total pressures, 54 solo tackles, and 28 stops. In coverage, Peppers allowed 20 receptions on 34 targets for 132 yards, 101 yards after the catch, one touchdown, two interceptions, five pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 52.6.
One of Bill Belichick’s claims to greatness was his ability to take players from other, lesser systems and turn them loose in roles that emphasized what they did well. Even to the end of his Patriots career, Belichick was doing that, and he did it with Peppers.
New Orleans Saints: EDGE Carl Granderson
Josh Allen, Jim Kiick, Conrad Dobler, Tashaun Gipson Sr., Jay Novacek, and Dave Hampton have all had nice careers after coming out of Wyoming, and Saints edge-rusher Carl Granderson is looking to add his name to that roll. An undrafted free agent who signed on with New Orleans in 2019, Granderson worked his way up from roster afterthought to key piece in the Saints’ defense, and he was rewarded with a four-year, $52 million contract extension with $32.3 million guaranteed last September. All he did after that was to put up career years in just about every possible category with nine sacks and 63 total pressures.
While Granderson has the speed to get around the edge, his premier skill has him wasting blockers with pure power to beat one-on-ones and double teams.
New York Giants: LB Bobby Okereke
The Colts selected Okereke in the third round of the 2019 draft out of Stanford, and their defense benefited from his expertise as Okereke got more and more playing time. Still, what Okereke did in his first season with the Giants after signing a four-year, $40 million contract with $21.8 million guaranteed was a bit unexpected. In Wink Martindale’s defense (now run by Shane Bowen), Okereke simply became one of the NFL’s most efficient and effective linebackers. He had three sacks, 20 total pressures, 105 solo tackles, and 56 stops. In coverage, Okereke allowed 35 catches on 46 targets for 301 yards, 276 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, two interceptions, five pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 89.1.
Okereke became a true tone-setter with the Giants, and that should continue even with a new defensive coordinator.
New York Jets: DB Ashtyn Davis
The Jets’ pure disaster at quarterback last season took far too much attention away from a defense that was trying to hold the entire foundation up by itself, and nearly got away with it. Chief among Gang Green’s secondary, of course, are cornerbacks Sauce Gardner, D.J. Reed, and Michael Carter. But one guy who really stepped up in coverage was safety Ashtyn Davis, the 2020 third-round pick out of Cal who showed a lot of deep-third attributes in college, and has taken them all the way to the NFL.
In 2023, covering everywhere from the slot to the back third of the defense, Davis allowed 13 catches on 22 targets for 107 yards, 86 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, three interceptions, eight pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 32.0 — which is about as much as you can ask from any defensive back. Davis’ tape shows some issues against the run, but he’s clearly all in when it’s time to prevent quarterbacks and receivers from getting what they want.
Philadelphia Eagles: EDGE Josh Sweat
The Eagles are going through some transitions along their defensive line, but Josh Sweat has been a much-needed bastion of reliability. The 2018 fourth-round pick out of Florida State had a career year in total pressures last season with 73, one year after putting up his career high in sacks with 15. At 6-foot-5 and 253 pounds, Sweat brings impressive speed and quickness, as well as bend around the edge and gap-jumping ability, to his position. And if you’re of a mind to try a trick play in Sweat’s kitchen… well, as the Dolphins discovered, it might not be a bad idea. Coming into his age 27 season and contracted through 2028, Sweat can be the guy who ties the Eagles’ fronts together as changes around him continue.
Pittsburgh Steelers: EDGE Alex Highsmith
The Steelers have never been light on great edge-rushers over the last few decades, and they’re very god at getting guys who float in under the radar and show up big in the NFL despite their humble beginnings. Highsmith, selected in the third round of the 2020 draft out of Charlotte, is an outstanding example. He had two sacks and 21 total pressures on just 224 pass-rushing reps in his rookie campaign, and then, as his playing time increased, so did his productivity.
Highsmith’s 2022 season, when he had 15 sacks and 55 total pressures and saw no dropoff when the injured T.J. Watt wasn’t on the field to help him out, had the Steelers rewarding him with a four-year, $68 million contract extension with $17.01 million fully guaranteed. 26 of Highsmith’s 55 pressures in 2022 came with Watt off the field.
What did Highsmith do with that? He had the best season of his career after he got the money, which is always nice. In 2023, Highsmith had eight sacks and 72 total pressures, with Watt taking some of those sacks for himself. Get used to this underrated star getting to the quarterback more often than not.
San Francisco 49ers: CB Charvarius Ward
There is a new revolution in press coverage going on in today’s NFL, but Charvarius Ward, an undrafted free agent from Middle Tennessee State who caught on with the Chiefs in 2018, has been way ahead of the game in this regard. Ward led the league in press snaps in his second, third, and fourth seasons. Last season for the NFC champs, Ward was in press on 231 of his 1,172 snaps, ranking 10th in the NFL. And when targeted in press, Ward allowed 14 catches on 34 reps for 6.0 yards per reception, three explosive plays, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
Overall in coverage last season, Ward allowed 55 catches on 101 targets for 653 yards, 245 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, five interceptions, an astonishing 23 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 63.7 — his best in a season to date. Ward may have taken a while to become a force in the NFL, but coming into his 28-year-old season, he’s in perfect position when it comes to the NFL’s defensive trends, and that certainly shows up on the field.
Seattle Seahawks: QB Geno Smith
Whether you think Geno Smith is underrated or not depends largely on whether you think he’s hit his ceiling, and there’s nowhere to go but down. Last season, Smith’s second straight in which he made the Pro Bowl, he threw just 20 touchdown passes with nine interceptions, one year after he threw 30 touchdown passes to 11 picks, and led the league in completion percentage. So, maybe Smith is on the downslide… but I don’t tend to think so, and the reason is new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who led Michael Penix Jr. and the Washington Huskies to the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Grubb’s passing game is a lot about vertical shots out of dropback play-action, and that should fit Smith to a T. Smith’s deep passes weren’t quite as resonant in 2023 as they were in 2022, when he led the league with 15 touchdowns on passes of 20 or more air yards, but let’s not put a capper on Smith’s career just yet. He may still have more in the tank to take the Seahawks through the first parts of their transitions in the post-Pete Carroll era.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: QB Baker Mayfield
Whether you think Baker Mayfield is underrated or not depends largely on whether you think he’s a random play generator without the required consistency to succeed at a high level in the NFL. Mayfield did all he could to bust that myth in 2023 for the Buccaneers, completing 412 passes on 643 attempts for 4,731 yards, 34 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and a passer rating of 96.0. He completed 26 of 84 deep passes for 835 yards, 11 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 89.0. Moreover, Mayfield proved quite efficient in the area of the field where efficiency is most important.
Mayfield’s 2023 season prodded the Bucs to give him a new three-year, $100 million contract with $50 million guaranteed, which may be about what (or more than) he’d get anywhere given his career oeuvre. But I still think he’s undersold as a quarterback who can play among the top half of the players at his position.
Tennessee Titans: CB Roger McCreary
Last season, the Titans didn’t play a lot of press coverage, and their defense suffered for it. General manager Ran Carthon is a big believer in press, so this offseason, Carthon did everything he could to reverse the negative trends. He traded for Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed (probably the NFL’s best press cornerback right now) and then gave Sneed a new four-year, $76.4 million contract with $55 million guaranteed. The Titans also signed former Cowboys and Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, who has always been better in press coverage than not.
One thing Carthon didn’t want to alter was Roger McCready’s position as his primary slot defender. The 2022 second-round pick out of Auburn was outstanding last season not only in slot coverage overall, but specifically in slot press when he was able. Playing press out of the slot is especially tough, because the boundary isn’t there as an extra defender, and you have to match where the receiver goes, with more options for the receiver to use.
McCreary was aligned in press on a team-high 138 of his 946 snaps last season — you can expect that number to double in 2024. When in press, he allowed eight catches on 15 targets for 5.3 yards per reception, one explosive play, no touchdowns, no interceptions, and a slew of receivers who were surprised at how well McCreary was able to turn against his team’s formerly passive preferences for positive results.
Washington Commanders: LB Frankie Luvu
The 2023 Commanders were absolutely abysmal on defense despite a slew of top talent, which leaves the goat horns on former head coach Ron Rivera and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio. To stem the tide, Washington hired Dan Quinn as their new head coach, and Quinn has a long history of turning defenses around. One of the primary instigators of that campaign is sure to be former Jets and Panthers linebacker Frankie Luvu, who signed a three-year, $31 million contract with $14,625 million guaranteed.
Not that anyone would turn down those numbers, but if you ask me, the Commanders got a major bargain here. Luvu will be the tone-setter for the Commanders’ defense just as he was for the Panthers in 2023. Then, he totaled seven sacks, 20 total pressures, 84 solo tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and he proved more than able to break off into coverage. In an era when linebackers have to do just about everything if they want to stick and stay as superstars, Luvu is already one of those rare beings.
