There are all kinds of reasons that NFL players are underrated.
Perhaps they’re in systems that don’t best show their skills. Maybe they’re buried on a depth chart. Or, they’re in somebody’s doghouse, and their coaches can’t see their potential. Sometimes, young players haven’t quite put it all together, but there are enough flashes to make you sit up and take notice, and when it does work, it’s all good.
Week 1 of the 2022 regular season features players at every position who showed up and showed out despite their underrated statuses, and here at Touchdown Wire, it’s our job to point them out.
Here are the Secret Superstars for Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season.
Joe Flacco, QB, New York Jets
You wouldn’t expect the 37-year-old Flacco, who hasn’t started a full season since 2017 when he did it for the Baltimore Ravens, to be on any list. Unless it’s a list of “That guy’s still in the NFL?” players, which isn’t a bad idea. But in Flacco’s case, the veteran injury replacement for second-year quarterback Zach Wilson, currently leads the NFL in pass attempts (103) and completions (63), and he ranks second in passing yards to Tua Tagovailoa (739) with 616. Flacco has five touchdowns to one interception, and a passer rating of 90.1.
Just as we all expected.
Against the Browns in an impressive comeback win last Sunday, Flacco completed 26 of 44 passes for 307 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 124.1. He threw two touchdown passes in a one-minute stretch inside the two-minute warning, pulling the Jets off of 0% Win Probability Island to a 31-30 final.
Yes, Flacco did benefit at times from Cleveland’s coverage busts…
turns out the ravens weren't the only afc north team getting pantsed by the vert/over combo in cover-3 on sunday pic.twitter.com/Tu3k0fEzKv
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) September 19, 2022
But the 15-yard game-winner to rookie Garrett Wilson was a banger into tight coverage.
At this rate, when Wilson comes back from the knee injury that will likely keep him out through the first month of the season, head coach Robert Saleh and his staff will have a few conversations about how things go.
Jeff Wilson Jr., RB, San Francisco 49ers
Through his long history as an NFL offensive coordinator and head coach, Mike Shanahan had the enviable ability to plug just about any running back into his systems, and have it work out.
Kyle Shanahan seems to have inherited his dad’s knack for such things. Not to throw shade on any of the backs who have succeeded in the younger Shanahan’s systems, but the 49ers have drafted two running backs since Shanahan became the head coach in 2017 (Joe Williams in 2017 and Trey Sermon in 2021), and for the most part, it’s been the undrafteds and castoffs who have done better than anybody else.
Jeff Wilson Jr., signed by San Francisco as an undrafted free agent out of North Texas (Joe Greene’s alma mater) in 2018, proved the theory true once again when the 49ers faced off against the Seahawks last Sunday. Wilson gained 84 yards on 18 carries with 53 yards after contact, five missed tackles forced, and four first downs.
This 16-yard run (Wilson’s longest of the day) against the Seahawks was assisted by Seattle’s gap-unsoundness, but Wilson also made a sick move to get past safety Quandre Diggs (No. 6), and Diggs knew what was coming.
“Yeah, I thought Jeff was a stud,” Shanahan said the day after the game. “You could see it on the first two runs of the game. I didn’t think they were blocked that well, just the fronts that they were in they came out with six bigs in the game and just to watch the way that Jeff got six yards on the first run and six on the second versus some tough looks. You could just see how hard he was running and what Jeff does when he doesn’t have the ball is really good too. He helps us out in a ton of ways.”
Zander Horvath, FB, Los Angeles Chargers
Looking at the touchdown leaders through the first two games of the 2022 season in the Chagrers’ high-volume passing game shows that DeAndre Carter, Mike Williams, Gerald Everett, and Josh Palmer each have one receiving touchdown.
The Chargers’ leader in receiving touchdowns with two? Rookie fullback Zander Horvath.
Wait. A fullback? What in the name of Larry Csonka is going on here?
“He’s a guy that has a lot of versatility; running the football, catching the football, blocking, special teams,” Chargers head coach Brandon Staley said of Horvath in May, just after he was drafted in the seventh round out of Purdue. “He has a pro body and we’re just going to figure it out. I think starting him out at fullback and giving us a real look in a two-back role, but then, as a core special teams guy, just in that mold. This guy did a lot for Purdue.”
Apparently, when you throw a pass in the flat in the red zone to a fullback, defenses don’t really know what to do with it. More on that in the next panel. Horvath benefited from this phenomenon on this one-yard touchdown pass against the Raiders in Week 1…
…and again against the Chiefs in Week 2.
At this rate, Horvath could challenge the single-season record for receiving touchdowns by a fullback. Right now, the record is nine, achieved by Bill Brown of the Minnesota Vikings in 1964.
In this economy? It would seem so.
Reggie Gilliam, FB, Buffalo Bills
It is an auspicious week in Secret Superstars history — for the first time ever, we have two fullbacks on the list. So, let’s party like it’s 1973! Gilliam, the 2020 undrafted free agent from Toledo, had just 92 offensive snaps in his rookie season, and just 191 in 2021. This season, Gilliam already has 37 snaps in two games, and this plays to the Bills’ new offense. Buffalo had just 68 dropbacks with two running backs in the entire 2021 season — so far in 2022, they’ve obviously done that a lot more often.
Against the Titans on Monday night in what turned out to be a 41-7 blowout in Buffalo’s favor, the Bills scored their first touchdown of the night in an unexpected fashion — throwing to their fullback! With No. 2 receiver Gabe Davis out due to injury, offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey had to be creative.
First home TD in front of Bills Mafia this season!
📺: @ESPNNFL pic.twitter.com/55my6Jm7b3
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) September 19, 2022
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel was Not Amused. Nor should he have been.
tfw your defense misses three tackles and gives up a touchdown on fullback wheel https://t.co/muFWVCDGoS pic.twitter.com/0vY3yICU7R
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) September 20, 2022
Later in the first quarter, Josh Allen threw FB Wheel to Gilliam on the other side, and the 6-foot-0, 244-pound Gilliam got positively balletic on his way downfield.
The Bills with one more target in the passing game? The rest of the NFL is just thrilled about this, we’re sure.
Mike Williams, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
There’s been a lot of talk about Chargers offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi needing to dial up more deep shots for Justin Herbert, and there’s something to that. We give you Herbert’s spray chart from Thursday night’s loss to the Chiefs:
When Herbert did go deep against Kansas City’s defense, he was generally targeting Mike Williams. And Williams caught both of his targets of 20 or more air yards for 54 yards and a touchdown.
There was this 39-yarder in which Williams just bodied cornerback Rashad Fenton…
There’s nothing to nitpick here. Just a great throw by Herbert to let his big bodied receiver go up and get it in the mismatch with Fenton size wise. That’s why Mike Williams got paid. #JacobsEyeInTheSky #Chiefs pic.twitter.com/vYnd2JtNR2
— Nick Jacobs (@Jacobs71) September 19, 2022
And this 15-yard touchdown (add end zone air yards) in which he beat cornerback L’Jarius Sneed.
Both things can be true: Lombardi needs to dial up more deep shots for Herbert, and Williams (along with receiver DeAndre Carter) has already proven to be the guy who can turn those deep shots into meaningful plays.
Nelson Agholor, WR, New England Patriots
Speaking of receivers who can roll deep in the right offense, and are not in the right offense right now, we give you Mr. Agholor, who’s trying to make the best of whatever Matt Patricia and Joe Judge are doing to Bill Belichick’s passing game. Through his first two games of the new season, Mac Jones has attempted 11 passes of 20 or more air yards, completing four for 136 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Agholor has one deep catch on just two targets for 144 yards, and here it is: Agholor just going crazy vertical against Steelers cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon’s tight coverage.
Akhello Witherspoon's gotta retire after Nelson Agholor did this to him pic.twitter.com/uu01ej5PBb
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) September 18, 2022
Mac Jones & Nelson Agholor (44-yd TD)
🔹 Air Distance: 45.9 yards
🔹 Target Separation: 0.6 yards
🔹 Completion Probability: 26.2%#25 Witherspoon was within 2 yards of #15 Agholor for 5.9 consecutive seconds, but failed to break up the pass.#NEvsPIT | #ForeverNE pic.twitter.com/BiM6dXu0Fo
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 18, 2022
I loved the idea of the Patriots signing Agholor before the 2021 season, because in 2020, his deep-ball numbers with the Raiders were comparable to those that Tyreek Hill was putting up with the Chiefs. It hasn’t worked out as anybody would have expected, but if you’re looking to assess blame, Aglohor’s going to be pretty far down the depth chart on that one.
Andrew Thomas, OT, New York Giants
Thomas isn’t a secret per se — he was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2020 draft — but if you watched his rookie season, in which he allowed 10 sacks and 57 total pressures, his recent excellence might be under the radar for you. He allowed just two sacks and 18 total pressures in his second season, and showed radical improvements in his technique. Through two games in 2022, Thomas has allowed no sacks, one quarterback hit, and three quarterback hurries on 77 pass-blocking reps, and that’s with a quarterback in Daniel Jones who isn’t always as decisive as you’d like.
And if you want to know how Thomas operates in the run game — well, Saquon Barkley leads the NFL in rushing yards with 236, and he’s not doing that all by himself. Against the Panthers last Sunday, Thomas (No. 79) cleared the way for Barkley with a dominating pancake block against Panthers defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos (No. 97)
I love a good pancake. Apparently, so does Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas. pic.twitter.com/6RZkqhuUF4
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) September 20, 2022
So, if you’re still thinking of Thomas as an overdrafted mistake who got eaten up in his rookie season, it may be time to update your priors.
Tyler Smith, OT, Dallas Cowboys
Speaking of left tackles who have worked past their priors, there’s the matter of Smith, who the Cowboys selected out of Tulsa with the 24th pick in the first round of the 2022 draft, and did not at all look ready to be an NFL left tackle based on his college tape. The Cowboys seemed to agree. Smith didn’t play a single snap at tackle in the preseason — it was all at left guard — and when Tyron Smith went down for at least most of the season with an injury, Dallas went right out and signed Jason Peters to pick up the slack. Smith was supposed to be the guy who could at least keep things halfway together until Peters was ready to go.
Turns out, Smith has done a lot more than that. Pass protection was his clear problem in college, but it hasn’t been that at all in the pros. Against the excellent fronts of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Cincinnati Bengals, Smith has allowed one sack, one quarterback hit, and one quarterback hurry in 86 pass-blocking reps. Smith’s run-blocking was far more NFL-transferable at Tulsa, and he has that on lock, as he showed on this quick pitch from Cooper Rush to Tony Pollard. Smith (No. 73) got right out to the second level and just blew Bengals linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither (No. 59) all the way up on the way to Pollard’s long touchdown.
You know who had one hell of a game on Sunday?
Cowboys rookie left tackle Tyler Smith (73). Both in run-blocking and pass-blocking, a guy I thought wasn't ready for that, was ready for that. pic.twitter.com/jIPDEMpkAZ
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) September 19, 2022
Pro Football Focus’ John Owning has a great thread about Smith’s Sunday exploits, if you really want to get into the weeds.
This may not look like much on first glance, but i can't stress enough how difficult it is for an OT to reach block a 4i technique DL who steps with the flow of the play off the snap. SO IMPRESSIVE. Do not see many tackles pull that off. #Cowboys pic.twitter.com/wZbpLe4CuO
— John Owning (@JohnOwning) September 20, 2022
If Smith can keep this developmental curve up, maybe Dallas’ offensive line isn’t quite as cooked as we assumed it would be when Tyron Smith went down.
Dan Skipper, OG, Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell is all about culture and grit and all that, and his team showed all of it in their 36-27 win over the Washington Commanders last Sunday. After the game, left guard Dan Skipper became Campbell’s latest poster boy for the culture he wants.
6⃣th year in the @NFL, making his first career start playing position he's never played in the league. @DanSkipper70 answered the challenge. pic.twitter.com/T9RN2lmEXc
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) September 19, 2022
The six-year journeyman, who had never started an NFL game before, and had never played guard before, was actually cut from the team in preseason. Week 2 saw him thrown into the fire against that formidable Washington front.
It’s a nice story and all, but it falls apart if Skipper can’t perform on the field. Well, against the Commanders’ (admittedly terrible) defense, but against a front that is talented enough to transcend its coaching, Skipper allowed one sack, no quarterback hits, and two quarterback hurries on 37 pass-blocking snaps. And the sack he allowed was a tough one — he had to deal with defensive tackle Jonathan Allen inside, and then, he was late to pick up linebacker Jamin Davis on a multi-gap stunt. Not ideal, but you’ll see a lot of guards with a lot more experience give up sacks against games like this.
“Hey man, I mean… my sixth year in the league, I’ve never made a team,” Skipper said after the game. “It’s tough, you go in, and you’re never quite good enough. You’re not quite enough. You show up every day, and you think you’re doing the right things, and just for whatever reason, it just doesn’t quite work out. I think I’ve had 20 NFL contracts? They’re not worth the paper they’re written on, right? So, it’s like, ‘Here we go again.’
“Six years, I think things look good, and it sucks, but went home, got things – got to spend a week with the family which was big, got back up here, moved and all that. Just trying to get back to push your best foot ahead every day. It’s not easy. Whether you’ve been fired once or 100 times, it still sucks. It’s tough. You get fired, but just keep on plugging away.”
Well, you certainly want to root for this guy.
Campbell’s Chuck Norris style wouldn’t mean a thing if it didn’t have that swing, and when you get guys coming out of nowhere and succeeding, it’s a pretty good indication that there’s more than just smoke to the ways in which Campbell is getting it done.
Cordell Volson, OG, Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals’ offensive line has been all kinds of bad in the 2022 season so far, but Volson, the fourth-round rookie from North Dakota State, found a way to improve in Week 2 against the Cowboys after a Week 1 against the Steelers in which various Pittsburgh defenders took turns stealing his lunch money. In that particular nightmare, Volson allowed two sacks, two quarterback hits, and three quarterback hurries, which is about as badly as you can enter the National Football League.
Credit to Volson for sloughing it off and turning at around against the Cowboys on Sunday — this time, he allowed no pressures of any kind on 46 pass-blocking snaps, and on this two-yard Joe Mixon run halfway through the first quarter, Volson (No. 67) took Dallas defensive tackle Quinton Bohanna (No. 98) to the woodshed with a pancake block.
Maybe it just took that first week to get the jitters out of the way, but if Volson can perform at this level every week… well, the Bengals could certainly use any good news regarding their front five.
Pat Elflein, C, Carolina Panthers
When the Panthers signed Elflein to a three-year, $13.5 million contract in 2021, a lot of people wondered exactly what the heck they were doing. The Vikings took Elflein in the third round of the 2017 draft out of Ohio State, and throughout his career in Minnesota and a cup of coffee with the Jets in 2020 after the Vikings cut him, he had struggled (we’re being kind) to hold up. Elflein was primary a guard before he came to the Panthers, who switched him to center early on, and perhaps that was the key. Elflein allowed no sacks and 12 total pressures in 2021, and through two games in 2022, he’s given up no sacks, one quarterback hit, and one quarterback hurry.
Perhaps more importantly against the Giants last Sunday, Elflein showed the kind of power at the line of scrimmage he really hadn’t before. When you can push Giants defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence around as Elflein did, you’re doing something right.
The battles between Panthers center Pat Elflein and Giants DI Dexter Lawrence didn't always go the way Lawrence (or anybody else) thought they might. Where did this come from? pic.twitter.com/XxnPU4fTgY
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) September 19, 2022
Roy Robertson-Harris, DL, Jacksonville Jaguars
Most of the talk around the Jaguars in the post-Urban Meyer era (THANK GOD) centers around new head coach Doug Pederson, the culture he’s improving (because it couldn’t get any worse), and the offense he’s improving (again, because it couldn’t get any worse).
That’s cool and all, but we need to start paying more attention to a Jaguars defensive front that has raised all kinds of hell in two games against the Commanders and Colts. It helps when you have edge-rushers in (the other) Josh Allen and 2022 first-overall pick Travon Walker, but you need glue guys to make a defensive line work, and Roy Robertson-Harris, the former Bears defensive tackle who signed a three year, $23.4 million contract with Jacksonville in 2021, was just that last Sunday against the Colts, amassing a sack, a quarterback hit, a quarterback hurry, and three stops.
Yes, the Colts’ offense has been a dumpster fire this season, but we’re putting Robertson-Harris (No. 95) here anyway, because he did a lot of his dirty work in this game facing Quenton Nelson (No. 56), one of the top guards in the NFL today.
John Cominsky, DL, Detroit Lions
The last time I really dug into Cominsky’s tape before Monday morning, the current Lions and former Falcons pass-rusher was on the wrong end of Panthers right tackle Taylor Moton’s full-scale demolition charge.
Yo @Panthers … Y'all got any camera angle of this finish by Moton? Might be an epic pancake pic.twitter.com/b3ZM4FjlgA
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) October 13, 2020
And yes, Geoff, we had the end zone angle. Yikes!
The Lions claimed Cominsky off waivers after he played just 13 defensive snaps for the Falcons in 2021, and things turned up pretty quickly for Cominsky in his new home. Through two games in the new season, he has a sack, a quarterback hit, and eight quarterback hurries. It got lost in rookie Aidan Hutchinson three-sack performance against the Commanders on Sunday, but Cominsky had that sack, and seven total pressures.
The sack was specifically impressive, because as Hutchinson (No. 97) stunted several gaps inside, Cominsky (No. 79) shredded a double-team on the way to Carson Wentz.
Oh — and the Lions play the Panthers on Christmas Eve, so if Cominsky wants revenge on Moton, that’s when he can try and get it.
Malcolm Rodriguez, LB, Detroit Lions
The man they called “Rodrigo” in Hard Knocks, Malcolm Rodriguez was selected in the sixth round of the 2022 draft out of Oklahoma State, and so far, the rookie is doing everything he can to force his teammates to actually remember his name. In Detroit’s Sunday win over the Commanders, Rodriguez had a quarterback hurry, three tackles, three stops, and while his coverage was up and down, he was just fine when moving forward.
Let’s go to that one quarterback pressure, because it’s important. With 8:01 left in the first quarter. Here, he shot all the way around the formation, closed in on Carson Wentz, and forced the incompletion.
The Lions are in full rebuild mode on that side of the ball after what they allowed Matt Patricia to do to their defense in the previous era (yes, folks, there are currently two NFL teams trying to navigate Patricia’s presence or absence). When you can add later-round picks and lesser-known players like Rodriguez and Cominsky who can have immediate positive effects, it certainly gets you back to normal with efficiency.
Jaylen Watson, CB, Kansas City Chiefs
Watson’s 99-yard game-winning pick-six against the Chargers last Thursday might have been the story of Week 2 even if Watson didn’t have such a compelling backstory of his own.
The seventh-round rookie was only in this game because first-round rookie Trent McDuffie suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 against the Cardinals. But he had quality reps in that game, which gave his coaches the confidence to start him in Week 2 against the Chargers.
Safe to say, it worked out. With 10:43 remaining, the Chargers had the ball at the Kansas City three-yard line, and quarterback Justin Herbert tried to hit tight end Gerald Everett to the right side of the field for an allegedly easy touchdown.
In the end, the Chiefs (and Watson) had Everett’s path better-planned than Everett did.
But this wasn’t his only good rep in this game. With 7:35 left in the first quarter, and the Chiefs playing one of their patented Cover-0 looks, Watson had fellow Secret Superstar Mike Williams one-on-one to the right boundary, and he provided blanket coverage all the way through.
From working at Wendy’s to a Wendy’s endorsement? Were I in charge of such things, I’d certainly look into it.
Jamel Dean, CB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
With 11:58 left in Sunday’s Buccaneers-Saints matchup, the score was tied at 3-3, and New Orleans quarterback Jameis Winston was throwing deep to rookie receiver Chris Olave to try and break that tie. Winston might have had Olave for a touchdown against Tampa Bay’s Cover-2, were it not for the efforts of cornerback Jamel Dean, who made an incredible play to pick off the long pass.
The Buccaneers scored their first touchdown of the game on the next drive.
“That first one,” Dean told NBC Sports’ Peter King of his end zone interception, “I knew I had to get it. If I don’t, that could be a touchdown. I’d rather not give up a touchdown.”
Fair enough. On the Saints’ next drive, it looked as it Dean would be caught between two receivers on vertical bender routes, but there was some sort of miscommunication, and Dean was able to just lay out for the ball, and his second interception.
The Buccaneers kicked a field goal on their next drive, going up 13-3, and setting the tone for their 20-10 win. In the game, Dean allowed three catches on six targets for 16 yards, no yards after the catch, no touchdowns, two interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 16.7.
Add his performance in Week 1 against the Cowboys, and this season, Dean has allowed six catches on 13 targets for 33 yards, no yards after the catch, no touchdowns, two picks, one pass breakup, and an opponent passer rating of 13.5. Among cornerbacks playing at least 50% of their teams’ defensive snaps, only D.J. Reed of the Jets and Bryce Callahan of the Chargers have allowed lower passer ratings, and Dean is tied with Darius Slay of the Eagles for the NFL’s most interceptions with two.
Talanoa Hufanga, S, San Francisco 49ers
With 6:27 left in the first half of Sunday’s 49ers-Seahawks game, Seattle quarterback Geno Smith endeavored to throw the ball to receiver Tyler Lockett on route that was designed to work through San Francisco’s Cover-4. It might have worked had safety Talanoa Hufanga (No. 29) not screamed up from the deep half to break up the pass.
On Monday, head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to the importance of this play in the flow of the game, which the 49ers won, 24-7.
“I looked at yesterday, I think it was like play 15, or 13, they got their first explosive hitting Lockett outside the numbers on a little play-action play and then right after that, the next play, I think [LB Dre] Greenlaw had a TFL in the flat, took care of it, made it a second-and-12, and then the play after that, Huf undercut and tipped it.”
That was the shot play of Hufanga’s game, but the second-year, fifth-round pick from USC had six tackles, two stops, another pass breakup, and he gave up one catch on three targets for nine yards. Both in coverage and when asked to come up and blow up run fits, Hufanga has announced his presence with authority.
