8 Underrated Players Who Will Make Biggest Impact on NFL in 2024

Like every professional sports league, the NFL is star-driven. It's no coincidence that the last two Super Bowls have been won by the team led by the league's biggest star in quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

But while star names play critical roles in NFL success, so do the lesser-known players on contending rosters. Center Creed Humphrey and edge-rusher George Karlaftis may not be household names, but both played big parts in the Kansas City Chiefs' success the past two seasons.

It's just hard for some players to get the run they deserve, even on contending teams. For some, it's a matter of defeating the narrative that they aren't as good as they really are. For others, it's playing in the shadow of bigger names or moving to a new team where they can truly show just how talented they are.

The eight players here aren't exactly leading off segments on NFL Total Access, but fans and pundits will be extolling their virtues as key components of their teams' success next winter.

When the NFL's elite quarterbacks are discussed, it's typically the usual suspects: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.

Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions isn't usually part of that conversation. But if the Lions are going to take the next step in 2024 and advance to the franchise's first Super Bowl, he needs to have a career season.

The 29-year-old has already led one team to a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams. But a couple of years later, Goff and a package of draft picks were sent to Detroit for Matthew Stafford.

While appearing on the Trading Cards podcast, Goff said joining the Lions was the best thing that could have happened to his career:

"Being shipped off and being sent to a place to die, essentially, is what a lot of people think it was and I was never going to allow that to happen," he said. "I'm fortunate enough to be around a lot of good coaches and players in Detroit that support me and help me reach my potential."

Goff has everything he needs at his disposal to have a career season in 2024. The Lions have no shortage of passing-game weapons headlined by wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and one of the best offensive lines in the league.

Goff topped 4,500 passing yards and threw 30 touchdown passes in 2023.

He'll better those numbers in 2024—and quite possibly post the first 5,000-yard campaign of his career.

There's a changing of the guard in the backfield in Cincinnati this year. Longtime starter Joe Mixon was traded to Houston, and fifth-year veteran Zack Moss has been brought in to serve as his replacement.

Moss saw the most extensive playing time of his career last year in Indianapolis. With Jonathan Taylor sidelined by a contract impasse and then injury, the 26-year-old amassed a career-best 183 carries, averaged 4.3 yards per carry and came up just shy of 1,000 total yards for the first time in his career.

Moss now joins a Bengals offense that is stacked with skill-position talent, and he told reporters he's willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win:

"I've been in a pass-happy offense before and in that role you just kind of find out ways where you can help the team. When I was in Buffalo, that was, OK, how can I be a better pass blocker? And that helped prepare me for each and every step that I've gone to and it's helped me out as a back throughout the years.

"Here, these guys do a great job and when you have the talent like that outside, it makes sense. However I can help this team. Of it's catching the ball, running the ball, trying to keep Joe (Burrow) clean as much as I can with the big guys up front, whatever my role is being called of that week, that's what I'm going to try and do."

Second-year pro Chase Brown will see some work as well, but it's Moss who will likely serve as Cincinnati's lead back. In five of the past six seasons, Mixon turned that role into over 1,000 total yards.

Moss will do the same in 2024.

There are major changes underway in the Buffalo Bills passing attack in 2024. Star wide receiver Stefon Diggs was traded to the Houston Texans, and Gabriel Davis joined the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency.

The Bills attempted to address those departures in free agency and the draft. They used the first pick on Day 2 to select Florida State wide receiver Keon Coleman, while Curtis Samuel and Mack Hollins were signed in free agency.

Bills general manager Brandon Beane highlighted Samuel's ability to do damage with the ball in his hands as one of the reasons Buffalo gave the 27-year-old $24 million over three seasons:

"We're always looking for that speed, explosiveness at various positions. You want guys that can explode without the ball, but you also want RAC players, guys that Josh can get the ball in their hands in space, stuff that Joe Brady can scheme up, and they can turn a five-yard pass into a 55-yard touchdown or a big gain."

Last year with the Commanders, Samuel caught 62 passes for 613 yards and four scores—numbers that were nearly identical to his production the season before. But in 2020, he caught 77 passes for 851 yards with the Panthers and added another 200 yards on the ground on 41 carries.

The Ohio State product isn't likely to be much of a factor for the Bills on the ground in 2024, but he's far and away the most proven pass-catcher on a team that was eighth in the league in passing a year ago.

Frankly, if Samuel doesn't have the best season of his career, the Bills are probably in trouble.

Green Bay Packers offensive tackle Rasheed Walker wasn't drafted to be an impact player as the 249th pick in the 2022 draft.

And his second season was something of an up-and-down affair. He was thrust into the starting lineup when David Bakhtiari was injured, was benched in favor of Yosh Nijman and platooned with him for a time before taking over the starting job full-time down the stretch.

Per Mike Spofford of the team's website, Walker said last year's struggles and benching were a blessing in disguise:

"You just gotta perform. Production-based business. You can have a million excuses, but at the end of the day, you gotta perform.

"It was definitely a good lesson, like, stuff not going your way, every action has a consequence. My whole thing was I just wasn't going to quit. I could have had a bad attitude, and been like, 'Man this is BS, I shouldn't have got benched.' But I just took advantage of the opportunity to get better, and when I got my next opportunity I just (had to) prove to myself and to everybody that I could play."

Per Pro Football Focus, the 24-year-old allowed six sacks and committed nine penalties in 851 snaps in 2023. Those numbers don't appear great at first glance, but his play improved considerably as the campaign wore on.

Now, Walker enters the season as the unquestioned starter for a Packers team with aspirations of a deep playoff run and as the anchor for an offensive line Dallas Robinson of Pro Football Network ranked fifth in the NFL.

It might seem strange to call a player "underrated" after they were made the highest-paid undrafted free agent in NFL history.

However, Philadelphia Eagles edge-rusher Bryce Huff doesn't usually enter the conversation of best players at the position despite his three-year, $51.1 million deal.

In 2023, there weren't many pass-rushers who were more efficient on a per-snap basis than the 26-year-old, who recorded 10 sacks despite playing just 42 percent of the defensive snaps for the New York Jets.

Some have attributed that low snap count to deficiencies against the run, but Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said it's simply a matter of keeping him fresh:

"We don't play our edge guys 90 percent of the time. We believe in having fastballs off the edge and getting guys in the game. I think this perception that he's (Huff) this liability against the run, obviously, we'll see about that, but we believe that he has the tools in his body to make a difference and we're excited about him."

The Eagles thought enough of the Memphis product's potential to trade edge-rusher Haason Reddick to the Jets after he logged 27 sacks in two years in Philly.

Huff's numbers weren't that far off from Reddick's last year despite playing far fewer snaps. If he can come anywhere near his per-snap productivity from a year ago in a larger role in his new home, 13-15 sacks are a real possibility.

And if Huff wreaks that kind of havoc in 2024, the Eagles may well reclaim the NFC East.

In 2023, Azeez Al-Shaair logged 163 tackles for the fifth-most in the NFL. But just 84 of those tackles were solo, and his efforts took place in relative anonymity on a bad Tennessee Titans team.

That won't be the case in 2024, though. For starters, the 26-year-old has moved from, arguably, the worst team in the AFC South to the best. The Houston Texans are one of the trendiest teams in the league after last season's surprise success.

In Houston, Al-Shaair has been reunited with DeMeco Ryans, who he played for in San Francisco.

The Texans head coach told reporters that he's excited for the Florida Atlantic product's potential after seeing his growth last season:

"By adding Azeez to our team, as you guys will see, we're getting a tenacious player, a guy who plays with relentless passion, energy, physical. The thing with Azeez that stood out for me last year was his first time getting an opportunity to play full time as a starter. He had been in a backup role when we were there in San Francisco for a while, and he showed that he was capable of running the show, and showed that he was able to stay healthy throughout the entire year.

"So, he was durable, he was a playmaker, he was physical, he was a leader of that defense. So, excited to add not only Azeez as a player, but Azeez as a leader. I think he's grown as a leader, and I'm excited to work with him again."

With the 49ers, Al-Shaair played in the shadow of perhaps the best off-ball linebacker in the game in Fred Warner.

By the end of the 2024 campaign, he will be mentioned alongside his former teammate as one of the best at the position in his own right.

The Cleveland Browns led the NFL in both total defense and pass defense last year.

Much of the credit for that success is laid at the feet of Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, Assistant Coach of the Year Jim Schwartz and high-priced cornerback Denzel Ward.

However, third-year cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. deserves some praise as well.

A third-round pick for the Browns in 2022, the 23-year-old was on the field for 863 snaps last year—87 percent of Cleveland's total. He was exceptional in coverage in his second professional season.

Per Pro Football Reference, Emerson allowed just 37 of 79 targets to be completed. His passer rating against was a miniscule 46.3.

As that stellar season progressed, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters that he expects the Mississippi State product to continue improving the more experience he gets:

"I think MJ is a guy (who) continues to get better because he's a young player, but has always had the right mindset. I mean, from day one, when he stepped foot on campus, he had the right mindset. And playing that position, you better have that mindset. So, he plays physical. He loves the challenge, so excited for where he is."

Frankly, the fact that Emerson wasn't named to his first Pro Bowl last year was an almost laughable snub. If he can just back up last year's performance, the accolades should come in 2024.

And paired with Ward and Greg Newsome II, the Browns will have, arguably, the best trio of cornerbacks in the NFL—and likely one of the league's best pass defenses again.

There were high hopes for Chicago Bears safety Jaquan Brisker entering the 2023 season.

The 25-year-old was coming off a rookie year in which he amassed 104 total tackles and four sacks. The Bears thought they had a disruptive force on the back end for years to come.

However, like most things in Chicago a year ago, Brisker's second season got off to something of a rocky start—the big plays dried up and he struggled in coverage.

However, Brendan Sugrue of Bears Wire noted that the Penn State product found his footing as the year wore on:

"Like many other Bears defenders, things turned around when Montez Sweat arrived. Brisker returned to the lineup fully healthy in Week 10 and began making more impactful plays, including notching his first tackle for loss of the season, behind a disruptive defensive line. His first and only interception of the year came a couple weeks later, and Brisker turned in a performance for the ages when he tallied 17 total tackles, one forced fumble, and one pass breakup in their win against Detroit. He finished the season on a much higher note and will look to elevate his game even more in Year 3."

Chicago's overhauled offense should keep the team in more games this year, which should equate to more opportunities for big plays in the secondary.

The Bears also upgraded the deep safety spot in the offseason, swapping out veteran Eddie Jackson for Kevin Byard, whose arrival should mean more box snaps for Brisker in 2024—his more natural role.

All the focus may be on quarterback Caleb Williams, wide receiver Keenan Allen and the Bears offense, but don't be surprised if Brisker is in the conversation among the NFL's best young safeties by the time the 2024 season wraps up.