Every team has those players whose performances outstrip their name recognition for whatever reason. Maybe the team itself is so unspectacular, that getting attention from the nation is a fool’s errand. Maybe it’s someone who was buried on the depth chart until the coaches could really see the potential. It could be that the player in question has been below average before, and it takes a second for people to catch up with the fact that the ligt really did come on. Or, perhaps someone was disregarded in the draft, and had to bull his way up the ladder against all odds.
Regardless, at SB Nation, we like to recognize these players in our weekly “Secret Superstars” series. Every week, we’ll feature four underrated players, using tape, metrics, and quotes from the players themselves, as well as their coaches and teammates, to shine a light on people who really deserve that illumination, and haven’t received enough of it in line with what they’re doing on the field.
For Week 1, our four Secret Superstars are as follows; click the links to read the full profiles.
Washington Commanders RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt: Jacory Croskey-Merritt is the best Bill Washington D.C. has seen in a while
The Commanders certainly had faith. They traded Robinson to the San Francisco 49ers on August 22, and put Croskey-Merritt behind Ekeler on the depth chart. As Ekeler is more of a do-it-all back with heavy receiving chops as opposed to a true sustaining piece of the offense — that was Robinson’s gig — things lined up perfectly for the 5’11, 208-pound Croskey-Merritt (who got his “Bill” nickname as a kid due to an unfortunate haircut) to announce his presence with all kinds of authority.
Against the New York Giants in Washington’s 21-6 Week 1 win, Croskey-Merritt did just that, and he made it look easy against a defensive line that is among the league’s most talented. Overall, Croskey-Merritt ran the ball 10 times for 82 yards and a touchdown, and as an agent of the Pistol run game, he was lethal on snap after snap. All 10 of his runs came out of some sort of Pistol look, usually with blocking tight end John Bates (the best at what he does in the NFL) and new addition Deebo Samuel adding spice to the rice, Croskey-Merritt showed patience, decisiveness, horizontal quickness, vertical second-level speed, and the ability to run after contact you would expect out of a back with a lot more skins on the wall, and a much higher draft position.
Los Angeles Chargers WR Quentin Johnston: Quentin Johnston redeemed himself at the perfect time
Among receivers selected in the 2023 draft, Johnson came into the 2025 season ranked 13th in targets (163), 18th in receptions (93), 17th in receiving yards (1,142), and tied for third with 10 receiving touchdowns. One statistic that Johnson has had no issue with regarding the league leaders is drops — especially in the 2024 season, when he had six on 98 targets. Drop tendencies at this level generally don’t resolve themselves, and coming into Johnston’s third season, the deserved narrative was that this was a guy with all the physical gifts in the world, and little sense of how to unleash them.
Then came the Chargers’ 27-21 Week 1 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil, and Johnston’s first step in taking a sad song and making it better. Johnston’s stats weren’t of the OMG variety — he caught five passes on seven targets for 79 yards — but he did bring in two touchdowns, and he was responsible for more than one explosive play.
Perhaps most importantly, there wasn’t a single drop on the day. Johnston looked far more like the consistent weapon the Chargers hoped they’d get when they drafted him. The Chargers had Johnston rolling to the intermediate and deep levels a lot of the time — a nice show of faith which Johnston reciprocated with his efforts.
New York Jets QB Justin Fields: Justin Fields may be the franchise quarterback nobody expected
Fields was in for another career dip in the Steel City. He got starting reps early in the season while Russell Wilson recovered from injury, and then was summarily dismissed to the role of backup and occasional gadget player when Wilson returned to the stage.
Then, it was on to the new-look New York Jets under head coach Aaron Glenn and offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand, formerly the Detroit Lions’ pas game coordinator under Ben Johnson. As everybody reading this knows, the Jets haven’t exactly been on an all-time streak when it comes to great offensive minds in the building (Nathaniel Hackett? Really?), but the hope was that Engstrand could make the most out of Fields. The Jets were cautious with the equation; that’s why Fields only got a two-year, $40 million contract with $30 million guaranteed that made him one of the lowest-paid starting quarterbacks in the NFL.
Perhaps even the Jets didn’t completely expect what they got from Fields in his debut. Against a Steelers defense that ranked eighth in DVOA last season, Fields completed 16 of 22 passes for 218 yards, one touchdown, and four explosive passes…
…and as a runner (which most people would tell you is where his game starts and ends), Fields gained 48 yards and scored two touchdowns on 12 carries.
New England Patriots EDGE Harold Landry: Harold Landry turned up the heat in his first Patriots performance
The 2025 New England Patriots have been a cauldron of change. A new head coach in Mike Vrabel, a new (well, old and new) offensive coordinator in Josh McDaniels, a new defensive coordinator in Terrell Williams, and all kinds of new defensive talent with free agents Milton Williams, Robert Spillane, and Carlton Davis. All great potential additions, but in the Patriots’ 20-13 Week 1 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, it was another defensive addition, and a bit of an afterthought with all the other churn, who defined his role more than anybody else on the field.
That relative afterthought was edge-rusher Harold Landry, the former Tennessee Titan who signed a three-year, $43.5 million contract with $26 million guaranteed to add his talents to the equation. At his peak in the 2021 and 2023 seasons, Landry showed all the characteristics you want in an edge disruptor, but his career has also been interrupted by injuries.
Then came the season opener against the Raiders, and what Landry did to poor Las Vegas right tackle D.J. Glaze, and the rest of the right side of the Raiders’ offensive line. Landry had three sacks and eight total pressures in the game, all from the defensive left side, and whether he was looping inside to find the open gap, or simply abusing Glaze outside, the Raiders had no answers for him.
