underrated players – Syndication Server

Secret Superstars for Week 5 of the 2022 NFL season

Taysom Hill, Rhamondre Stevenson, Daymi Brown, Alijah Vera-Tucker, and Baron Browning are among Doug Farrar’s Secret Superstars for Week 5.

There are all kinds of reasons that NFL players are underrated and unsung.

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. Or, their efforts are relatively unnoticed among their more celebrated teammates. 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 5 of the 2022 regular season featured players at just about 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.

Rhamondre Stevenson, Dameon Pierce, Daymi Brown, Taysom Hill, Ethan Pocic, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Matt Judon, Baron Browning, Osa Odighizuwa, Teair Tart, Dre Greenlaw, Camerson Dantzler, and Caden Sterns are our Secret Superstars for Week 5 of the 2022 NFL season.

Here’s why each of them made the cut.

Chris Lindstrom named one of NFL’s most underrated players

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar included Falcons guard Chris Lindstrom on his list of the NFL’s most underrated offensive players.

Recognition is hard to come by in the NFL, especially if you’re not a quarterback, wide receiver or an assistant on Kyle Shanahan’s coaching staff.

Offensive linemen are oftentimes the most overlooked players despite how important they are to an offense’s overall success. As we learned in Super Bowl LVI, it doesn’t matter if your team has Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, if you can’t block Aaron Donald, it’s going to be a rough day.

This is what the Atlanta Falcons were thinking back in 2019 when they devoted nearly all of their resources to rebuild their offensive line. The team selected both Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary in the first round, and signed veteran free agents James Carpenter and Jamon Brown.

Unfortunately for former Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff, three of these four acquisitions never panned out. McGary has been inconsistent and the team recently declined his fifth-year option. Carpenter and Brown have both since been released, but Lindstrom has been a home run for Atlanta.

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar included Lindstrom on his list of the NFL’s most underrated offensive players. Farrar goes deep in his analysis of the former Boston College standout, touching on why his play has gone unnoticed and what he does well.

Who was the Jags’ unsung hero from 2021 season?

Jamal Agnew, who scored on the ground, through the air and as a returner this season, was among the team’s most underrated players.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were far from aggressive spenders in free agency last offseason despite possessing the most salary-cap space in the entire league, but they did add a handful of guys who were expected to be major contributors. Players like Marvin Jones Jr., Shaquill Griffin, and Roy Robertson-Harris all had varying levels of efficacy this year, but none of them had the biggest impact among the new additions.

That honor goes to receiver and return specialist Jamal Agnew, according to NFL Network’s Nick Shook, who listed Agnew as Jacksonville’s unsung hero in 2021. The former Detroit Lion was brought in as a returner, but with D.J. Chark Jr.’s season ending prematurely with a broken ankle, Agnew saw some snaps on offense before suffering a season-ending injury himself.

Agnew didn’t play a full season and didn’t see a massive volume of touches in 2021, but he was certainly explosive, reaching 15-plus miles per hour on 22 special teams touches (tied for the 12th-most such occurrences in the NFL, per Next Gen Stats). Agnew found the end zone in three different scenarios — as a rusher, a receiver and a returner — and provided sparks for the talent-poor Jaguars in a difficult season.

Agnew scored twice on returns, once on a kick return in Week 2 and again on a kick-six the following week. In the passing game, he totaled 229 yards and a touchdown on 24 catches. His addition was often overlooked this past offseason, but the converted corner had to do it all for the Jags this season.

His return in 2022 should shore up Jacksonville’s return game, but it will also give the team an option at receiver if things get desperate once again.

Who is Texas’ most under-the-radar player this season?

Longhorns Wire compiled a roundtable discussion to make their case for which Texas player is currently flying under the radar.

It’s time for another Longhorns Wire roundtable discussion. Continue reading “Who is Texas’ most under-the-radar player this season?”

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