Will Levis, Bucky Irving among Secret Superstars for Week 10

Yes, THAT Will Levis.

As any NFL season progresses, there will be more unheralded players who rise up from humble beginnings to become factors, and guys whose careers have gone sideways who somehow find the road back to relevance.

We like to celebrate these players every week in “Secret Superstars.” This week, we have a 38-year-old guy who looked half his age, a quarterback who showed a ton under duress, and both Defensive Players of the Week.

Will Levis, QB, Tennessee Titans

The Titans selected Will Levis in the second round of the 2023 draft out of Kentucky with the hope that he could be the team’s next true franchise quarterback. Through Levis’ first 1.5 seasons, it hasn’t quite worked that way. Between his required development as a thrower and field-reader, and his penchant for YOLO plays that bring reckless quarterbacks from Brett Favre to Jameis Winston to mind, Levis has not ascended to where people would like him to be. When Levis suffered a shoulder injury in Week 5 against the Indianapolis Colts and missed the next three games, that could only further hamper his growth, right?

Maybe not. Against the Los Angeles Chargers’ multi-faceted defense in his Week 10 return, Levis looked like a different guy. He was less prone to bail when he didn’t need to, he had more authority as a passer navigating coverage concepts, and when he did take off on designed runs, there was more logic to it, as opposed to the usual shipwreck stuff.

Levis couldn’t pull his team to a win – the Titans were on the wrong end of a 27-17 score – but he completed 18 of 23 passes for 175 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, a passer rating of 127.4, and a passing EPA of +2.6. The stats won’t blow you away, but when you watch Levis’ tape here, he put some things together he hadn’t before.

Levis was sacked seven times in this game, and he does still need to learn how to get out of danger more than he does… but it’s also true that Tennessee’s offensive line is not generally good for quarterback health.

Still, this seems like something Levis can build on.

Bucky Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In 2023, only Derrick Henry had more carries in the regular season (280) than Rachaad White’s 272. So, when the Buccaneers switched offensive coordinators from Dave Canales to Liam Coen once Canales became the Carolina Panthers’ head coach, one could be forgiven for thinking that White would once again carry most of the mail in Tampa Bay’s run game.

Not so fast. The Bucs selected Oregon running back Bucky Irving in the fourth round of the 2024 draft, and Irving has turned White’s certainty as Tampa Bay’s leading rusher into a serious question. Irving has 96 carries this season for 492 yards (5.1 yards per carry), and four touchdowns. 363 of his rushing yards have come after contact, and he has seven runs of 15 or more yards. White’s 80 carries for 306 yards (3.8 YPC), one touchdown, 238 yards after contact, and three runs of 15 or more yards? Well, this is why it’s a discussion.

Based on his 5’10, 195-pound frame, and his penchant for speed outside the tackles, some might have pegged Irving as a scatback with limited juice in power situations. The tape tells a different story. Irving is a tenacious runner for his size, and his 30 forced missed tackles this season (tied for ninth-most in the league with Chuba Hubbard, David Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Saquon Barkley) tell the truth.

Coen and the Bucs don’t need to make Irving their primary guy; they have a nice rotation with him, White, and Sean Tucker. But the best guy is eventually going to get the most work on any smart team, and based on Irving’s body of work so far, he’s trending in the right direction.

Kobie Turner, DI, Los Angeles Rams

I loved Wake Forest defensive tackle Kobie Turner’s tape, and when he totaled 11 sacks and 48 total pressures in his rookie season after the Rams took him in the third round of the 2023 draft, I voted for him to receive the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Will Anderson Jr. of the Houston Texans won it, and well-deserved there, but Turner’s tape was singularly ferocious.

Now, Turner is absolutely proving that he was no one-year wonder. He already has five sacks and 34 total pressures this season on a Rams defensive line that has become a massive problem for opposing quarterbacks and ballcarriers with the additions of Florida State rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske. As impressive as the first-year guys have been, there are times when Turner just hits another gear, and he becomes the force multiplier in Los Angeles’ ever-improving squad under defensive coordinator Chris Shula and defensive line coach Giff Smith.

That was the case in Week 9 against the Seattle Seahawks’ awful offensive line, when Turner had a sack and seven total pressures, and it was just as much the case against the Miami Dolphins on Monday night, despite the Rams’ 23-15 loss. Turner had a sack (nearly three or four), three total pressures, and six stops. Whether addressing the run or the pass game, Turner was an agent of destruction, and it’s been that way throughout his brief career. Don’t expect that to change anytime soon.

Calais Campbell, DL, Miami Dolphins

Calais Campbell played his first regular-season game on September 7, 2008 after the Arizona Cardinals selected him in the second round of the 2008 draft out of Miami. 17 seasons later, and at age 38, Campbell is still bringing it. Now with the Dolphins on a one-year, $2 million contract, Campbell is still playing at a starting level when most (ex-)players his age are well into their broadcasting, analysis, or podcasting careers.

Against the Los Angeles Rams last Monday night in a crucial 23-15 Dolphins win, Campbell had a sack, two quarterback hurries, two passes batted at the line of scrimmage, and two stops. Basically, he was demolishing blockers all over the line, and he became Matthew Stafford’s worst nightmare.

“Well, it is monumental for me to have those teammates where you can lean on those guys to understand what needs to be done and to help,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said postgame of Campbell’s efforts – and the presence of cornerback Jalen Ramsey as well. “The best leadership that exists is within the locker room. So, the quality of players, where the things they’ve done and continue to do in their careers, the teammates can’t help but listen and follow suit so that when you talk about the standard of how you go into a game where your record, you may feel as though it doesn’t indicate the quality of the team. It’s so important for the team to be able to execute and show that, if they feel that way. You really need veteran players to really guide you through the adversity of the NFL season, and I think that’s paramount. I think that was on display tonight for us.”

It may be too late for the 3-6 Dolphins to make noise in the postseason, but if it isn’t, don’t be surprised if Calais Campbell continues his remarkable career by leading the team back to posterity.

Zack Baun, LB, Philadelphia Eagles

Sometimes all you need is that one coach who sees you for who you really are as a player. If that coach can then amplify your attributes in the right situations, you may indeed become a Secret Superstar over time. That’s what has happened to Eagles linebacker Zack Baun. The New Orleans Saints selected Baun in the third round of the 2020 draft out of Wisconsin, and he was mostly a bit player for four seasons. Then, the Eagles signed him to a one-year, $3.5 million deal this offseason with a very specific purpose in mind.

It was a purpose that defensive coordinator Vic Fangio wanted to expand after speaking with Eagles Executive Vice President/General Manager Howie Roseman.

“When I evaluate players, there’s no check box, things you check off,” Fangio recently said of his process. “You just watch the tape, watch the movement patterns, watch the player play.

Howie brought him up to me first, but he had a vision for him as a backup outside linebacker/special teams demon. And after I watched it, I said no, I think he’s an inside linebacker. Luckily, it hit.”

It really did. Baun has played at the line and as an outside linebacker to a point, but his knack for making plays has been exactly what Fangio envisioned.

Not that the Eagles needed Baun’s efforts to beat the daylights out of the Dallas Cowboys 34-6 last Sunday, but Baun was his usual demonic self with several big tackles, and two forced fumbles. He is the first NFL player since Week 14, 2021 (Mike Hughes for the Kansas City Chiefs) with eight tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in a game. For his efforts, Baun was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week, so maybe the secret is out.

One good player + one coach’s vision = one great player. Go figure!

Taron Johnson, CB, Buffalo Bills

Baun isn’t the only Secret Superstar on this list to win his conference’s Defensive Player of the Week award. Bills cornerback Taron Johnson did the same in the AFC based on his performance in Buffalo’s 30-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday.

Johnson had a sack and a 23-yard interception-return touchdown in Buffalo’s 30-20 Week 10 win at Indianapolis, which makes him the only player this season to have two passes defensed, an interception-return touchdown and a sack in a game.

Johnson’s pick-six came on Indy’s first offensive play of the game, which makes you think he was ready to jump on something.

That was exactly the case.

It’s possible that the play Johnson referred to was Tyreek Hill’s 19-yard catch against Johnson and the Bills in Week 9. Johnson drove down instead of dropping into intermediate coverage, and that gave Hill the easy catch with no underneath defender.

As one might expect, head coach Sean McDermott was impressed with the turnaround.

“He’s one of our leaders,” McDermott said of Johnson postgame. “When you lead by example – everyone is going to make mistakes, but when you can learn from it, this is quite honestly a copycat league where people try the same plays sometimes week-to-week. And right away, the first play was one of those plays, and he picked it.”

That wasn’t all he did, but Johnson did a ton to stack wins on his well-deserved reputation as one of the NFL’s most dynamic slot defenders in this game.