There is no more valuable position in football than quarterback.
This is why the last 11 NFL The MVP winners have been quarterbacks. However, every signal-caller – even MVP winners – needs help from others to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Super Bowl champions at the end of the season. With the league’s Wild Card Weekend finally here, let’s take a look at 10 of the most important contributors to their respective team’s success at positions other than quarterback.
The Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7) enter the playoffs with the NFL’s No. 8 defense (20.4), and a big part of the reason they have one of the best defenses in football is because the All-Pro defensive tackle Cameron Heyward has one of the highest scores. best years of his career at 35.
He is Pro Football Focus’ highest-rated defensive tackle (90.3 defensive rating) in the entire league due to his overall impact. Heyward’s 11 passes defensed this season is a career high, and the same number as Denver Broncos All-Pro corner Pat Surtain II, Cowboys All-Pro corner Trevon Diggs, Miami Dolphins All-Pro corner Jalen Ramsey and Green Bay Packers Pro Bowl safety Xavier McKinney have all done it in 2024. If Pittsburgh has a chance to upset the AFC North champion Baltimore Ravens and achieve a playoff race, it will be because Heyward exhausts all the gas he has left. its tank.
Yes, the 35-year-old version of Travis Kelce isn’t playing at the Pro Bowl and All-Pro level we’re used to. His 823 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns are career lows in seasons in which he played in multiple games. However, Kelce, in tandem with Patrick Mahomes, remain the league’s bogeymen for the Chiefs’ offense, back-to-back Super Bowl champions.
It may not always be pretty, but when it’s third or late in the game, there aren’t many others more reliable when it comes to moving the chains or entering in the end zone, especially in the playoffs. Only GOAT receiver Jerry Rice (2,245 receiving yards in the playoffs) has more receiving yards in the playoffs than Kelce’s 1,903.
8. Xavier McKinney, S, Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers defense has generated just 18 takeaways in 17 regular season games in 2023, which ranks 23rd out of 32 teams in the league. This season, the Packers have forced 31 putbacks, the fourth-most in the entire NFL. What caused such a jump? Well, they went from former defensive coordinator Joe Barry and his more passive, zone-oriented scheme to current defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s more aggressive scheme which uses more blitzing and man coverage.
The biggest personnel difference between last season and this season was the Packers’ signing of former New York Giants safety Xavier McKinney. The 26-year-old earned his first Pro Bowl selection this season because of how he disrupted Hafley’s plan execution. McKinney’s nine takeaways in 2024, eight interceptions and one fumble recovery, are tied for first in the entire league with Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph, who generated all of his takeaways via interceptions.
His presence is arguably the main reason the Packers defense hasn’t collapsed with the absence of their top corner Jaire Alexander due to a knee injury. McKinney is still lurking and he could strike to create a game-changing play at any time.
Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton is the most complete defensive back in the NFL. He is PFF’s second-best overall safety (90.1 PFF defensive rating) while ranking as their third-best run safety (89.4 PFF run defense rating), third-best safety against the passing (89.0) and the fourth-best safety. in coverage (coverage level 87.9 PFF). There’s nothing he can’t do, which is why Hamilton is the ultimate defensive chess piece.
6. Josh Jacobs, running back, Green Bay Packers
Running back Josh Jacobs has given the Green Bay Packers some rushing production not seen around Lambeau Field since 2003: his 1,336 rushing yards are sixth in the NFL this season, and they are the most by a Packer since the franchise’s all-time greatest runner. Ahman Green had 1,883 rushing yards 21 years ago.
Jacobs’ 15 rushing touchdowns are fourth-most in the league, and his eight-game touchdown streak is the longest active streak in the NFL today. He is also tied for the longest such streak in Packers history, including the playoffs, with All-Pro receiver Davante Adams in 2020. The more Jacobs punishes a defense early, allows quarterback Jordan Love to later create explosive shots that provoke opponents. to type.
5. Chris Jones, DT, Kansas City Chiefs
For years, the Chiefs were propelled by the brilliance of Patrick Mahomes’ aerial assault, but that’s no longer the case. In 2024, Kansas City has the 15th-ranked offense (22.6 points per game) and the fourth-ranked defense (19.2). The biggest driver on this top-five unit is All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones. He hasn’t been as effective getting to the quarterback this season with just five sacks, but his pressure numbers remain consistent: His 74 quarterback pressures are the sixth-most in the entire NFL.
Jones is PFF’s highest-rated defensive tackle (91.0) and the third-highest-rated defensive tackle (89.7 PFF defensive rating) in the entire league. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s defense is built around the havoc Jones constantly creates.
No one was better at finding the end zone in 2024 than Detroit Lions second-year running back Jahmyr Gibbs: his 20 touchdowns from scrimmage led the entire NFL and broke a franchise record while his 16 touchdowns from scrimmage ground co-led the league with the Baltimore Ravens in rushing. fullback Derrick Henry and Buffalo Bills running back James Cook. Every time he touches the ball, he can take it home.
Gibbs’ 6.4 yards per scrimmage was the second-best in a single season in the 21st century, behind Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk’s 6.6 yards per scrimmage average during his 2000 MVP season. NFL. He’s also on a Barry Sanders-type device: Gibbs is the first Lion with 150 or more scrimmage yards in three consecutive games since Sanders in 1991, according to CBS Sports Research. These three games are part of Detroit’s last three regular season games in which fellow teammate David Montgomery has been sidelined with a knee injury. Gibbs plays his best when the Lions need him to.
How awesome is Justin Jefferson? Well, he’s averaging the most career receiving yards per game (96.5) in NFL history, and he’s made journeyman Sam Darnold look like a franchise quarterback. Darnold leads the NFL in completions (34) and completion percentage (49.3%) on throws of 20 or more air yards this season in his first season with the Vikings. Jefferson also has 1,533 receiving yards this season, which ranks second in the entire NFL, but they seem to be somewhat of a down year as that total is only the third-best in his five-year career of Jefferson. That’s how great he is.
Jefferson can also make one-handed leaping catches in the clutch, like this fourth-and-18 reception that held Minnesota in position to ultimately defeat the Bills in Buffalo 33-30 in overtime in Week 10 of the 2022 season There’s a strong case for this being the most spectacular catch of the 2020s. If this pass isn’t caught, the Vikings lose. In these playoffs, Jefferson is the most game-changing wide receiver.
2. Derrick Henry, running back, Baltimore Ravens
Yes, he’s 30, but Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry still has it. His 1,921 rushing yards are the most in NFL history in a season by a player 30 or older. He co-led the NFL in rushing touchdowns with 16 to set a Ravens single-season record and he still has his breakaway speed. Henry is one of the main reasons why his quarterback Lamar Jackson is the most efficient quarterback in the NFL, leading the NFL with a passer rating of 119.6 – the fourth best in a season in the NFL history. He took the weight of needing to be the Ravens’ best defender off Jackson’s shoulders, allowing Baltimore’s offense to reach new heights.
Close your eyes. What comes to mind when you think of the 14-3 Philadelphia Eagles? For many, it’s the NFL’s best runner, Saquon Barkley, and Philadelphia’s star-studded offensive line. Barkley is obviously having a special year: he is only the ninth player in NFL history to pass for more than 2,000 yards (2,005) in a single season.
A big factor in Barkley’s rise this season is his stacked offensive line. His 2.64 yards before contact per carry led the NFL in 2024, and that average represented a major increase from his average of 1.35 yards before contact per carry with the New York Giants from 2018 to 2023. The Giants in this metric was 12th best in the NFL among 26 running backs with at least 700 carries from 2018-2023.
Barkley also makes a big difference. D’Andre Swift, the Eagles’ star running back last season, also led the NFL in yards before contact per carry with an average of 2.16 in 2023, but that’s just under half a yard less with what was an even bigger Eagles offensive line looking forward. Hall of Famer Jason Kelce is still playing. The difference Barkley makes for his offense and defense — the Eagles led the NFL in time of possession per game (32 minutes, 22 seconds on average) — is why he’s the most successful non-quarterback most valuable of the next playoffs.
