Jauan Jennings, Kerby Joseph among NFL Secret Superstars for Week 11
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 âSecret Superstars.â This week, we have a running back who is finally thriving with a clean bill of health, two pass-rushers who are crucial to defenses moving in different directions, and two defensive backs who are showing up in highly unexpected ways.
J.K. Dobbins, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
Dobbins was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the second round of the 2020 draft out of Ohio State, and he spent his first four NFL seasons as part of Baltimoreâs stable of pre-Derrick Henry running backs. Injuries limited his potential with the team, especially the torn ACL he suffered in the 2021 preseason that put him out for that entire regular season, and Dobbins gained just 22 yards and scored one rushing touchdown on eight carries in 2023.
But former Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who became Jim Harbaughâs sidekick with the Chargers before the 2024 season, didnât forget what Dobbins might bring to the field when healthy. The Chargers signed Dobbins to a one-year, $1.6 million contract this offseason, and thatâs turned into one of the NFLâs biggest bargains. Through 10 games and eight starts this season, Dobbins already has 726 yards and eight rushing touchdowns on 152 carries. Heâs forced 32 missed tackles, tied for 12th in the league with Detroitâs David Montgomery, and he has nine rushing attempts of 15 yards or more.
Dobbins made all the difference in the Chargersâ thrilling 34-27 Sunday win over the Cincinnati Bengals â a victory that put the team at 7-3 on the season. He had just 56 yards on 11 carries, but he also ran for two touchdowns â a one-yard vertical special in the second quarter, and the game-winning 26-yarder with 26 seconds left on the clock.
J.K. Dobbins vs. the Bengals:
— Goes all Walter Payton Airborne for his first TD
— Breaks out of multiple defenders for a WTF 15-yard run
— Ices the game with 26 seconds left (the jump cuts!)
Not bad at all. pic.twitter.com/zEuCU8mUGE
â Doug Farrar â (@NFL_DougFarrar) November 19, 2024
Like a lot of Chargers players this season, Dobbins is benefiting from an ideal combination of circumstance and coaching, and after several unfortunate false starts to his career, heâs making the most of it.
Jauan Jennings, WR, San Francisco 49ers
Itâs hard to keep track of all the 49ersâ offensive playmakers. Between Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk, anyone else might be minimized just because there are so many ahead of them on the list. This has been the case for receiver Jauan Jennings, the 2020 seventh-round pick out of Tennessee. Last Sunday, San Francisco couldnât quite get by the Seattle Seahawks in a 20-17 loss, but Jennings did everything he could for a more optimal result. He caught 10 passes on 11 targets for 91 yards and a touchdown, winning on everything from quick pivot routes to zone-busting slants.
Jauan Jennings has always given me an Anquan Boldin (Ravens/49ers version) vibe. Not the fastest guy, but he knows how to separate, he’s Godzilla on contested catches, and if you want to tackle him, you’d better mean it. pic.twitter.com/cuFqfx5X49
â Doug Farrar â (@NFL_DougFarrar) November 19, 2024
Anquan Boldin is a potential Hall of Famer based primarily on his work with the Arizona Cardinals from 2003 through 2009. But later in his career, both with the Baltimore Ravens under John Harbaugh and the 49ers under Jim Harbaugh, Boldin remained a beast to cover despite the fact that he didnât have the same speed and athletic separation ability. How? He adjusted to being a bully at the catch point, a route chef par excellence, and someone you really didnât want to tackle. While the rest of Kyle Shanahanâs stars were suffering at the hands of Seattleâs suddenly stout pass defense, Jennings did what he does â he went full late-career Boldin, and won over and over with pure physical dominance.
Tuli Tuipulotu, EDGE, Los Angeles Chargers
With head coach Brandon Staley as the primary shot-caller, the 2023 Chargers defense ranked 26th in Defensive DVOA. Now, with new defensive coordinator Jesse Minter running things, theyâve moved up to 10th. Itâs a nice jump, and there are a lot of reasons for it. One is the play of second-year edge-rusher Tuli Tuipulotu, selected in the second round of the 2023 draft out of USC.
Itâs not that Tuipulotu needed Minter to get on the good foot in the NFL â he had eight sacks and 51 total pressures in his rookie season. But now, in this drastically improved defense, Tuipulotu has upped his game to an entirely new level. This has been especially true over the Chargersâ last three games, in which heâs led the entire NFL in both sacks and total pressures. Heâs already matched his rookie sack total.
Who has the most sacks (seven) and total pressures (19) in the NFL over the last three weeks?
That would be @chargers EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu, who is wreaking utter havoc everywhere right now. pic.twitter.com/mlPHuB0xc1
â Doug Farrar â (@NFL_DougFarrar) November 19, 2024
At 6-foot-4 and 266 pounds, Tuipulotu combines the power of a 280-pound man with the rushing speed and flexibility of a 240-pound man. Itâs an estimable mix, and one the Chargersâ opponents are learning to feel â and fear.
Odafe Oweh, EDGE, Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens havenât exactly thrived in the transition from Mike Macdonald to Zach Orr as defensive coordinator. Theyâve dropped from first in Defensive DVOA in 2023 to 13th this season, and the tape shows a defense that seems more vulnerable than even the metrics show.
(In 2024, this is what is known as Reverse Chargering).
Baltimoreâs defense was decent enough against the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday â the Ravens lost the game 18-16 â but they also turned Russell Wilson into a pumpkin, and Baltimoreâs weirdness was mostly on offense and special teams.
In the matter of the Ravensâ defensive improvement this time around, we can begin with Odafe Oweh, the fourth-year pass-rusher from Penn State who has enjoyed three pretty good seasons, and is going all the way off the hook in Year 4. Oweh already has a career-high seven sacks, and three of those came in the Steelers game. Neither Dan Moore Jr., Pittsburghâs left tackle, nor Brderick Jones, Pittsburghâs right tackle, had any answers for him.
The @Ravens may have lost to the @steelers on Sunday, but that certainly wasn’t Odafe Oweh’s fault. Oweh had Dan Moore and Broderick Jones in hell all day with a full array of pass-rush moves. Two sacks and five total pressures tell the story. pic.twitter.com/zQGbY9NEC1
â Doug Farrar â (@NFL_DougFarrar) November 19, 2024
If the Ravens are to reverse their defensive issues, theyâll need consistent quarterback pressure, and Oweh is on point to provide it.
Mike Sainristil, CB, Washington Commanders
The Commandersâ 2024 draft is about more than just quarterback Jayden Daniels, though Daniels has been the obvious centerpiece. Defensive tackle Johnny Newton, tight end Ben Sinnott, left tackle Brandon Coleman, and receiver Luke McCaffrey have all made contributions. But the biggest surprise of this draft class might be Michigan cornerback Mike Sainristil.
Sainristil was taken with the 50th overall pick in the second round because he was an absolute demon with the Wolverines. But at 5-foot-10 and 182 pounds, Sainristil was perceived as limited to the slot by a lot of analysts, and that bore out from his collegiate career â he had 985 slot snaps, and 178 outside. But under new head coach and defensive mastermind Dan Quinn, the Commanders have had more than their share of issues with their existing outside cornerbacks, and Sainristil started to get more reps there in Week 3.
The transition has been a smooth one, and this was especially the case in Washingtonâs Week 11 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Sainristil allowed two catches on five targets for 31 yards, 17 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, two pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 61.3.
The Commanders recently traded for New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore to shore up their outside deficits, but Lattimore isnât yet healthy enough to take the field. In the interim, Sainristil â who has never allowed an opponent passer rating higher than 100.0 in nine games as an outside cornerback â seems to have found his niche in a way few expected.
Kerby Joseph, Safety, Detroit Lions
Since weâre on the subject of defensive backs who have risen in unexpected ways, how about Kerby Joseph? The Lions took Joseph in the third round of the 2022 draft out of Illinois, and Josephâs rookie season was pretty rough. He did have four interceptions and four pass breakups, but he also allowed five touchdowns and an opponent passer rating of 89.2.
Since then, though, Joseph has been about as lockdown as youâll find among NFL safeties. He hasnât allowed a touchdown in each of the last two seasons, and teamed with fellow safety Brian Branch, who the Lions stole in the second round of the 2023 draft, Joseph mans half of the leagueâs best and most opportunistic deep-third duo. No player regardless of position has more interceptions over the last three seasons than Joseph, and he can also drive down from the box or the slot to take running backs right out of their rhythms.
He showed that once again in Detroitâs 52-6 thrashing of the Jacksonville Jaguars last Sunday.
Since his rookie season of 2022, safety Kerby Joseph of the @Lions has the most interceptions (15) in the NFL. Joseph hasn’t allowed a touchdown in coverage since Week 15 of the 2022 season.
He can also throw running backs ass-over-teakettle at the line of scrimmage. pic.twitter.com/VgZJMO59QE
â Doug Farrar â (@NFL_DougFarrar) November 19, 2024
Everybody talks about the Lionsâ offense, and for good reason. But Detroit currently ranks second in Defensive DVOA, and first in Weighted Defensive DVOA, which takes recent games more into consideration. That wouldnât be the case without Joseph, who has allowed 10 catches on 20 targets for 144 yards, 42 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, seven (!!!) interceptions, a pass breakup, and an opponent passer rating of 34.2.
That Lions defense is filled with Secret Superstars because the offense is so bright. But starting with Kerby Joseph, you can bet that itâs not at all a secret to the rest of the NFL.
