Superstars may lead the discussion when it comes to success in the NFL, but more often than not, it's the guys you barely know who will make the plays needed when they're needed. Such players can be underrated for all kinds of reasons. Perhaps they're playing in a smaller market, and the media isn't appropriately trumpeting their exploits. Maybe they're hidden in a depth chart behind bigger names who may not be doing as much. Or, it's always possible that a wayward coach hasn't quite figured out that one guy needs elevation to bring better results to the team.
Whatever the reason, we at SB Nation always like to bring the underrated names to you with the offseason Hidden Gems and in-season Secret Superstars series. You can also catch up on the AFC and NFC Secret Superstars for the 2026 season right here .
Here are our NFC Secret Superstars for Week 8 of the 2026 regular season. And if you haven't yet, download the new SB Nation app , so you can better read our stuff and join the conversation wherever you are!
(All advanced metrics courtesy of Next Gen Stats , Pro Football Focus , Sports Info Solutions , and Sumer Sports unless otherwise indicated).
Baseball delineates its pitchers very specifically between starters and relievers. There are times when I think that NFL teams should do the same thing. If your quarterback is struggling to start a game, why should he automatically be able to finish it without question? Arizona head coach Mike LaFleur ran into this situation when his team went up against the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday. Starter Jacoby Brissett completed just 10 of 23 passes for 119 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, four sacks, and a passer rating of 41.8. When that's all you can do against a Dallas defense that should apologize for even taking the field every week, it's time to sub your starter out.
Which is what LaFleur did. Backup Gardner Minshew took his first snap of the day with 1:35 left in the third quarter with the Cardinals down 17-3, and things were never the same from there. Minshew tore through that alleged defense as it should be, completing 17 of 23 passes for 188 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 137.3. Everything Brissett struggled with, Minshew had on the ball right away, and that's how the Cardinals erased a major deficit to win the game in overtime, 33-30.
"Yeah, he did a good job," LaFleur said of Minshew after the win. "Obviously, extended a few plays, stuff like that, but I thought his timing was great. I mean, he's had a lot of success in this league, guys, and he's about as resilient as they come, too. If you ask Gardner Minshew, I mean, he's ready at all times. And I thought the guys made some plays for him, and he was getting the ball out of his hands. Obviously, kind of what unlocked it to start was — it starts with a six-yard completion to [receiver Devin] Duvernay, and then we obviously have that long run by TA [running back Tyler Allgeier] to unlock and loosened them up. That's why you need explosives and big plays, because it loosens people up."
Apparently, Minshew did enough to loosen everybody up, because it was reported on Monday that he'll be the starter going forward. That can be a bumpy ride, as Minshew has proven throughout his career, but LaFleur had no choice. When the Cowboys' defense has you on pause, it's time to make a change.
"I think [Minshew] kind of showed all of us in terms of him going out there being the competitor that he is," LaFleur said on Monday after the decision was made. "Doesn't shock me. The production was pretty wild in terms of the amount of points and just moving up and down the field, but he's a competitor and he's always prepared. He's preparing like he's the starter. He's preparing like he's going to be in there for whatever snap. He supported Jacoby at a high level too. He's been a great backup for him. He's been great for the room and [I] look forward to the challenge that we have this week with him."
Nobody had any right to expect what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did to the Atlanta Falcons last Sunday. Coming into Week 8, Jeff Ulbrich's Falcons defense was tied for third in the NFL in opponent EPA per rush at -.016, tied with the Seattle Seahawks, behind only the Jacksonville Jaguars (-0.21) and the San Francisco 49ers (-0.18).
So, how on Earth did the Bucs run 56 times for 324 yards against that estimable defense? Especially with Baker Mayfield failing to complete a single pass? The game was played in monsoon-like conditions, but it started with backs Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell. In the Bucs' 16-0 win, Irving ran 27 times for 170 yards, a touchdown, seven forced missed tackles, and five runs of 10 or more yards. Gainwell ran 25 times for 140 yards, nine forced missed tackles, and five runs of 10 or more yards.
It was an ass-kicking from start to finish.
The numbers, per NFL Research and Next Gen Stats, were astonishing.
The Buccaneers became the first team in 52 seasons (Buffalo on Sept. 29, 1974) to win a game with no pass completions and the first team in 20 years (Houston on Dec. 3, 2006) to win a game with zero-or-fewer net passing yards.
Irving and Gainwell became the first pair of teammates in 50 seasons and the fourth pair of teammates in NFL history each with at least 20 rushing attempts and 125 rushing yards in the same game, joining San Francisco's Wilbur Jackson and Delvin Williams (Nov. 29, 1976), Cleveland's Pro Football Hall of Fame duo of Jim Brown and Bobby Mitchell (Dec. 13, 1959), and the Los Angeles Rams' Ron Waller and Tank Younger (Dec. 4, 1955).
Per Next Gen Stats, the Buccaneers called a designed run on 90.0% of plays against the Falcons, the highest rate in a single game since 2021 and the 2nd-highest rate in a game in the NGS era.
"I thought we did a good job until the fourth quarter," Falcons safety Jessie Bates said of his team's run-stopping efforts. "The first three quarters I really thought we contained, and I think that fourth quarter it really got out of hand. That's what happens. You have to bring your hard hat and be able to stop the run, and we didn't do that. Their defense did a good job of stopping our run, so that's what it comes down to at the end of the day."
Well, that's not quite true — Tampa Bay's rushing yards were pretty evenly distributed by quarter (68, 83, 98, and 80 yards), though the Bucs ran the ball 19 times in the final 15 minutes. Overall, they threw just about every run concept at Atlanta's defense — at least 16.1% inside zone, outside zone, man, and counter — and Atlanta, quite unusually, had no answers.
Bates had all kinds of good things to say about Irving, who has run the ball 147 times this season for 748 yards, five touchdowns, 31 forced missed tackles, and 16 runs of 10 or more yards.
"He's not your traditional back. He is almost similar to our No. 7 [Bijan Robinson] over here – you think the play is over. They run these duo runs that are supposed to hit downhill, and you've gotta cover every single gap with No. 7 [Irving]. Like I said, I thought we did a good job containing them up until a couple big runs that he had. Much respect to those guys, and we will see them again."
The rematch happens in Week 16 on Sunday, December 27. We'll see if the Buccaneers will have re-installed their passing game by then, or if they want to just go ground-and-pound until somebody (anybody) can stop them.
The Green Bay Packers have risen from 19th in Defensive DVOA in the 2025 season to fourth through Week 8 in 2026 under new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, who replaced Jeff Hafley when Hafley became the Miami Dolphins' head coach. And they've done that with missing pieces on the roster. Micah Parsons has been out the entire season so far with the torn ACL he suffered last December, and linebackers Edgerrin Cooper (season-ending ruptured Achilles tendon) and Zaire Franklin (hairline shin fracture) have also been missed.
The good news for the Packers Gannon is how well the "replacements" have stepped in. And among those understudies, it's tough to imagine anybody doing better than linebacker Ty'Ron Hopper, the 2024 third-round pick from Missouri by way of Florida, who has seen his snap counts and importance to Gannon's defense spike up considerably of late.
Hopper had just 151 total snaps in 2024 and 2025 combined; he's already exceeded that by 60 this season. And he was never better than in Green Bay's 27-19 win over the Carolina Panthers last Thursday night. In that game, Hopper totaled one sack, four pressures, six solo tackles, three pass breakups, and an interception.
With that, Hopper became the first Packers player since Hall of Famer Charles Woodson in 2009 to record three pass breakups, a sack, and an interception in the same game.
"Ty'Ron Hopper. I can't say enough great things about him," Matt LaFleur said postgame. "The night he had. I think, what? Sack, PBU, interception? What a great performance. I think that's something that we did see coming more so in the pre season. I can't say enough about the job that obviously [linebackers coach] Sam Siefkes does with our inside linebackers to get them ready, and I just see a lot of growth from that group. They're playing really well."
The Packers' defense has been great already, and with Micah Parsons estimated to be back to practicing this week? It might be a whole lot better. In the meantime, guys like Hopper and recent Secret Superstar Evan Williams have been holding it down with authority.
