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 AFC Secret Superstars for Week 5 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).
Things did not look good at all for the Baltimore Ravens at a certain point on Sunday night. Lamar Jackson was out with a sprained left ankle, and though Tyler "Snoop" Huntley is rightly regarded as one of the NFL's better backup quarterbacks, Huntley was doing his thing against an Atlanta Falcons defense that came into Sunday Night Football tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Las Vegas Raiders for the fifth-lowest EPA per play allowed at -0.01.
In Baltimore's first nine drives, Atlanta's Shark Week defense created a pressure rate of 53.8%, and in those first nine drives, Huntley completed 13 of 21 passes for 121 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, a passer rating of 93.6, and an EPA per play of -0.39.
Down 23-15 with 2:17 left in regulation and with first-and-20 at his own 19-yard line after a holding penalty on offensive lineman Emery Jones Jr., Huntley went off as few could have expected.
In the drive that tied the game at 23-23, and in the overtime drive that eventually won the game 30-23, Huntley completed all 11 passes he threw for 80 yards, another touchdown, no interceptions, a passer rating of 127.3, and an EPA per play of +0.72. Oh, and he also pushed his way into the end zone with 3:01 left in overtime for the winning touchdown. All the Ravens had to do then was to wait for Tua Tagovailoa to throw a soul-crushing interception, and Tagovailoa complied .
When it was all over, Huntley had become the only player in pro football history to go 10-for-10 or more with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown in the final two minutes of regulation plus overtime.
Ever.
"Snoop' is just like one of the coolest dudes," Ravens head coach Jesse Minter said. "He doesn't really get rattled. He's just always the same, and he keeps such a good demeanor about him, [and] keeps his composure. He said, 'Hey man, all we're going to do is try and go 1-0 this week.' That's what he told me right before the game. And he just did his job, and he did it at a high level. I told the guys last night, 'There's not a locker room in the NFL that has more confidence in their backup quarterback than our guys have in Snoop.' So, he did a great job. He played really well, played with more and more confidence as the game went on and as the moments got bigger, which is really cool to see."
Defensive lineman Calais Campbell, who has seen just about everything in his 19-year career, agreed.
"I am very proud of [Huntley], man. We always rally behind him. We know what he can do. When he is locked in and playing his game, he could beat anybody. He could put points up on anybody. We put 30 points on the board on a really good defense tonight. It took overtime, but he just kept making the surgical throw in the crucial moment. [On] third-and-shorts [and] third-and-longs, [he] just kept making the throws, and [he] never flinched. Bad things happen, adversity happens, [but] it is football. [You] just line up and play the next play.
"Tyler Huntley, man, anytime he is in the game, I have confidence."
It's incredibly valuable to have the right backup quarterback, and in Huntley — the seven-year veteran from Utah who has won all three games he's pitched in relief for the Ravens over the last two seasons — Baltimore has just such a player.
Everybody in the building agrees, and everybody in the building is right.
In five seasons with the Cal Poly Mustangs from 2020-2024, edge-rusher Elijah Ponder did his best to up his profile, totaling 25 sacks and 151 pressures in his collegiate career. But you know how it is with a lot of smaller-school guys — they get lost in the shuffle. Evidently, smaller schools don't even exist anymore to the Big Brains over at College GameDay .
Okay, rant over. In any case, I wasn't really familiar with Ponder's game until I was talking to various members of the Patriots' defense during Super Bowl week , and his name kept coming up. The undrafted free agent made an impression in a rookie season with four sacks and 24 pressures in 210 pass-rushing snaps, and he was evidently on the verge.
Well, the verge has arrived in Year 2. The 6'3", 245-pound Ponder has five sacks and 18 pressures this season in just 125 pass-rushing snaps, and he's coming off a two-sack, five-pressure game against the Las Vegas Raiders — a 45-17 thrashing for the Patriots.
"Yeah, for sure," Ponder said last week when asked if his second-year growth is real (as if you couldn't see it on the tape). "As an undrafted rookie, you go in not knowing what to expect. You want to be there, you want to make the team, you want to make sure you learn all the things you need to learn, and apply them on the field to the best of your ability. I was a lot more, at least for me, in my head [as a rookie]."
Ponder has the tools to remain among the most productive and disruptive edge defenders in the NFL, and the time to buy stock is now.
Through his first three seasons and four games of his NFL career, 2023 third-round Bengals safety Jordan Battle allowed 62 catches on 90 targets for 901 yards, six touchdowns, seven interceptions, six pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 91.0. Not bad for the Alabama alum, but not exactly Top 10 among deep safeties. So, in the week leading up to Cincinnati's Sunday game against the Miami Dolphins, it was interesting to see Battle go all forensic on the tells that Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis gives to enemy defenses.
"He has a little slight little tap before every throw though, so I feel like we could use that as a key to break on the ball," Battle said. "He likes to tap the ball before he throws it, or he takes his hand off, and that gives the read [for] the break. He's obviously dangerous with his feet. We know we've got to be alert for that. Third-and-longs, they will run quarterback draws, and in the passing game, he will extend plays. So we got to be good downfield. DBs are plastering, so we got to be alert for that. He will take chances. We just got to be on, be alert on guys where they line up."
So, Battle had done his homework, and it paid off. In Cincinnati's 31-24 win that brought them to 3-2 on the season, Battle was targeted once, allowing no catches, and two interceptions. We can forever debate whether or not Willis was giving anything away — Battle's first interception was on a pass deflected by Boye Mafe — but whatever Battle was doing in the film room, it showed up at the right times.
"Just a scramble drill, and just seeing him look down the field, and I'm just trying to get in the area — get in the position to make a play," Battle said of his second interception.
Battle wasn't just about the picks in this game. He also got Willis for a near-sack (a zero-yard gain) when he came down from the deep third in the first quarter, and he hurried Willis in the fourth quarter — albeit on Willis' three-yard touchdown pass to receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. with 7:19 remaining.
Overall, it was quite the complete game for the fourth-year man.
"Very good," Battle said when asked how it felt. "Obviously, we're back in the win column. That's what we wanted to do coming to this week."
The Bengals' defense has been on the upswing this season, and Battle's informed actions helped a ton on Sunday.
