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 6 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).

“Jaylin has come along. I think with any receivers, any guys who touch the football, when you touch it enough and you make some big plays… that’s what Jaylin did in college a lot at Iowa State. You saw him making a lot of big plays, and over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been able to get him in those spots and opportunities to make big plays. He’s come down with the football, made those plays, and when you do that, it builds the confidence. What I’ve seen from Jaylin Noel, I’ve seen the confidence boost, and I see him continue to thrive and make the plays we expected him to make.”

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans had that to say about Jaylin Noel, his second-year, third-round pick from Iowa State, last Friday when asked how Noel was coming along in Nick Caley’s offense. Noel was coming off a three-catch, 85-yard game against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4, and a five-catch, 41-yard, one-touchdown game against the Tennessee Titans in Week 5.

Still, and especially given the recent trade for ex-Arizona Cardinals receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who expected Noel to be the receiver most worthy of praise after the Texans’ 34-31 win at Wembley Stadium against a very game Jacksonville Jaguars defense? Noel caught four passes on four targets for 107 yards and a touchdown, and he was an explosive play machine all over the field. Not Harrison, who caught three passes on four targets for 34 yards, and not No. 1 receiver Nico Collins, who caught three passes on five targets for 74 yards. It was Noel, the ideal No. 2 receiver in any offense because of his formation versatility, who won the day.

Postgame, Ryans was even more convicted that Noel has a lot to contribute.

“Jaylin Noel, he’s continued to make big play after big play every week,” Ryans said. “The more opportunities he’s gotten, the more plays he’s made for our team. He had a career day today, over 100 yards, most yards in his career. He just keeps making explosive plays. He’s a true weapon for us. Happy we have him.“

The Texans have won two straight games after an 0-4 start, and if this particular receiver trio can put things together at a new level, maybe the rebound can continue.

(Note: Tucker was the winner of this week’s AFC Secret Superstars poll in the NFL Feed, where you can vote for the third Secret Superstar for both the AFC and NFC every week).

Something very unusual happened in the Las Vegas Raiders’ 33-30 Sunday loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Tight end Brock Bowers, who had set the NFL ablaze in the first five weeks of the season, caught just four passes on nine targets for 70 yards. These were all season lows for Bowers, in part because the Bills were bracketing him, and cornerback Christian Benford was mugging Bowers from the start of his routes as much as possible. This allowed others to step up in Klint Kubiak’s passing game. Fellow tight end Michael Mayer had seven catches on nine targets for 95 yards, but the Raiders’ secret weapon here was receiver Tre Tucker, who caught five passes on seven targets for 97 yards and two touchdowns.

It wasn’t enough to slide by the Bills and Josh Allen’s latest Superman performance, but it was a definitive performance for the 2023 third-round pick from Cincinnati, who was miscast in the eyes of some as purely a slot receiver at 5’9” and about 185 pounds.

Turns out, Tucker can do a lot more than that. He showed it in the 2025 season in the Raiders’ disaster of an offense when he had 57 catches on 90 targets for 696 yards and five touchdowns.

And he’s showing it even more in Kubiak’s offense.

”I mean, it was a great catch by him on the first one,” Kirk Cousins said postgame when asked about his connection with Tucker. “Great design by our coaches to get him in that position where he’s open like that. The second one, he just can roll. I played with DeSean Jackson, I played with Aldrick Robinson, so I’ve played with 4.2 guys; he can roll. And I came off the field, I said, ‘I think he’s faster than I realize he is.’ And there’s times where I just need to launch, and he’ll go get it. So, he showed me that again today, and big-time the way he finished it, to go for it and hold on.

“It just starts to build trust and respect when a guy goes and makes a play like that.”

Tucker is feeling the difference in his own play this season.

”I feel like every year, I was thrust into something,” he said. “But that sudden change — I think this year, my mindset was just different coming into the season. I’m older. I’m a year older. I’ve been working all offseason, and just having a different mindset every time I walk out on the field. That just comes with all the preparation throughout the year, and the people on the field that I get to play with, and obviously the trust that staff has in me.”

Well, the trust is well-earned. Especially when defenses decide to bracket others in the Raiders’ offense. Tre Tucker is here to make you pay for that.

For a very long time, Jamel Dean was a great (if perpetually underrated) cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 2019 third-round pick out of Auburn was the same force multiplier he had generally been before in the 2025 season, when he allowed 25 catches on 54 targets for 311 yards, 105 yards after the catch, one touchdown, three interceptions, five pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 47.7 — the NFL’s lowest among all cornerbacks who played at least 50% of their teams’ defensive snaps.

Apparently, that wasn’t enough for the Bucs, who decided to let Dean test the free-agent market. The Steelers swept in with a three year, $36.750 million contract including $12 million guaranteed. Quite a bargain for such a player, through Dean’s age (30) and injury history (he played 631 of a possible 1,001 defensive snaps last season) presented understandable caps to his overall value.

Still, the Steelers needed veteran leadership and on-field acumen at the cornerback position, and with Dean, they got both. Dean missed some of Week 4 and all of Week 5 with an ankle injury, but one can imagine that he was fairly excited for last Sunday’s game, which pitted the Steelers against the Bucs.

In his first game against his former team, Dean was tested — a LOT. The Bucs pegged him as a target on 11 of quarterback Jalon Daniels’ 43 passing attempts, and Dean responded by allowing four catches for 48 yards, five yards after the catch, no touchdowns, one interception, six pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 12.7. Those six pass deflections marked the most in a game in recorded Steelers history.

Over and over, Daniels tried to test the veteran, and over and over, Dean said, “No soup for you!” Dean was mostly on Emeka Egbuka, but whoever he covered, the results were generally going to be less than optimal for the Buccaneers…

…who should have known better.

To his credit, after the Steelers’ 26-19 win, Dean was all class. He spoke glowingly about Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles, who had been Dean’s defensive coordinator from 2019-2021, and his head coach thereafter.

”It was a bittersweet moment,” Dean said of his interception, via FOX Sports’ Greg Auman. “For the first time, I could be on the opposite side to see what that experience is like. At the same time, I was like, ‘I guess I’ve got to go against the guy that taught me the game of football.’

“I don’t want his teachings to go to waste. Hopefully, he’s proud of me, knowing that everything he taught me has translated to another organization.”

One would imagine that Bowles is proud of his former student… with a bit of rueful regret mixed in. Dean may not be an every-down player at this point in his career, but the Steelers could do a lot worse with a cornerback that needs to be on a pitch count. And when he’s 100%, watch the heck out.