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 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).

Denver Post via Getty Images

Denver Post via Getty Images

The Kansas City Chiefs went for a complete overhaul of their run game this past offseason. They brought back offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to do the job he’d done from 2018 to 2022, they signed Kenneth Walker III to a three-year, $43.05 million contract with $28.7 million guaranteed, and they selected Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson with the 151st overall pick in the fifth round of the 2026 draft.

Of those moves, the Johnson pick made the fewest waves, but if you had studied Johnson’s college tape, there might have been a bit of a zing there. In 2025, the 5’10”, 202-pound Johnson ran the ball 251 times for 1,450 yards, 12 touchdowns, 68 forced missed tackles, and 36 runs of 10 or more yards.

Johnson did okay at the combine, but not in ways that represented his on-field dynamism, which may be one reason he dropped as far as he did. We’re assuming that the Chiefs are quite happy that it worked out the way it did, especially on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. Kansas City lost that game 28-24 despite a last-second drive that ended on the Denver 12-yard line with a Malcolm Roach sack of Patrick Mahomes, but Johnson went off in that game. He grabbed five catches on five targets for 128 yards and a touchdown, and his one rushing attempt for 15 yards saw him break at least five tackles.

“Obviously Kenneth is the guy, but you want to be able to take carries away from him, so we can have him for the full entire season,” Mahomes said postgame. “If Emmett can come in and be a change of pace, break tackles and make plays, catch the ball, do all that different type of stuff, defenses can’t relax. I thought he did a great job today, and he’s done great the entire time he’s been here. As the season goes on, we’ll continue to utilize him more and more, but at the same time utilizing Kenneth.”

So, the run game is all set. The Chiefs desperately need receiver help before the trade deadline, but at least they have the ground attack going for them, which is nice.

Getty Images

Getty Images

Speaking of surprise backs who are showing up all over the place, there’s Braelon Allen of the New York Jets. The 6’ 1¼”, 235-pound Allen impressed at Wisconsin as a big power back with some wiggle and explosiveness — he had 592 carries for 3,482 yards, 25 touchdowns, 143 forced missed tackles, and 77 runs of 10 or more yards for the Badgers from 2021-2023 — but that still had him lasting until the 134th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2024 draft, which is where the Jets got him.

With Breece Hall as the main man in the Jets’ backfield, it took Allen a while to get his share of the carries. He had just 110 rushing attempts combined in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, but with Hall much more of an injury concern this season (he’s missed five straight games with a quadriceps injury), Allen has gotten his shot, and he’s made the most of it — especially recently. His 21-carry, 147-yard, one-touchdown performance against the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday in a frustrating 38-33 loss was just the latest in a series of great games.

Allen also has 20 forced missed tackles since Week 5 (only Jahmyr Gibbs of the Detroit Lions has more with 26), and nobody in the NFL has more runs of 10 or more yards in that timeframe than Allen’s 18.

“Guys up front moving people, just being patient and just letting the game come to me,” Allen said, when asked postgame about the secret to his recent success. “Not trying to force anything. Just going by my reads and progressing right. Like I said, the guys up front, they make it happen.“

So, how did it feel to score on your first six drives and still lose the game?

“The objective every week is to win,” Allen said. “When you don’t get that done it’s hard to—obviously there’s positives always, and I love our progress as a team and as an offense. There are takeaways for sure, positive takeaways, but like I said, the goal is to win. When you don’t do that it’s hard to enjoy.”

Perhaps it would have helped if Allen had more than three carries (for 26 yards) in the second half? When your defense is busy blowing a 23-14 halftime lead, and you’re allowing Kirk Cousins to look like Patrick Mahomes in the second half, perhaps toting the rock and bleeding the clock are better options. The Jets had a 19:17-10:43 time of possession advantage in the first half, but at the end of the game, the Raiders had marched back to make it about as even as possible — 30:02 to 29:58 in Gang Green’s favor.

Maybe the coaching will catch up to Allen’s exploits, and the 2-6 Jets can start to get in front of those games. In the meantime, it helps that Braelon Allen has arrived.

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co

In August, Titans edge-rusher Jacob Martin was asked about the ideal mentality of the his new defensive line after he signed a two-year, $9 million contract with $4.5 million guaranteed.

“We go in there and f**k s**t up,” Martin said. “And the linebackers clean it up. I am super thankful to be here, thankful for the opportunity. The team is great, guys are great. A lot of young talent in this building, and I am excited to be a part of this organization, excited to grow, excited to build with these guys. The sky is the limit for sure.”

Martin obviously said all of that before the Titans traded Jeffery Simmons, the NFL’s best interior defensive lineman, to the Chicago Bears last week for a bevy of draft picks. It’s less encouraging when your new team is in full-on fire-sale mode, but against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Martin was bound and determined to make up for Simmons’ absence by any means necessary. Martin has been a good player throughout his career in fits and starts. but you don’t play for eight teams in nine seasons if you’re one of Those Guys.

He was on Sunday, though. Martin had three sacks, five quarterback hits, and two quarterback hurries in Tennessee’s 43-36 overtime loss, and while Joe Burrow absolutely went off for 462 passing yards and six total touchdowns (five passing and one rushing), safety Amani Hooker intercepted three of Burrow’s passes, and Martin harassed Burrow and left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. ceaselessly. Inside moves, outside the arc, bull-rushes — the Bengals could do nothing to stop him.

It’s important for the rest of the Titans’ defensive line to follow suit and “f**k s**t up” as Martin noted. Certainly, with seven sacks and 29 pressures this season, he’s doing his part.