We love football for its endless drama, storylines, strategizing, and a million other reasons. Chief among them: the players themselves. It’s often stated that the NFL doesn’t have enough recognizable faces thanks to helmets, but there are a whole lot of players worth loving. Some well known, some not so much.
Here is each NFL team’s most entertaining player.
Seattle Seahawks: Dwight Freeney, edge rusher
Freeney has played just three games this year and has three sacks. Even at 37 years old — his 16th year in the league — Freeney just gets it done. Whenever Freeney comes in the game, you know the spin move is coming. So does the opposing offensive lineman. And it doesn’t matter. Freeney gets outside, in perfect position, then hits him with the spin back inside. He’s been doing it for 16 years and it still works like a charm.
San Francisco 49ers: Reuben Foster, linebacker
Foster has played just three games this year, missing significant time due to injuries. After an Achilles injury last week, it’s unclear whether he’ll miss even more time. However, when healthy, Foster has been a rare bright spot for the Niners. He flies around the field like a fighter plane, making a discernible impact on nearly every play. If Foster’s health gets in order, he’ll be a consistent All-Pro within a couple years.
Los Angeles Rams: Aaron Donald, defensive tackle
Good lord is Donald fun to watch. Next time you flip to a Rams game, spend a drive just watching the defensive line. It won’t be hard to figure out which one is Donald. He’s in the backfield on an alarmingly regular basis — Donald has 21.5 pressures on the year, per Football Outsiders and that’s just pass rushing. It’s hard to find another defensive lineman in the league who has as consistent an impact as him.
Arizona Cardinals: Patrick Peterson, cornerback
While the rest of Arizona’s secondary — including Tyrann Mathieu — drags its feet, Peterson is putting on a shutdown performance every week. Coming into Thursday night’s game against Seattle, he had a 68 percent success rate with just 3.6 yards allowed per pass, according to Football Outsiders. He puts on a clinic week-in and week-out. It’s what we’ve come to expect from Peterson, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive.
Minnesota Vikings: Harrison Smith, safety
As far as box safeties go, Smith is probably the best in football. The 28-year old is an absolute menace in run defense. Minnesota loves to send him on run blitzes that almost always result in Smith getting in the backfield. He’s also a pro at undercutting routes to nab interceptions (like this), something he’s done three times already this year.
Chicago Bears: Tarik Cohen, running back
Cohen is one of those guys who always makes the first would-be tackler miss. The jump cuts this human joystick makes after catching a screen are enough to make you drool. Cohen has slowed down after a red-hot start, but he’s still good for a couple of those plays every game. That’s enough to make him the most likable player on a largely dreary Bears team.
Green Bay Packers: Aaron Jones, running back
It’s hard not to like Jones. A fifth-round pick out of UTEP who came into the year third on Green Bay’s running back depth chart, Jones isn’t just the starter, but he’s playing well. He’s averaging 5.3 yards per carry on the year with 93 DYAR. Game-to-game consistency is still something that needs working on, but Jones is the type of bruising running back who’s almost always useful. He’s about as likable as it gets.
Detroit Lions: Theo Riddick, running back
There are running backs who primarily catch passes. Then there’s Riddick. The 26-year old has 39 targets compared to just 27 carries on the year, and that split has existed for most of his career. Riddick is having a pedestrian year, but he still gives the Lions such a unique element to their offense. There’s no other player in the league as talented when it comes to running routes out of the backfield.
Atlanta Falcons: Devonta Freeman, running back
We’re going running back again here, and with good reason. Freeman running outside on a toss is one of the most fun plays in football. If any kind of a crease opens up, he’ll instantly be at the second level, taking on some poor cornerback who won’t know what hit him. Freeman is second among running backs in DYAR and DVOA and it feels almost casual. We take it as a given that he’s one of the best backs in the league, despite being practically unknown just two years ago.
New Orleans Saints: Cam Jordan, defensive end
Jordan has been shattering opposing offensive lines with almost no help for seven years running. Even with New Orleans’ defense getting respectable this year, Jordan is still their only consistent pass-rushing weapon — the Saints are 18th in pressure rate, per Football Outsiders. Fine by Jordan. He’s just chugging along with 16 pressures, per FO. Come the year’s end, he’ll be near the top of the leaderboard, same as always.
Carolina Panthers: James Bradberry, cornerback
It’s worth having a soft spot for Bradberry. The second-year corner was thrown into an untenable situation and didn’t just survive. He thrived. After Carolina let Josh Norman go, Bradberry became his de-facto replacement, as a rookie. Sure, he wasn’t following wideouts around like Norman had, but there was not much of an adjustment period for Bradberry. He kicked butt anyway, with a 50 percent success rate last year, per FO. That number is exactly the same in 2017. Not many players would have had any kind of success in that situation. Bradberry has thrived.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Ali Marpet, center
Marpet was a second-round pick in the 2015 draft. The surprising part about it was where he went to school: Hobart College. If you don’t know, that’s a tiny Division III school in upstate New York. It takes a leap of faith to draft someone that high out of a Division III school, but Bucs GM Jason Licht did it anyway. Marpet hasn’t been an All-Pro, but three years in, he does look like a player who will be in the league for a long time.
New York Giants: Sterling Shepard, wide receiver
The 2017 Giants don’t exactly do likability well. However, as far as anyone on the team is likable, Shepard is at the top of the list. He’s only 23-years old and looks like a long-term weapon from the slot. Shepard doesn’t have the target volume of guys like Wes Welker, but the route-running ability is there. Hopefully the next head coach (yes, we’re just assuming Ben McAdoo gets fired) finds a way to take advantage of his ability.
Dallas Cowboys: Zack Martin, right guard
You could substitute center Travis Frederick or left tackle Tyron Smith here and nobody would argue. However, we went with Martin because guards don’t get enough love. Dallas’ offensive line hasn’t been quite as good without Ron Leary or Doug Free this year, but every so often, it still puts together some of the best run blocking you can imagine. When that line is in sync, these guys clear holes for Ezekiel Elliott to near perfection and Martin is right in the middle of it.
Washington Redskins: Chris Thompson, running back
Thompson has probably been the best pass-catching running back in the league this year. He leads all RBs in receiving DYAR and has racked up 35 receptions for 453 yards on the season. But what makes him so much fun is the way he does it. Thompson is a YAC machine. He’s averaging 13.29 yards after the catch per reception, according to NFL GSIS, first in the league by a wide margin. That’s more than his actual yards per reception because he catches so many balls behind the line of scrimmage. Once the ball’s in his hands, Thompson is just an absolute monster.
Philadelphia Eagles: Patrick Robinson, cornerback
It’s hard to overstate how unexpected Robinson’s ascension was. The Saints, Chargers and Colts — not exactly the holy trinity of secondaries — either let Robinson walk or outright cut him in three consecutive seasons leading to this one. In 2017, however, Robinson is front and center in leading one of the league’s best secondaries. He has an absurd 61 percent success rate, per Football Outsiders. That translates into being a shutdown corner. And to think the Colts — the lowly Colts! — had no use for him.
New York Jets: Leonard Williams, defensive tackle
Williams is someone who everyone expected to be great coming out of USC, and he’s done just that. Whether the Jets have played him at 1-tech or 3-tech, Williams has done whatever they’ve asked and done it well. He can stop the run or rush the passer and look like one of the best players in the league doing it. The third-year player is an absolute joy to watch and he’s only going to get better.
Buffalo Bills: Tyrod Taylor, quarterback
Taylor is the most unique quarterback in the league from a watchability standpoint. You never quite know what you’re getting from him — the lows are bad, but Taylor at his best is one of the most sheerly entertaining players in the league. There are exceedingly few quarterbacks who throw the deep ball as well as him. Taylor’s throws on go routes drop into the receiver’s path like they’re being airdropped by a drone. Receivers almost don’t even have to look up — the ball is just there. Taylor’s rushing ability is also worth noting here, if only because it adds a level of unpredictability. But it’s his ability to throw deep that makes him so likable.
New England Patriots: Brandin Cooks, wide receiver
Letting Tom Brady team up with Cooks was practically unfair. Even after the Pats’ receiving corps was decimated with injuries to Julian Edelman and Malcolm Mitchell, Cooks has managed to be just the big play weapon New England needed. There’s still chemistry that needs to be built between him and Brady — that much is clear. However, Cooks is still a consistent presence on highlight reels this season and ranks 10th among wideouts in DVOA. Imagine what things will look like once he’s been with Brady for more than eight games.
Miami Dolphins: Ndamukong Suh, defensive tackle
Suh is 30 years old and still one of the most dominant defensive linemen in football. He’s an absolute force in run defense and has 3.5 sacks to boot. There isn’t much fun that comes out of watching the Dolphins, but Suh is the exception (at least when he’s not brazenly dirty). He consistently demands double-teams, opening up opportunities for teammates. Pay Suh some attention the next time you watch Miami. You won’t regret it.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Juju Smith-Schuster
Smith-Schuster might have been the easiest call to make on this list. First off, he’s had two of the year’s best touchdown celebrations, which is not an easy bar to clear. Second, he’s only 20 years old and rode his bike to work until the bike got stolen. But, his bike got returned on the same day, and he passed his driver’s test anyway, so everyone’s happy! Oh, and he’s a pretty good wide receiver too, going for 193 yards in Pittsburgh’s last game against Detroit. If that’s any indication, he’ll have a pretty big role in the offense going forward.
Cleveland Browns: Myles Garrett, defensive end
Garrett has played just three games this year, but it’s hard to deny how good he’s looked. Four sacks and seven pressures, per Football Outsiders, is nothing to sneeze at in only three games. Moreover, Garrett represents whatever modicum of hope the Browns have right now. That alone means he has to occupy this spot. The fact that he might live up to that hope is a bonus, at least in a sense.
Cincinnati Bengals: Geno Atkins, defensive tackle
A Geno Atkins bull rush is one of the scariest things that can happen to an offensive lineman. It’s like a monster truck coming at you, full speed, only instead of hitting another monster truck, Atkins is flattening a human being. If you don’t watch much of the Bengals, this is truly a sight to behold. Atkins has 16.5 pressures on the year, per FO, along with five sacks. He’s well on pace for a fourth straight Pro Bowl and perhaps a third All-Pro nod.
Baltimore Ravens: C.J. Mosley, linebacker
Mosley is in his fourth year and has turned into an absolute rock in the middle of Baltimore’s defense. The Alabama product has 57 tackles — nearly double any of his teammates. Mosley is a menace in both coverage and run defense. He’s as big a reason as anyone that the Ravens lead the league in pass defense DVOA on throws of less than 15 yards. Baltimore is also eighth in DVOA against throws over the middle of the field, in no small part because of him. It’s tough to overstate the impact he has on one of the best defenses in football.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Jalen Ramsey, cornerback
Normally, it’s unlikable when a young player talks as much trash as Ramsey has in his two seasons. But the FSU product has backed it up in a big way. He has a 64 percent success rate in coverage, according to Football Outsiders, and is giving up just 3.5 yards per pass. Among corners with over 20 targets, that leads the league. A.J. Green didn’t go nuts on Ramsey last week because he was trash talking. Green went nuts because Ramsey held him to one reception for six yards, practically taking one of the league’s best receiver’s out of the game. At this point, that’s a weekly occurrence with Ramsey.
Houston Texans: Deshaun Watson, quarterback
Watson may be gone for the year, but there’s just no argument for anyone else to be in this spot. The rookie quarterback energized Houston’s offense in a way nobody had since, well, ever. Behind Watson, the Texans looked like a playoff team at worst and a Super Bowl contender at best. Even in their three losses with Watson under center — which came against two sure-fire playoff teams and a then-healthy Seattle — the offense scored 33, 34, and 38 points. Watson thrived in the toughest situations, against the toughest defenses, when his team needed him the most. Come 2018, Houston is going to be a Super Bowl contender if he can stay healthy.
Tennessee Titans: Kevin Byard, safety
There’s a certain element of luck when it comes to defensive interceptions, especially as a safety, at least insofar as the quarterback has to make a mistake. If you’re a safety, that usually means overthrowing the ball in the area of the field you happen to be. Because of that, we usually overvalue interceptions. Byard’s league-leading six are no exception. However, it’s hard not to crack a smile each time he grabs one, especially in Tennessee’s last two games, in which Byard had three and two picks, respectively. Throw in a strong performance on the other 549 defensive snaps Byard has played this season and he gets the edge here over quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Indianapolis Colts: Jabaal Sheard, edge rusher
On the short list of mistakes Bill Belichick has made in the last five years, letting Jabaal Sheard go to the Colts on a three-year contract with just $12.5 million guaranteed (and most of it in the first year) has to be near the top. Sheard has been a revelation for Indy this season. He has 23 pressures, per FO, and 4.5 sacks. (It just so happens that a strong pass rusher is exactly what New England lacks.) Sheard might be the only likable player at all on the Colts’ defense, especially now that Henry Anderson is out for the year, so he’s an easy pick for this spot.
Kansas City Chiefs: Travis Kelce, tight end
Kelce has been a force for a while now, but Andy Reid has unlocked him in a different way this season. The Chiefs used to utilize Kelce on screens with an annoying frequency, but he’s up to 8.8 air yards per target this year from 7.2 in 2016, per NFL.com. That seems like a marginal difference on paper, but on the field, it’s the difference between this year’s Alex Smith and last year’s Alex Smith. Kelce’s potato sack race celebration after scoring last week helps his standing here as well, but what’s important is that the Chiefs are finally using him the right way and it’s paying off.
Los Angeles Chargers: Keenan Allen, wide receiver
Allen has stayed healthy this year and it’s a good thing for football fans. He’s a founding member of the Always Open Club and with good reason. Anytime Philip Rivers releases the ball, there he is, without a defender anywhere near him. Allen is the only player in the league who can create an island on a 10-yard curl every time he runs it. When he’s feeling it, Allen and Rivers have that rare mental synchronization that only great quarterbacks and receivers develop. We’re just lucky to be able to watch it.
Denver Broncos: Von Miller, edge rusher
Miller has eight sacks and 22.0 pressure this year, per FO, and it’s just par for the course. At this point, you can almost pencil him in for a spot on the All-Pro team, which usually means we aren’t appreciating what he’s actually doing enough. It’s almost worth watching the Broncos — Brock Osweiler and all — just to see Miller. He wins with every type of move as a pass rusher. There’s nothing like it.
Oakland Raiders: Johnny Holton, wide receiver
Holton has two receptions this season. Both are touchdowns of over 40 yards. If you’re an opposing defensive coordinator scouting the Raiders, watch out for him. Every so often, if Jack Del Rio is feeling lucky, he’ll whip out Holton against some poor, unsuspecting cornerback. If that cornerback isn’t playing off coverage — and isn’t ready to sprint down the sideline as fast as possible — Holton will beat him for a touchdown. That’s the only job Johnny Holton has and he does it pretty well.