Romeo Doubs, Colt Kmet among Week 6’s Secret Superstars

As the 2024 NFL season rolls along, we start to see trends and tendencies that we can rely on going forward with the rest of the campaign. There are also a growing number of unheralded players who grab opportunities out of nowhere and become key elements of a team.

Week 6 had several players like that. Now that the week is over and everyone has survived the week, here is our secret superstar.

Tampa Bay backup running back

Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Cohen is a pretty smart guy, and going into Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints, he knew that the Saints defense, led by Dennis Allen, had a fatal flaw: Nobody could play the run game. He probably knew better than to be able to stop it.

Despite the first five weeks of the 2024 season, the Saints 21st in adjusted line yardage allowed22nd in running back yards allowed, 29th in power completions allowed (percentage of runs that resulted in a first down or touchdown with 3rd or fourth down, 2 yards or less remaining), dead last in dead last (stuff percentage) (percentage of successful runs in which running backs are tackled on or behind the line of scrimmage), second-level rushing yardage rate (yards gained by opposing running backs 5 to 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage) 18th in open field rushing yardage rate (yards gained by opposing running backs at least 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, divided by running backs' total carries), and 17th in open field rushing yardage rate (yards gained by opposing running backs at least 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, divided by running backs' total carries) ).

According to Next Gen Stats, the Saints defense has used 10 cent personnel (six defensive backs) on 23.2% of plays this season, the third-highest rate in the NFL.

From Weeks 1 to 2, the Saints allowed just 3.8 yards per play with one dime personnel, the fewest of any defense that used one dime on at least 10 plays. From Weeks 3 to 5, the Saints allowed 8.7 yards per 10 plays with dim stuffs, fourth-most among defenses that used 10 dim stuffs on at least 10 plays.

Cohen probably calculated all of this, put it in a blender, sent his running backs onto the field and put the New Orleans defense in the blender, and that's exactly what happened.

The Buccaneers became the first team since the Green Bay Packers in 1962 to gain over 300 passing yards and over 275 rushing yards in the same road game en route to a 51-27 blowout victory. And they did it without leading running back Rathard White, who was sidelined with a foot injury.

Sean Tucker, a 2023 undrafted free agent out of Syracuse, had never gained more than 15 yards in an NFL game, but he had 136 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

And Bucky Irving, a fourth-round rookie from Oregon State, had 14 carries for 81 yards and a rushing touchdown of his own.

Yes, the Saints had some bad tackling and were once again physically overwhelmed. But that doesn't negate the accomplishments of the Bucs' running backs.

Romeo Doubes, WR, Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers don't have a number one receiver, but they don't seem to mind their absence. However, Romeo Douce returned against the Arizona Cardinals after Douce was injured. Suspended for Week 5 game against Los Angeles Rams That's because missing practice, which is detrimental to the team, has become a pretty big problem.

Dubs didn't play much of a role in Green Bay's offense through the first four games of the season, with 12 catches on 19 targets for 169 yards and zero touchdowns. However, against the Cardinals' struggling defense, Douce made a comeback with three catches on four targets for 49 yards and his first two touchdowns of the season.

“That's huge,” quarterback Jordan Love said of Dubs after Green Bay's 34-13 win. “It was great just having Roma back on the field. It was great and he went out there and made some big plays with two touchdown catches and a few more plays before that. But Roma… It's great to be back there.”

Head coach Matt LaFleur also spoke about Douce's first catch of the day with 6:37 left in the first quarter. Duce took a 19-yard shot vertically and then across the field.

“Yeah, he made some great plays. Sure, his first reception was 19 yards over the middle. Unless your O-line gives Jordan all day to make that throw, it's not going to happen. Hmm. The first play should have been a wider hit, but the O-line allowed that route to develop and cross the field. It was a third-window throw, but that's normal in this league. That's not going to happen. That's a big credit to this line. It's a big credit to Rome for going well and for Jordan to pitch well.”

Everything seems to be forgiven.

Cole Kmet, TE, Chicago Bears

The Bears have enjoyed the services of tight end Cole Kmet since drafting him out of Notre Dame in the second round of the 2020 draft. But it's safe to say that no one in the Windy City expected Kmet to be as effective and versatile as he was in Sunday's 35-16 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

Not only did Kmet catch five passes on five targets for 70 yards and two touchdowns against the Jags, but he was also on the team's emergency bench after Scott Daley injured his knee on an early punt. He also played an active role as a long snapper.

“Someone found out I did that in high school,” Kmet said after the game. “Those guys know everything about you. They found out I did it in high school. My uncle did it. It was just my dad and me and my brother messing around in the backyard all the time. I remember it was kind of like, you could do more. For example, if you had to make a team, if you were a 54-year-old, 55-year-old guy and they were between two players. If you decide on that, you think if you have that ability, they're going to keep you at No. 1. Obviously, I'm not in that position right now, but what is that? It was like the idea of ​​learning how to do it, I wanted to play in the NFL one day, and it was kind of behind it and today it paid off, I That's why I was happy to help in any way I could.”

As the saying goes, the more you can do…

Additionally, Kmet was an elite blocker on Caleb Williams' 10-yard run in the second quarter.

And when Williams threw the ball, Kmet was more than effective.

Kmet was aided by trickery and great pitching from Williams, but this was his star turn like any other.

“It's a great play concept,” Kmet said of the double-flat route fake. “[Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron] It previously operated in Seattle. They played good defense for us to do that. We ran a lot of screens where we would fly people in the background and pull out backers. So I blocked a guy on the line for a second and Caleb made a good fake and went up to shoot and was able to break the tackle and get into the end zone. ”

Suddenly, the Chicago Bears had an interesting offense and a dynamic quarterback. Will miracles never stop?

Dominic Puni, OG, San Francisco 49ers

It's not easy coming into the NFL at a position you've never played before. Dallas Cowboys left tackle Tyler Guyton and center Cooper Beebe have taken on that challenge as rookies, with mixed results in the regular season. Joe Alto of the Los Angeles Chargers started his career at left tackle at Notre Dame and was playing well at right tackle before going down with an MCL sprain in Week 3. And Talese Fuaga of the New Orleans Saints did reliable work at left tackle after a career at left tackle. He played only right tackle for three consecutive seasons at Oregon State.

Then there's San Francisco 49ers right guard Dominic Puni. He has adjusted from left tackle, left guard and occasional in-line tight end at Kansas to transitioning to the pros at right guard with an unexpected level of authority.

In last Thursday night's 36-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks, Puni completely dominated the run game, blocking 33 passes and not allowing a sack or quarterback hit. This is consistent with his season – Puni shut out every opposing pass rusher in those two categories through San Francisco's first six games.

“It’s tough at first, but then going through the whole training camp definitely helps,” Puni told me after the game about the transition to right guard. “The more reps you do, the more comfortable you get and the better you get at using it. Obviously, you have a coach. [run game coordinator/offensive line Chris] Foerster, you do a really good job. It's still in the transition period, but I think I've gotten the hang of it. ”

He has enough of a knack to impress future Hall of Famer Trent Williams. Williams didn't even know Puni had never played right guard until Puni became a teammate.

“It's amazing. He has the makings of a Pro Bowl or All-Pro player at that position, so this is crazy. He's a godsend. He's a really, really good kid. He's really professional. He's very good at himself. He earns the respect of his teammates just by the way he carries himself.”

The 49ers' rookie class has been very good so far, and Puni has been the best of them all.

Jarvis Brownlee Jr., CB, Tennessee Titans

In the 2024 offseason, Titans general manager Ran Carson made it abundantly clear He said he wished the defenseman would have been more available to the press. Reducing playing time is not easy. The 2023 Titans had no cornerbacks who pressed on 63% of their snaps, the fourth-highest percentage in the NFL.

So Carson fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, replaced Bowen with former Baltimore Ravens defensive backs coach Denard Wilson, and traded him for Chiefs cornerback Rajrius Snead. They signed former Cowboys and Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie to a huge new contract. , drafted Louisville cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. in the fifth round.

So far, it's working pretty well. The Titans have at least one cornerback in the press on 70% of their defensive snaps, which ranks third in the league behind the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars, and they are far behind in the standings. Raised. Defense DVOA 10th from 18th place in 2023.

In that loss to the Colts (which had a lot to do with Tennessee's dysfunctional offense), Brownlee was the star of those coverages. The rookie has seen an uptick in snaps since Awuzie suffered a groin injury in Week 3, shutting down Indy's explosive passing game with Joe Flacco where the ball came. Brownlee allowed three catches on seven targets for 12 yards, 13 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, no interceptions, two pass breakups and a 50.3 opponent passer rating. When asked to put pressure on the Colts' receivers, Brownlee was nearly impossible to beat.

Another member of Tennessee's defense team told me Monday that he knew Brownlee was going to be a bastard from the moment he entered the facility. It looks like you've checked out.