With the 2023 NFL season official over, we take a look back the REAL team MVP’s.
Regardless of how your favorite NFL team performed this year, there was one encouraging development for all 32 clubs: They each had at least one player make the jump to super stardom this season.
With all 32 teams completing their regular season campaigns, let’s dive into every NFL team’s top breakout player of the 2023 season.
Arizona Cardinals: Trey McBride
In a lost year for the Cardinals, McBridge emerged as one of the few bright spots under rookie head coach Jonathan Gannon.
The second-year tight end out of Colorado State led the Cardinals in receptions with 81 and in receiving yards with 825. His production peaked following the return of Kyler Murray, and a healthy McBridge should hit 1,000 K receiving next year.
Get Murray some more weapons, and this offense could really take off in 2024.
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Atlanta Falcons: Jessie Bates III
The Falcons’ decision to hand the ex-Bengals safety a four-year deal worth $64.02 million in was widely scrutinized at the time. It was a lot of money for a player with one good season under his belt, but now we see why they did it.
Bates notched six interceptions and three forced fumbles — both career-highs — to go along with 11 pass breakups. According to Pro Football Reference, he allowed a career-low 67.1 passer rating when targeted, and Pro Football Focus had Bates graded at 90.6 on the year.
Money well spent by the Falcons, after all.
Baltimore Ravens: Kyle Hamilton
Baltimore’s second-year safety went from “very good” to “superstar” in one short year. The so-called “unicorn” out of Notre Dame did it all in Mike Macdonald’s defense, racking up four interceptions, 13 pass breakups, one forced fumble and three sacks.
It gets funnier. Per Pro Football Reference, Hamilton allowed only a 54.0 completion percentage when targeted…and an opposing passer rating of 38.4. With guys like Hamilton patrolling the secondary, it’s no wonder the Ravens finished with football’s top scoring defense.
Buffalo Bills: Tyrel Dodson
LIke last year, the Bills’ D suffered a ridiculous amount of injuries during the regular season. Only this time, Tyrel Dodson emerged as a weapon on Sean McDermott’s defense following minimal usage over his first three years.
Dodson had 2.5 sacks, two pass defenses and a forced fumble. But he did most of his damage as a top-tier run defender, finishing with an excellent PFF grade of 89.5. Needless to say, this pending free agent set himself up for a very nice payday — be it from Buffalo or somewhere else.
Carolina Panthers: Chuba Hubbard
Free agent signing Miles Sanders didn’t perform as expected, but Carolina’s third-year running back was more than happy to pick up the slack anyway.
Hubbard finished as Carolina’s leading rusher with 902 yards and five touchdowns. He and Adam Thielen were the only Panthers to put up 1,000 yards of offense in an absolutely dismal and letdown of a season for football’s worst team.
Chicago Bears: Jaylon Johnson
Nothing like turning in a career year in your contract year, no less.
Chicago’s fourth-year corner earned his first career Pro Bowl nod as well as a second-team all-pro selection after tallying four interceptions and 10 pass defenses.
Johnson, who finished as PFF’s second-highest graded corner behind only Sauce Gardner, only allowed a 50.9 passer rating when targeted. Up next, a career-changing payday for the Utah product.
Cincinnati Bengals: Cam Taylor-Britt
Cincinnati’s second-year corner was a bright spot in a lost season for Zac Taylor’s squad.
Despite missing five games, Taylor-Britt had four interceptions and 11 pass breakups while yielding an opposing passer rating of 78.0. With Taylor-Britt and safety Jordan Battle patrolling the secondary in 2024, the Bengals D should return to elite form following a down year.
Cleveland Browns: Martin Emerson Jr.
The Browns’ defense carried the team to 11 wins and an unexpected playoff berth — and Emerson Jr.’s breakout season was a key reason why.
MJ had four interceptions and 14 pass defenses while allowing only a 46.8 completion percentage when targeted. And according to PFR, Emerson Jr. didn’t allow a single TD in coverage.
Dallas Cowboys: DaRon Bland
The run on cornerbacks continues!
With All-Pro corner Trevon Diggs missing all but two games this year with a torn ACL, Bland came out of nowhere and stepped up as the new shining star in the Cowboys secondary.
Bland earned Pro Bowl and first-team all-pro nods after notching a league-leading nine interceptions and a single-season record five pick-sixes. Not bad for a 2022 second-round pick
who entered the NFL with minimal expectations.
And to think Diggs is returning next year. Just how much scarier can this Dallas secondary get?
Denver Broncos: Quinn Meinerz
It was another dull season for the Broncos this year, with few players coming out of the season on a happy note.
Third-year guard Quinn Menerz, however, is an exception. He emerged as the new star on Denver’s o-line, earning a superb PFF grade of 83.8 while allowing only two sacks on 1,038 offensive snaps.
Detroit Lions: Penei Sewell
Sewell had two very-good years to begin his career, but he officially hit elite-elite status this year. The Lions’ 2021 first-round pick was PFF’s highest-graded offensive tackle for the year at 90.3, finishing with a ridiculous run-blocking grade of 92.5.
Sewell allowed just one sack on 1,178 offensive snaps, per PFF. He also placed sixth among offensive tackles in ESPN’s pass-blocking win rate. Oh, and Sewell helped Detroit to its first division title in 30 years and their first playoff win since 1991.
Green Bay Packers: Jordan Love
Aaron Rodgers who? KIDDING.
Love silenced all the critics in his first year as the new starter in Green Bay, throwing for 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns. SO NOW we see why the Packers used their 2020 first-round pick on the Utah state product.
Love led the Packers to a surprise postseason appearance, then continued the magic by wiping out the Cowboys on Super Wild Card Weekend.
Green Bay, we owe you a sincere apology for hating on this pick four years ago. We were all wrong.
Houston Texans: C.J. Stroud
The second overall pick of 2023 had one of the greatest rookie quarterback seasons ever – no exaggeration whatsoever.
Stroud set the record for most pass attempts without an interception to begin a career at 191 — breaking the seven-year-old record that Dak Prescott set seven years earlier. Stroud finished with 4,108 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and only five interceptions — leading Houston to a surprise AFC South division title.
Stroud also guided Houston to its first playoff victory in four years, making easy work of the Browns on Super Wild Card Weekend. What can we say? The future has arrived in H-Town.
Indianapolis Colts: Samson Ebukam
Ebukam finished as the Colts’ leader in sacks with 9.5 — and he had a trio of forced fumbles to go with it.
On top of that, Ebukam emerged as a world-class run defender, finishing third in ESPN’s run stop win rate among edge rushers at 35 percent. AND he was 16th in pass rush win rate among edge rushers.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Travon Walker
After an uneventful rookie year, Walker broke out and reminded everybody why the Jaguars used the first overall pick of 2022 on him.
The Georgia product was one of the few positives on a Jaguars team that disappointed more than any other club in the regular season. Walker finished with 10 sacks, two pass defenses and 30 pressures.
Kansas City Chiefs: Rashee Rice
The Chiefs endured problems at wide receiver all season along…with the exception of rookie Rashee Rice.
The SMU product had a tremendous year with the defending Super Bowl champs, recording 79 receptions for 938 yards and seven touchdowns. Among all rookies, only Puka Nacua had more receiving yards than Rice.
Las Vegas Raiders: Tre'von Moehrig
The Raiders finished with a top-10 scoring defense for the first time since 2002 — and Moehrig’s rise to borderline stardom was a key reason why.
The third-year safety recorded three sacks, eight pass defenses and two sacks — all career-bests. After allowing an opposing passer rating of 129.7 a year ago, Moehrig dropped that number down to 79.5 in 2023.
Los Angeles Chargers: Tuli Tuipulotu
The 54th overall pick of last year’s draft wasted little time making his mark in La La Land.
Tuipulotu was an absolute beast across the field, recording 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. On top of that, PFF had him down as the fourth-best run defender among edge rushers at 88.4 — behind only teammate Khalil Mack, DeMarcus Lawrence and DeMarcus Lawrence.
Los Angeles Rams: Puka Nacua
All the rookie fifth-round pick did was finish as the league’s best rookie pass-catcher with 105 receptions for 1,486 yards and six touchdowns.
Nacua was fourth in receiving behind only Tyreek Hill, CeeDee Lamb and Amon-Ra St. Brown, and only eight players had more receptions. Oh, and Nacua led the Rams to 10 wins and a surprise return to the postseason.
Not bad for a 177th overall pick, huh?
Miami Dolphins: Jevon Holland
Holland always had the potential to be an All-Pro safety, but this was the year he officially put it all together.
Holland had one interception, four pass breakups and three forced fumbles in year three — finishing as PFF’s third-highest-graded safety at 90.4 — just a hair behind Antoine Winfield Jr. and Jessie Bates III.
Minnesota Vikings: Jordan Addison
The Vikings needed their other weapons to step up with Justin Jefferson missing seven games, and their 2023 first-round pick was up for the challenge, alright.
The USC product hauled in 70 receptions for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns. His 10 TDs were tied with Sam LaPorta for tops among rookies, and only Nacua and Rice had more receiving yards than Addison among first-year players.
Now just wait and see what Minny will do with Jefferson AND Addison at full strength together…
New England Patriots: Christian Barmore
Barmore was basically the only Patriots player that showed up on a week-to-week basis. If the Pats weren’t so bad in Bill Belichick’s final season, Barmore would have gotten far more recognition this year.
At any rate, the third-year defensive tackle had 8.5 sacks, six pass defenses and one forced fumble on a disappointing Patriots team. He finished 11th in ESPN’s pass rush win rate among defensive tackles, which is especially impressive considering that Barmore was double-teamed on 63 percent of such snaps.
New Orleans Saints: Paulson Adebo
Amid another wasted year in the Big Easy, the Saints at least got to watch Paulson Adebo emerge as a new stud shutdown corner to line up alongside Marshon Lattimore.
This ball-hawking specialist had four interceptions, 18 pass defenses and two forced fumbles. Per PFR, he allowed just one TD in coverage and yielded a 62.7 passer rating when targeted.
Now…if Lattimore could just stay healthy. Then imagine how dangerous this cornerback tandem can become…
New York Giants: Kayvon Thibodeaux
If there was one thing for Giants fans to like this year, it was Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux teaming up and emerging as one of the game’s new prolific pass-rushing tandems.
After an inconsistent rookie year, Thibodeaux reached superstar status by racking up 11.5 sacks, four pass defenses and three fumbles. And to think people were questioning his work ethic before the Giants drafted him in 2022?
New York Jets: Jermaine Johnson II
The Jets’ defense did all it could to keep the team afloat without Aaron Rodgers, but you can only do so much when your offense can’t do anything right.
Anywho, it was encouraging for the Jets to see Jermaine Johnson II break out as a do-it-all workhorse in Robert Saleh’s defense. He tallied 7.5 sacks and seven pass defenses and placed sixth in ESPN’s run stop winning rankings among edge rushers.
Philadelphia Eagles: Jalen Carter
Among all rookies, only Dolphins running back De’Von Achane finished with a higher PFF grade than Carter — who was graded at 89.8 for the year.
In a rotational role, Carter had six sacks and two pass forced fumbles while finishing with a pass-rush grade at 85.9 at PFF. With Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox potentially retiring OR leaving in free agency, a much larger role awaits this rising superstar in 2024.
Pittsburgh Steelers: George Pickens
Pickens made it clear aplenty this year that he wanted the ball more. Wish granted, and the Steelers were wise to do so.
As many predicted, Pickens broke out this year with 63 receptions for 1,140 yards and five touchdowns. This highlight reel machine also led the NFL in yards per catch at 18.1 a pop, leading the Steelers to a surprise return to the postseason.
San Francisco 49ers: Deommodore Lenoir
Charvarius Ward is regarded as the 49ers’ top shutdown corner, but San Fran’s 2021 fifth-round pick made a compelling case of his own for that title this year.
Lenoir had three interceptions and 10 pass breakups while allowing just one TD in coverage, per PFR.
Seattle Seahawks: Devon Witherspoon
Seattle’s D was a mess this year, but it’s certainly not because of Witherspoon.
The fifth overall pick was a superstar from day one, tallying one interception, 16 pass defenses and three sacks. He finished with a superb PFF grade of 84.1, giving Seahawks fans plenty to be excited about in the secondary for years to come.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Rachaad White
Baker Mayfield’s career campaign and White’s breakout year propelled the Bucs to a fourth straight playoff appearance — and to a third straight NFC South division crown.
White rushed for 990 yards and six touchdowns. In all, he had 1,539 yards of offense and nine total touchdowns — emerging as a game-changing do-it-all weapon for Todd Bowles’ resilient squad.
Tennessee Titans: Roger McCreary
McCreary was certainly a bright spot on a rebuilding Titans team that didn’t get much going in Mike Vrabel’s final year at the helm.
The second-year corner was PFF’s No. 19-ranked corner of 2023, recording one interception, six pass defenses and two sacks.
Per PFR, he also didn’t allow a single TD in coverage.
Washington Commanders: Sam Cosmi
Well, looks like the Commanders have their ideal replacement for the long-gone Brandon Scherff in the interior part of the o-line.
The third-year guard out of Texas was a rock on Washington’s o-line, allowing only one sack on 1,103 offensive snaps while garnering a PFF grade of 80.6 on the year.
Who do you think was the top NFL breakout star of 2023?
