The Best-Kept Secret on Every NFL Roster Heading into 2020 Season

Or even just straddling the line between very good and great.Whatever the reason, every team has a player who deserves more recognition than they get—or at least will once the 2020 season gets rolling.Every team has a best-kept secret.Cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. might be better as a player who is kept a secret—from opponents.Murphy was thrown to the proverbial wolves as a rookie, and as so many first-year cornerbacks do, he struggled. Not only did Kazee play, but he shined—he recorded 82 tackles, tied for the NFL lead with seven interceptions and allowed just 53.3 percent of the passes thrown in his direction to be completed.Kazee's playing time dropped a bit last season—but not by that much—and in 803 snaps at both safety and slot cornerback, Kazee tallied 74 tackles, picked off three more passes and surrendered a passer rating of just 66.3.Kazee has everything a team could want in a 21st-century safety—he can play all over the formation, isn't shy about chipping in against the run, has a nose for the big play and can hold his own in coverage.And while he may not be a starter in Week 1, it is going to be hard to keep Kazee off the field.The Baltimore Ravens were an offensive juggernaut in 2019, piling up more rushing yards than any team in NFL history. With a year of experience under his belt, Boykin should be set for a larger role opposite Marquise Brown.Give Boykin a bump in targets, and more than a few defensive backs are going to be surprised when he blows past them.At 29, Buffalo Bills safety Jordan Poyer is one of the elder statesmen on this list.He also may well be the best safety casual fans have never heard of.A 2013 seventh-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, Poyer was a part-time player over four seasons in Cleveland. Christian McCaffrey may be the engine that drives the offense, but Samuel's coming-out party is, well, coming.Soon everyone's going to know what had all those teams interested in playing Let's Make a Deal.Given what the Chicago Bears have looked like offensively the past couple of seasons, it can be argued that just about every skill-position player on the team is such a secret that even Chicago doesn't know what it has.With the arrival of quarterback Nick Foles, however, there's renewed optimism that the offense will be much improved. The coaching staff appears to have confidence that in Year 2 Wilson will look more like the linebacker who was one of the best players in the country at his position while at Alabama.If he does, the opportunity will be there for Wilson to not only have a big year but also become the leader of a young cadre of linebackers on the shores of Lake Erie.The loss of veteran cornerback Byron Jones in free agency was a blow for the Dallas Cowboys.For Chidobe Awuzie, however, it's a chance to come out from Jones' shadow and establish himself as a key contributor and a rising young cover man in his own right.Playing opposite Jones over the past two seasons has kept Awuzie busy. And as Awuzie has gained experience, he has gotten better—his passer rating against and touchdowns allowed (89.1, three) improved in 2019 relative to his rookie season (96.4, five).As good as the Cowboys are offensively, their fortunes in the NFC East will depend on whether they can rush the passer without Robert Quinn and play coverage without Jones.If Awuzie helps get Dallas back into the postseason, well...Play well in Dallas, and you tend to get famous quickly.Alexander Johnson of the Denver Broncos didn't start a game until Week 5 of the 2019 season.By the end of the campaign, he had grown into the best off-ball linebacker on the Denver roster. There's no question he can be one of the best middle linebackers in the business."This year, Johnson will enter the summer as an entrenched starter—and a potential defensive star in the making.If Tracy Walker puts together another season in 2020 like the one he just had, the third-year pro isn't going to be a secret any longer.As a matter of fact, if Walker played in a bigger market or for a better team, that ship probably would have sailed.In a season that was short on bright spots, Walker was one for the Lions. The depth chart in Titletown appeared to consist of Davante Adams and a bucket full of question marks.However, the Packers apparently felt differently—Green Bay didn't do much to upgrade the position group in free agency or the draft.Allen Lazard has to be a big part of the reason for that.Lazard went from late-season practice squad add in 2018 to a camp cut to re-signed on the practice squad to making the team to finishing the year second on the Packers in receiving yards at the position (477).Per Wes Hodkiewicz of the team's website, Lazard said it has been a wild ride."My whole experience in the NFL—being in Jacksonville last year and then coming here to a team that didn't make it to the playoffs for two years in a row and to be able to make it to the NFC championship, I got to experience what it's like to win, the process that it takes and the work it requires to put in," he said.Now, of course, Lazard will have to deal with another new hurdle.The offensive line of the Houston Texans has been a much-maligned unit—and with good reason. He has Day 3 draft potential, but the jump in competition makes him a likely practice squad candidate early on."But then the Chargers spent a third-round pick on Pipkins, traded veteran tackle Russell Okung and didn't sign or draft an obvious replacement—despite the fact that Pipkins allowed four sacks in 251 snaps as a rookie.As things stand today, Pipkins is the front-runner to be the blind-side protector for either Tyrod Taylor or rookie Justin Herbert when the Bolts travel to Cincinnati in Week 1.Head coach Anthony Lynn and general manager Tom Telesco appear to have seen something in the young 6'6", 304-pounder.Soon enough, we'll see if they are right.One way or another, Josh Reynolds isn't going to be a secret much longer.After three uneventful seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, Reynolds has been thrust into a larger role. The Philadelphia Eagles' Zach Ertz and the Ravens' Mark Andrews may get some run, too.If the 2020 season plays out like the 2019 campaign did, Mike Gesicki of the Miami Dolphins will enter that conversation, too.It went largely unnoticed on a bad Dolphins team, but the second-round pick out of Penn State had an excellent season, reeling in 51 passes for 570 yards and five scores in his second year. In fact, Gesicki has yet to tally a drop in the pros.New Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is going to need a safety valve underneath once he enters the starting lineup.Gesicki can be just that kind of reliable checkdown (and more) for years to come.For the past several seasons, the Minnesota Vikings have quietly fielded one of the NFL's better one-two punches at defensive end in Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen.Well, Griffen's gone now. Talented enough to play in the NFL, skilled enough to start and be effective.But not quite a star.There's good news and bad news for Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert.The good news is that Goedert plays for a team that uses as many two-tight end sets as any in the NFL.The bad news is that at season's end Goedert will all but certainly be right back where his is now—stuck on the depth chart behind one of the best players in the league at the position in Zach Ertz.That's not to say Goedert won't occasionally get his. Much of it has been deserved—Jones averaged 1.9 yards per carry in a disastrous rookie season and was benched for a time in 2019 for struggles in pass protection.Miss a blitz pickup that gets Tom Brady decked, and you're apt to be looking for a job.When the Buccaneers spent a third-round pick on Vanderbilt's Ke'Shawn Vaughn in this year's draft, it signaled to some that Jones' days as the starter were numbered.It's equally possible that he's on the verge of a career year.Jones quietly wasn't terrible for the Buccaneers last year—he averaged 4.2 yards per carry, caught 31 passes, scored half a dozen touchdowns and topped 1,000 total yards. After a modest 44 tackles and 4.5 sacks as a rookie, Landry piled up 68 tackles and nine sacks.But despite those solid numbers, there's been more talk regarding the possibility that Jadeveon Clowney will join the Titans than there has that the 2018 second-round pick out of Boston College is one of the NFL's ascending pass-rushers.Not only do the Tennessee Titans want that to change, but they need it to.After last year's surprising run to the AFC Championship Game, the Titans have vastly increased expectations.