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USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Matt Williamson

11 secret stars of the preseason: Week 1 edition

After one week of the preseason, some young players’ stocks are on the rise. This is the first of a four-part series that will examine some rising performers around the NFL who might not be well-known to the public.

Ryquell Armstead, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

Armstead is a player that could end up with a large role in his rookie season. This is especially true because of Leonard Fournette’s injury history and overall unreliability. Armstead is very difficult to get to the ground and has some similar traits to Fournette as a power-based inside runner. Armstead landed in a great spot to best utilize what he does well and showed quite a bit against Baltimore, including some make-you-miss elusiveness to go along with his trademark downhill strength.

Rashard Higgins, WR, Cleveland Browns

Higgins had a big game as the Browns trounced Washington. It’s pretty clear that Higgins now sits ahead of Antonio Calloway in Cleveland’s wide receiver pecking order. He runs crisp routes and is a reliable hand catcher. The problem for Higgins is that Jarvis Landry owns Cleveland’s slot receiver duties and Higgins isn’t really equipped to handle responsibilities outside the numbers. Nonetheless, this was a very good performance for Higgins.

Jalen Hurd, WR, San Francisco 49ers

Hurd caught two touchdown passes in his first NFL action. He’s a former king-sized running back that displays great after-the-catch skills. It will be very interesting to see how Kyle Shanahan employs this new weapon. Most likely Hurd will be a big slot option, but he also could see goal line carries and certainly has all kinds of gimmick potential. Is Hurd a bigger, albeit slower, Cordarrelle Patterson? It will be fun to watch this play out.

Ryan Finley, QB, Cincinnati Bengals

Playing with backups, Finley’s debut has to be considered a successful one. He is far from overwhelming at first glance. Finley is slightly built and isn’t a dynamic athlete. His arm is just average at best. But, as was in his college days, Finley has a command about him and clearly understands his position and the game overall. He will have to be a distributor to succeed and should never be asked to do more than he is capable. But if Finley is able to play within his abilities, he might just last in this league a long time.

Daurice Fountain, WR, Indianapolis Colts

All of a sudden, the Colts wide receiver group is very crowded and will be very competitive for playing time and secure roles, with the exception of T.Y. Hilton, of course. That part doesn’t bode well for Fountain, but if he isn’t able to see snaps during the regular season it won’t be because of how he played this past week. In an impressive manner, Fountain caught five passes for 63 yards and showed his skills in the intermediate portions of the field.

Ulysses Gilbert, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers

Gilbert is super-fast. He flies around the field and profiles as an excellent special teams player. As a part of the Steelers’ regular defense, Gilbert needs to rely more on finesse than strength and power, but big linemen have a really tough time getting their hands on him. Playing in space will be Gilbert’s forte, but against the Buccaneers, his ability as a blitzer really stood out.

Fred Johnson, OG. Pittsburgh Steelers

Johnson is huge. He looks like an offensive tackle with his height and long arms and that is where he played in college. You would think that such a big man would have a tough time winning the leverage game at guard, but Johnson looks like the exception to that way of thinking. He bends well and rarely looses the pad level battle. Having his girth and arm length sure doesn’t hurt either. The issue for Johnson is that Pittsburgh might already have the NFL’s deepest offensive line.

Jakobi Meyers, WR, New England Patriots

Meyers was the talk of Patriots camp and backed it up in New England’s first preseason game. Even without Tom Brady, the Patriots’ passing game had its way with Detroit. Meyers is an advanced routed runner for his age, which is working very well with this timing and rhythm passing game from a systematic perspective. He also catches everything thrown his way and hauled in two touchdowns against the Lions. By far best in the slot, could Meyers be Julian Edelman’s heir in waiting? N’Keal Harry made some nice plays as well contorting his body and showing power above the rim. Maybe the Patriots will be just fine at receiver.

Tony Pollard, RB, Dallas Cowboys

Obviously, Ezekiel Elliott is currently sitting out. Elliott probably wouldn’t have played this past weekend anyway, but Dallas should be very happy with what they saw from Pollard, who not only could act as Elliott’s backup, but also as a specialty player and returner on special teams. As shown this past week, Pollard brings a lot to the table as a receiver. In fact, Dallas might want to look into personnel groupings with both Elliott and Pollard on the field together.

Preston Williams, WR, Miami Dolphins

If Williams were a clean prospect off the field, he absolutely would have been drafted. He is a downfield threat with length and body control. Against the Falcons this past week, Williams accumulated 97 receiving yards with every one of his four catches coming well downfield. He also bailed out a very poor decision by Josh Rosen with an athletic contorting grab and then followed it up with an impressive one handed catch down the sideline and then yet another where he plucked the ball over a defensive back downfield. This was a great outing for the rookie wideout.

Mack Wilson, LB, Cleveland Browns

All eyes on were on Dwayne Haskins in this matchup and for the most part, Haskins didn’t disappoint. But Wilson intercepted the rookie signal-caller and took it to the house for a pick six. Wilson then picked up Josh Woodrum later in the game. Wilson showed range and ball skills all evening. The Browns could use more help in their middle of the field pass defense, so Wilson should get every opportunity to contribute right away if he keeps up the impressive preseason work.

A former scout for Pitt, Akron, and the Cleveland Browns, Matt Williamson worked with ESPN’s Scouts, Inc. for years. He is a contributor to Touchdown Wire and currently works for the Steelers Nation Radio Network.

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