With four weeks left in the regular season, the biggest talking points have been if Bo Nix can catch Jayden Daniels in the Offensive Rookie of the Year awards and if Brock Bowers could secure a First Team All-Pro nomination in his first year. Week 14 shook up the rankings and saw some familiar names return, one for the first time in seven weeks. 

Dropped Out

Tyler Nubin – The New York Giants had chances to defeat the New Orleans Saints, but their defensive line, not secondary, gave them that opportunity. Tyler Nubin had five tackles (four solo), while his teammates combined for 13 TFLs, four QB hits, three pass defensed, and two sacks. Overall, a standard safety performance, but not the standard Nubin has shown this season.

Ladd McConkey – Ladd McConkey was inactive for the Los Angeles Chargers against the Kansas City Chiefs. With a handful of rookies from outside of last week’s rankings performing well, he was dropped from this week’s rankings. 

Bucky Irving – Similarly to McConkey, Bucky Irving picked up an injury during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. He had four carries for three yards and one reception for 15 yards on one target before leaving the game.

Just Missed the Cut

Caleb Williams – In the defeat to the San Francisco 49ers, the Chicago Bears‘ starting quarterback was held to his fifth passing game with less than 200 yards, throwing for 134 yards. Caleb Williams threw for two touchdowns and put up a 73.9% completion rating but got sacked seven times while only running 23 pass plays, contributing to being dropped in this week’s rankings.

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ center has not been in the top 10 since week seven, and his run-blocking ability has earned him a spot back in the rankings. Pittsburgh benefited the most when they opted to run inside routes between the center and guards.

Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, and Russell Wilson combined for 86 rushing yards (72 through the inside left route) and one touchdown running inside routes. Against the Cleveland Browns, Zach Frazier allowed zero hits, zero sacks, and one pressure against his quarterback, Wilson.

Malik Nabers benefited from a Giants offense that could not generate any rushing offense; quarterback Drew Lock was the team’s leading rusher for the second straight week. He was the game’s leading receiver with 79 yards on five receptions from 10 targets.

His 79 receiving yards were the most since week four’s 115-yard night. With four games left, Nabers is 181 yards shy of a 1,000-yard receiving season and third among rookies in receiving yards.

Brian Thomas Jr. is the second wide receiver to make this week’s rankings after missing out on the previous four. The Jacksonville Jaguars receiver had 86 yards with eight receptions on 12 targets during the victory against the Tennessee Titans. 

That was the most yards Thomas had since Jacksonville’s previous victory in London against the New England Patriots, where he had 89 receiving yards. He is 13th in the league for receiving yards and leads all rookie receivers in that category. 

Entering last week, Cooper DeJean was one of the top two rated cornerbacks in man coverage, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). The Philadelphia Eagles‘ corner fell a few spots due to poor coverage while matched against Adam Thielen. 

Thielen, arguably, had a comfortable outing against the best cornerback core in the league, with nine receptions on 11 targets for 102 yards. However, DeJean had five tackles, one stuff, and at least a stop against the Carolina Panthers.

6. Joe Alt – OT

The Chargers matchup against the Chiefs was for the AFC West, and Los Angeles’ efforts to win were because of the offensive line protection for Justin Herbert. The tackles are the most vulnerable offensive line position and have the highest one-on-one rate during pass blocking. Both tackles, including Joe Alt, allowed zero pressures through the first quarter against Kansas City.  

Against the Chiefs, Alt allowed one pressure, zero sacks, and zero hits. He has helped build a strong pocket that could lead the Chargers to playoff success, including upsets against the best in the AFC. 

In addition to DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell was the other top-rated cornerback in man coverage entering week 14. Last week against Carolina, Mitchell had a few forced incompletions but had an overall quiet game with no positives or negatives.

He had three tackles (two solo) against the Panthers and allowed three receptions on four targets for 19 total yards. His ninth straight game allowing 30 yards or less boosted his case for Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Aidan O’Connell and Desmond Ridder forced Bowers into a quiet performance against the Buccaneers. The pair combined for 37 pass attempts, five of which targeted Bowers, while they threw 19 combined targets for Michael Mayer and Jakobi Meyers.

Bowers had three receptions for 49 yards against Tampa Bay and had an average of 3.08 yards of separation per target. Bowers is fifth in the league in receiving yards and in serious contention to earn a First Team All-Pro nomination as one of the best tight ends this season. 

3. Bo Nix – QB

The Denver Broncos had a bye week last week, and Nix benefited from quiet or poor performances from Bowers, Mitchell, DeJean, and an injury from Irving to climb into the top three. Nix has also become a favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year following his improved performance since week eight.

Defenses were not the highlight of the Buffalo Bills‘ defeat to the Los Angeles Rams, which saw a combined 86 points scored. Jared Verse had two tackles (one solo) in the Rams’ victory against one of the best teams in the AFC.

Verse has had 39 hurries, 14 hits allowed, and 59 total pressures, ranking second among edge rushers. He is the favorite for DROTY, but his teammate Braden Fiske and Eagles duo Mitchell and DeJean are not far behind.

Jayden Daniels is the favorite for OROTY, but his Washington Commanders have a game advantage over the Rams for the final playoff spot. Washington must come out of the bye week as dangerous as Daniels had opened the season to secure a playoff appearance.