Possible Super Bowl one-hit wonders

Mizzou hasn’t had a shortage of productive tight ends that reached the pro ranks. It is shocking to see Blanton be one taking on an emerging role for a Super Bowl favorite after never truly becoming the Tigers’ No. 1 tight end throughout his time in Columbia, only accruing 476 receiving yards and six touchdowns in 43 college games. Blanton went undrafted in 2019 and was picked up by the Rams in free agency. The Kansas City-area native has been waived by Los Angeles before each of the last three seasons, finding his way back to the Rams through the practice squad or a futures contract each time.

He played in one NFL game prior to 2021, all on special teams during a December 2019 game against Seattle. Blanton was elevated to the Rams’ active roster in late October, where he’s stayed since. He picked up his first two NFL starts in Weeks 14 and 15, playing a combined 95 offensive snaps against the Cardinals and Seahawks. The last two weeks of the postseason has seen Blanton’s profile rise as a trusted target of Stafford. Against Tampa Bay, he caught both targets, one being for his first career NFL touchdown. In the NFC Championship against San Francisco, Blanton played on 79 percent of offensive snaps and again didn’t miss a catch any time he was targeted. He caught five passes for 57 yards. Blanton presents a good problem for Sean McVay. If usual No. 1 tight end Tyler Higbee gets his normal workload, Blanton’s role will diminish. If not, Blanton has shown he provides a solid safety net.

How about a rookie emerging to take the spotlight? Evans has participated in one game all year where he played in more than 22 percent of offensive snaps. That was in Week 18, when the Bengals had already locked up a playoff spot. He’s been a special teams contributor throughout the season, topping 25 percent of snaps played on kickoffs and punts a dozen times this season. Cincinnati has no shortage of talented running backs like Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine. Burrow has shown little hesitation in giving the ball to either one of them despite his talents if the situation calls for it.

Evans scored his only two touchdowns of the season, both on the ground, in the pair of games where he played the most. The former Michigan Wolverine has also proven to be capable in the pass and return games as well. His offensive postseason production has been limited to two carries for 13 yards, but he has played in more than a third of the Bengals’ special teams snaps in each postseason victory. Evans’ chance may be limited against the Rams, but he could only need one play to make a name for himself and not just be confused with the actor who played Captain America and The Human Torch.

Hekker is an old, grizzled veteran compared to the rest of this list. He’s a four-time Pro Bowler and a four-time All-Pro selection for his abilities with his feet. Hekker is well known within NFL circles for not only being a consistent field-flipper with his punts, but his ability to pull off trick plays. He has a 60.9 percent completion percentage in his career with a touchdown pass. Remember the play called the “Philly Special” and how tied it is to Nick Foles and that Eagles Super Bowl victory in 2018? One play like that from Hekker and he’ll be more remembered than by just hardcore football fans.

Punting is far from a glamorous profession. If Hekker doesn’t do his job, it’ll be remembered. If he does a great job, it’s not likely to draw headlines anywhere. Hekker is almost exclusively a punter. He made his only field-goal attempt in his NFL career, from 20 yards. Hekker has attempted 16 kickoffs in his career, only four going for touchbacks. His punting stats are superb, with a career average of 46.7 yards per punt. His 2021 average of 44.2 yards per boot is the lowest yearly average since he joined the NFL. There’s no better time to raise it a point or two.

The former Clemson Tiger has played consistently this year, appearing in a majority of the Bengals defensive snaps in every game he’s played this season but three. He’s also appeared in 66 percent or more in each of Cincinnati’s three playoff games. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s the fourth-highest graded Bengal this season with a minimum of 475 snaps behind Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, meaning he’s the highest-rated defensive player. Yet, he hasn’t gotten over the hump when it comes to national attention.

Disrupting the well-oiled machine of the Rams offense would do that. He’s got the chops to do it, even against a stout offensive line. Look at the AFC title game against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs for proof. The 6-foot-3, 347-pound Reader only has 22 tackles and two sacks this season. Don’t let those stats fool you, he’s made an impact throughout the year. A dominant performance from Reader could lead Cincy to the win.

In terms of time played during the 2021 season when healthy, Williams has spent the most time on the field of anyone on this list. He has one game this season where he played in less than 85 percent of the Rams’ defensive snaps, Week 9 against the Titans, when he was coming back from an ankle injury after missing the previous three games. In every game at full health, Williams has played in at least 98 percent of snaps, with a dozen games not missing a Los Angeles defensive play.

Williams has 71 tackles this season, but no interceptions. His only turnover contribution came in Week 17, with a fumble recovery against the Ravens. Before UAB’s relaunch of its football program, Williams was the one-time face of the Blazers in a crazed football state. An interception touchdown would raise his profile tremendously, look at what it did for Pittsburgh’s James Harrison or New Orleans’ Tracy Porter.

Should either quarterback go down with an injury in the game, either backup would immediately become the central figure of this matchup. Between the Bengals and Rams’ No. 2s, to me, Allen has more potential to steer his team to victory. Sorry John Wolford, who hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass since was at Wake Forest. Allen has been in some pressure moments since leaving Arkansas. He was a third-stringer, like Burrow, for his first three years of his NFL career behind such lofty talents like Blake Bortles and Sean Mannion. Gross. Allen was a Ram for two seasons when the team started Jared Goff. Allen called the wrong side of the coin to start overtime of the AFC Championship game against Kansas City. It didn’t matter though.

After one season in Denver, Allen is trying to break into an NFL starting role with the Bengals, having thrown 10 career touchdown passes and six interceptions. He’s had limited playing time this season with the development of Burrow. But he did get to shine in parts at the end of 2020 season, after Burrow’s rookie season ended with injury in November. His best performance was against the Texans, throwing for 371 yards and two touchdowns. Allen did also post the NFL’s most recent passer rating of zero, doing so against Baltimore in Jan. 2021, completing 21 of 48 attempts. However, he has the best skill-set of non-starting-quarterbacks who will be on the field at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.