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There is no position more valuable in football than the quarterback. 

It's why the past 11 NFL MVP winners have been quarterbacks. However, every signal-caller -- even MVP winners -- need help from others to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl champions at the end of the season. With the league's Wild Card Weekend just days way, let's take a look at 10 of the most important contributors to their respective team's success at other positions besides the quarterback. 

10. Cameron Heyward, DT, Pittsburgh Steelers 

The Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7) enter the postseason with the NFL's No. 8 scoring defense (20.4), and a large part of why they have one of the best defenses in football is All-Pro defensive tackle Cameron Heyward having one of the best years of his career at age 35. 

He is Pro Football Focus' highest-graded defensive tackle (90.3 defensive grade) in the entire league because of his all-around impact. Heyward's 11 passes defended this season are a career high, and the same amount as Denver Broncos All-Pro corner Pat Surtain II, Cowboys All-Pro corner Trevon Diggs, Miami Dolphins All-Pro corner Jalen Ramsey and Green Bay Packers Pro Bowl safety Xavier McKinney all have in 2024. If Pittsburgh has any chance to upset the AFC North champion Baltimore Ravens and make a run this postseason, it will be because Heyward exhausts all the gas left in his tank. 

9. Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs

Yes, the 35-year-old version of Travis Kelce is not playing at the Pro Bowl and All-Pro level we're used to seeing. His 823 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns are career lows in seasons in which he's played multiple games. However, Kelce, in tandem with Patrick Mahomes, remain the league's bogeymen for the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Chiefs' offense. 

It might not always be pretty, but when it's third down or late in a game, there aren't many other people more dependable when it comes to moving the chains or getting into the end zone, especially in the playoffs. Only the GOAT wide receiver Jerry Rice (2,245 playoff receiving yards) has more receiving yards in the postseason than Kelce's 1,903. 

8. Xavier McKinney, S, Green Bay Packers 

The Green Bay Packers defense generated just 18 takeaways in 17 regular-season games in 2023, which ranked 23rd out of the league's 32 teams. This season, the Packers forced 31 takeaways, the fourth most in the entire NFL. What caused such a jump? Well, they moved on from former defensive coordinator Joe Barry and his more passive, zone-heavy scheme to current defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley's more aggressive scheme that makes a greater use of blitzing and man coverage.

The biggest personnel difference from last season to this season was the Packers' free agency signing of former New York Giants safety Xavier McKinney. The 26-year-old earned his first Pro Bowl selection this season because of how disruptive he's been executing Hafley's scheme. McKinney's nine takeaways in 2024, seven interceptions and two fumble recoveries, are tied for the most in the entire league with Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph, who has generated all of his takeaways via interceptions. 

His presence is arguably the biggest reason why the Packers' defense hasn't fallen apart with their top corner Jaire Alexander's absence because of a knee injury. McKinney is always lurking, and he could strike to create a game-changing play at any moment. 

7. Kyle Hamilton, S, Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton is the NFL's most well-rounded defensive back. He is PFF's second-highest graded safety overall (90.1 PFF defensive grade) while grading out as their third-best safety against the run (89.4 PFF run defense grade), third-best pass-rushing safety (89.0) and fourth-best safety in coverage (87.9 PFF coverage grade). There's nothing he can't do, which is why Hamilton is the ultimate defensive chess piece. 

6. Josh Jacobs, RB, Green Bay Packers

Running back Josh Jacobs has given the Green Bay Packers rushing production not seen around Lambeau Field since 2003: His 1,336 rushing yards are the sixth most in the NFL this season, and they are the most by a Packer since the franchise's all-time leading rusher Ahman Green totaled 1,883 rushing yards 21 years ago. 

Jacobs' 15 rushing touchdowns are the fourth most in the league, and his eight-game touchdown streak is the longest active streak in the NFL today. It's also tied for the longest such streak in Packers history, including the postseason, with All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams in 2020. The more Jacobs punishes a defense early allows for quarterback Jordan Love to create the explosive shot plays later on that cause opponents to tap out. 

5. Chris Jones, DT, Kansas City Chiefs

For years, the Chiefs were powered by the brilliance of Patrick Mahomes' aerial assault, but that's no longer the case. In 2024, Kansas City has the 15th-ranked scoring offense (22.6 points per game) and the fourth-ranked scoring defense (19.2). The biggest driver of that top-five unit is All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones. He hasn't been as effective getting to the quarterback this season with only five sacks, but his pressure numbers remain consistent: His 74 quarterback pressures are the sixth most in the entire NFL. 

Jones is PFF's highest-graded pass-rushing defensive tackle (91.0), and the third-highest graded defensive tackle (89.7 PFF defensive grade) in the entire league. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's defense is built around the havoc Jones consistently creates. 

4. Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Detroit Lions

No one was better at finding the end zone in 2024 than Detroit Lions second-year running back Jahmyr Gibbs: His 20 scrimmage touchdowns led the entire NFL and broke a franchise record while his 16 rushing touchdowns co-led the league along with Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry and Buffalo Bills running back James Cook. Any time he touches the football, he could take it to the house. 

Gibbs' 6.4 yards-per-scrimmage touch were the second best in a single season in the 21st Century, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk's 6.6 yards-per-scrimmage touch average in his 2000 NFL MVP season. He's also on a Barry Sanders-like heater: Gibbs is the first Lion with 150 or more scrimmage yards in three consecutive games since Sanders in 1991, per CBS Sports Research. Those three games have come in Detroit's final three regular-season games in which fellow running back David Montgomery has been sidelined with a knee injury. Gibbs is playing his best when the Lions have needed him to do so. 

3. Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings

How great is Justin Jefferson? Well, he averages the most career receiving yards per game (96.5) in NFL history, and he's made journeyman Sam Darnold look like a franchise quarterback. Darnold leads the NFL in completions (34) and completion percentage (49.3%) on throws of 20 or more air yards this season in his first season with the Vikings. Jefferson also has 1,533 receiving yards this season, which ranks as the second most in the entire NFL, but they kind of feel like a slight down year because that total is only the third best of Jefferson's five-year career. That's how great he is. 

Jefferson can also make one-handed, leaping catches in the clutch, like this fourth-and-18 reception that kept Minnesota in position to eventually defeat the Bills in Buffalo 33-30 in overtime back in Week 10 of the 2022 season. There's a strong argument for this being the most spectacular catch of the 2020s. If this pass isn't caught, the Vikings lose. In this postseason, Jefferson is the most game-changing wide receiver. 

2. Derrick Henry, RB, Baltimore Ravens

Yes, he is 30 years old, but Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry has still got it. His 1,921 rushing yards are the most in NFL history in a season by a player 30 or older, he co-led the NFL in rushing touchdowns with 16 to set a Ravens single-season record and he still has his breakaway speed. Henry is a major reason why his quarterback Lamar Jackson is the NFL's most efficient quarterback, leading the NFL with a 119.6 passer rating -- the fourth best in a season in NFL history. He's taken the weight of needing to be the Ravens' leading rusher off Jackson's shoulders, which has allowed Baltimore's offense to soar to new heights. 

1. Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles 

Close your eyes. What comes to mind when you think of the 14-3 Philadelphia Eagles? For many, it's the NFL's leading rusher in Saquon Barkley and Philadelphia's star-studded offensive line. Barkley is obviously having a special year: He is only the ninth player in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards (2,005) in a single season. 

A big factor in Barkley's rise this season is his stacked offensive line. His eye-popping 2.64 yards before contact per rush led the NFL in 2024, and that average was a major increase from his 1.35 yards before contact per rush average with the New York Giants from 2018-2023. His Giants average in this metric was the 12th best in the NFL among the 26 running backs with at least 700 carries from 2018 to 2023.

Barkley also makes a big difference. D'Andre Swift, the Eagles' featured running back last season, also led the NFL in yards before contact per rush with a 2.16 average in 2023, but that's just under half a yard fewer with what was an even greater Eagles offensive line with future Hall of Famer Jason Kelce still playing. The difference Barkley makes for his offense and his defense -- the Eagles led the NFL in time of possession per game (32 minutes and 22 seconds on average) -- is why he is the upcoming postseason's most valuable non-quarterback.