Everything right now is NFL playoffs, NFL playoffs, NFL playoffs. And rightfully so. We'll all be transfixed on the postseason for the next month, but let's not forget about the current 12 clubs already eliminated from playoff contention. They're in a weird spot. There's still one game left in the regular season but we wouldn't necessarily fault anyone in any of those organizations if they've shifted focus to free agency or the NFL Draft.
And while it may be dubbed a "meaningless" game for those dozen teams, it's far from that in reality. It's another contest of valuable roster evaluation, and you can bet every single coach and player on a club eliminated from postseason contention desperately wants to win in the regular-season finale.
The eliminated teams should absolutely be giving as many opportunities as possible to players on their respective rosters this weekend. I get if a team doesn't want to send out a practice squad elevation in a contest that impacts playoff seeding. And a player who thrives in, say, his first opportunity of the season this Saturday or Sunday will probably not see the field in the playoffs for one the teams already locked into their spot.
With all that in mind, the final Practice Squad Power Rankings of the 2023 season will only feature players on clubs eliminated from postseason contention.
Before I get to Week 18's rankings, we didn't have any Week 17 PSPR elevations. And that's cool. We already saw the number of elevations exceed my main goal -- which was averaging at least one call-up per week. The Call-Up Tracker is at 26 entering the final week of the regular season.
And let's not forget to once again pay homage to Practice Squad Power Ranking alums like Saints TE Juwan Johnson, 49ers wideout Jauan Jennings, Cardinals center Hjalte Froholdt and Giants receiver Isaiah Hodgins (among many others) who have all graduated to become important mainstays on their clubs' respective 53-man rosters and contribute in their own ways each weekend.
To cap this season, I must finish with a big thanks to you, the loyal PSPR patron, for checking this article every week, which in essence allows me to continue to write one of my favorite pieces of the year each week during the NFL regular season. I'm so grateful.
10. Tyler Badie, RB, Broncos
Badie was the heartbeat of the Missouri offense in 2021 with over 1,600 yards on the ground on 268 carries. Small, feisty, at times awesomely explosive, and blessed with plus contact balance, he was a sixth-round pick by the Ravens in 2022 and now resides on the Broncos practice squad. He was given one carry a year ago, that went for no gain but did have a 24-yard reception. I can envision him as an eventual screen-game monster in Sean Payton's offense in 2024 and beyond.
9. Shaka Heyward, LB, Bengals
Heyward was one of the defensive pieces to a Duke program that went 9-4 in 2022. His supreme length allowed him to disrupt the football often in coverage -- six pass breakups and two interceptions -- and he was one of the more sure-tackling linebackers in the entire 2023 class. He ran 4.53 at nearly 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, and those 34-inch arms provide Heyward with a tackling radius most second-level defenders would dream of. The coverage will take time. It always does. For every linebacker. But he can be a useful sideline-to-sideline tackler if Cincinnati needs him. The Bengals do not at the moment.
8. Marquis Hayes, OG, Cardinals
For as much as -- beyond Orlando Brown -- Oklahoma blockers have mostly disappointed in the NFL, I'm placing Hayes here because he was a favorite low-center-of-gravity masher from the Sooner program a few years ago. He has gotten chances in Arizona and struggled early. But I'm a firm believer that almost every blocker needs time to get "NFL strong." Arizona should give Hayes another chance inside in the regular-season finale.
7. Joe Giles-Harris, LB, Patriots
Giles-Harris was a tackling machine at Duke, and while he didn't test particularly well entering the NFL a few years ago, his instincts and tackling reliability have kept him in the league. After two years in Jacksonville and two with the Bills, which featured some quality preseason play, the large off-ball 'backer now resides on the Patriots roster. And Bill Belichick has always loved himself some oversized second-level defenders. He deserves an opportunity in the season-finale against the Jets.
6. Marquan McCall, DT, Raiders
McCall is a classic block-devourer from the University of Kentucky. Nearly 6-foot-3 and 340-plus pounds, McCall went undrafted 2022 but worked his way onto the Panthers 53-man roster out of camp. He's agile for his size, is well-versed in two-gapping and flashed some upfield penetrative skill in college. The Raiders defense rounded into form as the season progressed but in 2024 could use more meat in the middle. McCall can help with that endeavor.
5. Jaret Patterson, RB, Commanders
I get that Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson tote the rock well -- and have proven to be capable receivers too -- but Patterson is the exact type of back the Commanders haven't been able to evaluate on the field in a regular season game. He's compact, twitchy, and plays with awesome lateral agility. Last year, he carried the ball 17 times for 78 yards -- 4.6 yards per -- and in 2021, his rookie season, Patterson accumulated 73 yards on 10 catches.
4. Deonte Brown, OG, Panthers
Brown was such a fun prospect hailing from Alabama a few drafts ago. A brick wall at guard at 6-4 and around 340 pounds for the Crimson Tide, he routinely moved SEC defensive linemen in the run game and was a quality pass protector in the Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones eras. Carolina's offensive line has been an abomination all season, and it wouldn't hurt for the future of the franchise to give Brown a chance to showcase his skills at guard.
3. Davion Taylor, LB, Cardinals
Taylor was relatively new to football at Colorado, and he amassed 18 tackles for loss with six pass breakups and nearly 130 tackles in his two seasons with the Buffaloes. Then, at 6-foot and 228 pounds, Taylor ran 4.49 with a huge 127-inch broad jump and a three cone under 7.00 seconds. Raw specimen. Arizona has played hard seemingly every week in this ultimately unsuccessful season, and elevating Taylor to see if he's worth keeping for Year 2 of the Monti Ossenfort/Jonathan Gannon era would be worth it.
2. William Bradley-King, EDGE, Patriots
I cannot quit Bradley-King. His impressive play at Baylor after transferring from Arkansas State is forever burned into my brain. So is his quality pro day workout at north of 6-foot-3 and 250-plus pounds in 2021. He was buried behind like 400 first-round defensive linemen in Washington, and now could be a player who flashes late and earns a 2024 job in New England ... if he gets an opportunity.
1. Durell Nchami, EDGE, Broncos
To see Ncahmi on the Broncos practice squad was such a treat. He was a major draft crush of mine because of his ultra-bendy ways around the corner at Maryland. His final season with the Terrapins wasn't spectacular. Before injury struck in 2021, he was borderline unblockable around the corner. A pure traits player with NFL-caliber size at 6-4 and around 260 pounds, I was compelled to placed Nchami here at No. 1 to end this season's PSPR because he's a rare cat who went undrafted, didn't sign with anyone all year but was inked by the Broncos in early December! He has NFL-caliber pass-rush skills.
