I don't think markets are all that significant in terms of player popularity when it comes to the NFL. The general fanbase knows most QBs and a couple of high profile players league wide, and that's about it. I do not think a Corner in Buffalo is going to be any more or less likely to make a PB than a Corner from LA is. Its likely that the teams win/loss record is going to play a bigger role than anything.
The NFL is a whole different beast than something like the NBA. Fans care about teams and the sport in the NFL. They generally don't give a rip about the players. The NBA or even MLB, to a certain extent, is a "star driven league". The NBA's popularity is almost exclusively tied to the popularity of a couple of individual players.
Players in the NFL wear helmets. It sounds cheesy, but that means something. A lot of these guys most people couldn't pick their faces out of lineup.
I would bet a gigantic sum of money that at least 50% of the people who post on this very message board could not identify Aaron Donald, by his face, in street clothes in a crowded room of people. By a lot of accounts he's the single best player in the league, and if he walked by you at the Horseshoe in the middle of the day, you'd probably not recognize him. 100% of those people could identify about 30 NBA players, at least, even if they don't actively watch the NBA.