i think a fun way to sate all this draft fever is by looking back at last year's draft and evaluating how our favorite players fared. so, please use this as a forum to congratulate yourself, or eat your crow. I looked a draft mag, i forget which one right now, and this is what they had to say about some of the players from last years draft. O, and i took the liberty to group them accordingly to how i see fit, so to breakup what would otherwise be a very long list. Also, i bolded the players that were thephins.com fan forum favorites from last year, just for fun. ROOKIES OF THE YEAR percy harvin - Off ROY, multipurpose star brian cushing - Def ROY, 133 tackles, 4 sacks, 4 int GIVE THEM A TROPHY TOO hakeem nicks - solid while battling injuries, 790 yards, 6 td jeremy maclin - dangerous speed wr, 773 yards 4 td brian orakpo - solid while learning olb, 50 tackles, 10 sacks clay matthews - fierce edge rusher, 49 tackles, 10 sacks michael oher - outstanding at RT jarius byrd - Def ROY contender, 9 int , 42 tackles THEY'LL GET A NICE PLAQUE mike wallace - great deep threat, 759 yards, 19.4 ypc, 6 td mark sanchez - inconsistent, but stepped it up in playoffs sean smith - steady as #1 CB, no int austin collie - calssic Indy slot receiver, 60 catches, 676 yards kenny britt - nice deep threat who came on late, 701 yards lesean mccoy - good fill in for westbrook, 945 scrimmage yards Brandon pettigrew - good starting TE, 30 catches, 346 yards phil loadholdt - solid as starting RT beanie wells - good time-share rb, 793 yards, 4.5 ypc, 7 td Alex Mack - 16 starts, quality performer REALLY NICE RIBBONS Andy Levitre - showed promise, 16 starts Vontae Davis - 9 starts 49 tackles, 4 int Shonn Green - 540 yards, 5.0 ypc, but fumble problems Rey Maualuga - solid starting SLB, 59 tackles, 3 ff Mohammed Massoquoi - stepped up as top WR, 34 catches, 624 yards, 3 td Eben Britton - decent in 15 starts at RT Terrence Knight - 16 games started, solid run clogger, 45 tackles Louis Vasquez - solid in 14 starts david beuhler - KO specialist, 38% touchback (2nd in NFL) johnny knox - decent big play threat, 527 yards, 5 td HAND SHAKE FOR A JOB WELL DONE matt stafford - hit often, 53.3% comp rate, 13 td 20 int Sebastian Vollmer - solid in 8 starts for injured matt light Brian Hartline - special teamer, surprise as WR (506 yards) louis delmas - decent starting fs for a rookie, 2 int, 1 td DeAndre Cory - won starting job midseason, 79 tackles Derek Cox - started 16 games, serviceable #2 CB, 4 int michael crabtree - long holdout, decent in 11 games, 625 yards Mike Thomas - reliable slot, 48 catches, 453 yards Louis Murphy - team's 2nd leading WR, 34 catches, 521 yards malcolm jenkins - serviceable sub-package CB, 47 tackles HONORABLE MENTION john phillips - good blocker, active 16 games Pat McAffee- good punter (44.3 average) and KO specialist James laurinitis - average MLB, team leading 120 tackles josh freeman - raw, but not a disaster, 10 td 18 int bj raji - rotated in at NT, 25 tackles, 1 sack Shawn nelson - 16 starts, 17 catches, 156 yards 1 td glover quinn - serviceable cb, 68 tackles, 11 pds knowshon moreno - mediocre starter, 947 yards, 3.8 ypc al afalava - decent in 13 starts, 53 tackles, 7 pd, 1 ff PARTICIPATION RIBBON jerraud powers - solid when forced into lineup pat chung - 23 tackles, 2 sacks, int as a sub-package DB darius butler - nickleback, 3 int, td paul kuger - active 9 games, key int in win over pitt connor barwin - 4.5 sacks as a rotational de zach miller - promising pass catcher, 21 catches, 212 yards rashad jennings - good backup, 202 yards, 5.2 ypc, td darcel mcbath - serviceable nickle, 15 tackles, 2 int richard quinn - active 15 games as blocking te william beatty - promising, but inconsistent in 4 starts at RT asher allen - 24 tackles, 1 int, sub package CB THANKS FOR COMING OUT aaron brown - flashes as backup, 131 yards, 4.9 ypc clint sintim - 14 tackles, 1 sack, in 11 games robert ayers- 18 tackles as back up rush olb Eric wood - 10 starts, but overmatched michael johnson - versatile reserve matt shaughnessy - serviceable as a rotational dt jasper brinkley - 21 tackles in 4 games for injured ej henderson chris owens - 26 tackles, 2 int, subpackage cb BETTER LUCK NEXT YEAR everette brown - 2.5 sacks as backup de ray millen - 33 tackles, 2 sacks as rotational dt rashad johnson- 18 tackles, 1 pd in limited time jamon meredith- picked off ps, 4 starts travis beckum - ST contributer, 8 catches for 55 yards fili moala - 7 tackles in limited time as dt ziggy hood - rotational de, 8 tackles, 1 sack pat white - 0 for 5 passing, 80 yards rushing glen coffee - brutal, 226 yards, 2.7 ypc as #2 back aaron curry - average slb, not a playmaker, 60 tackles, 2 sacks tyson jackson - starting DE, minimal impact, 37 tackles, 0 sacks MAYBE YOU'D LIKE WATCHING THE GAME INSTEAD aaron maybin - non existent, 16 tackles, 0 sacks patrick turner - inactive ron brace - saw limited time despite wilfork injury andre smith - underwhelming in 5 games brian robiskie - dissapointing, buried on depth chart, 7 rec david veikune - used sparingly despite injuries to lb core kraig urbich - did not appear in reg season donald brown - underwhelming part timer, 281 yards terrance taylor - practice squad for carolina and detroit eugene monroe - shaky in 13 starts at LT, 7 sacks allowed SenDerrick Marks - little impact as reserve dt jared cook - seldom used outside of st, 9 rec alphonso smith - disatrious as sub-package CB derrius heyward bey - far from contributing, 9 rec, 127 yards, td mike mitchell - 13 tackles as reserve, struggled with injuries jason williams - saw limited time in 5 games as reserve ramses barden - active for 3 games, 1 catch cornelius ingram - torn ACL in left knee for 2nd straight year macho harris - 8 starts at fs, mediocre before losing job jarron gilbert - moved inside, minimal action in 4 games juaquin iglasius- active for 1 game derrick williams - seldom used WR, fumble problems as KR tj lang - overmatched in limited action at RT peria jerry - ineffective in 2 starts before tearing ACL duke robinson - played sparingly as backup G jason Smith - shaky at RT, missed 8 games (concussion) dorel scott - underwhelming at DT (18 tackles) max unger - played G and C, below average at both spots
there are two things that strike me looking at this list 1. look at all those receivers who made an impact. WR is supposed to be a position that takes 3 years to be worth a moderate amount of salt, but looking at last years draft, WR was the most impactful position. 2. look at all those first round, read HIGH first rounders, who didnt do squat. wow. and i thought jason allen was a bump on a log.
Sean Smith (umm) gets a plaque but Vontae (4 int; 2 on brady/moss) has to settle for a ribbon?!? Tell me, what's up with that?
1. theres a reason sean was the #1 and vontae the #2. going into this season, i dont see anything that has changed. there were threads on here somewhere with stats that backed that up too. 2. as for 'average' james laurinitis, that stuck out strangely to me too, but i copied all of those blubs word for word out of the magazine (i think it was profootball weekly or something like that) so none of those assessments are my own. i just like to make funny headlines.
Yep, just like the average MLB Zach Thomas did for a while averaging just under 10 tackles a a game for 8 years of his life...