Who is your “Surprise player of the year”.

[rmoneyg35]

Every year there is a player who wasn’t expected to do anything that ends up having a good season.

 

This season will be no different.

 

So who do you think will be the player to surprise us this season?

I know a lot of people will say Taylor Moton but let’s be honest, is it a surprise if everyone is expecting him to do well?

 

for this season I am picking Wes Horton.

 

last season he had 5.5 sacks despite being the 4th DE and playing a lot less snaps than other DE.  He has always been solid in the run game but has never been able to be a factor in getting pressure on the QB. Last year that changed.

 

I believe you could actually compare Horton to Mario Addison. Age wise Addison never started producing  sacks until he was 27 when he had 6.5 sacks. Wes was 27 last year and turned 28 near the end of the season. So they are close to the same age when it comes to finally being able to consistently get to the QB.

 

Now with Charles Johnson retired, Horton has moved up the depth chart. Peppers and Addison are both over 31 and could start declining at any moment. I believe Horton will see a lot more snaps than last year.

Horton has great size for a 4-3 DE. He can play DT and has been healthy his whole career.  He started off the season with 1.5 sacks so he is already on track to break his sack record.

 

so I predict this is the year Horton puts it all together and has an 8-10 sack year. Peppers will retire and Horton will be the starting DE for the next few years as Haynes grows into Addison’s replacement.

so who are you picking for your surprise player of the season?

[uncfan888]

Ian Thomas will ball out with Olsen more than likely gone for the season

[arbnranger]

CJ Anderson 

[Chaos]

Jerious Wright, often overlooked in all the WR conversations, came up with some great catches yesterday. 

[jfra78]

3 words O BA DA

[The Lobo]

C.J. or Shaq.

[Shotgun]

Amini, I'm surprised he's still on the team.

[Steve_Smith_Sr.]

56 minutes ago, uncfan888 said:

Ian Thomas will ball out with Olsen more than likely gone for the season

I'll second this.

[Dex]

Ian Thomas

[bababoey]

36 minutes ago, Shotgun said:

Amini, I'm surprised he's still on the team.

My thoughts exactly.

[CKI]

25 minutes ago, Dex said:

Ian Thomas

This.  I was surprised to see how often he was lined up off the line in the slot, especially considering how many WR's we have on the team.  Seems like the coaching staff have a thing for him

[panthers55]

Shaq is my surprise player. Up to this year he looked like a guy still lost out there always a step late or slow to recognize what was going on. This year is night and day. He is doing a fantastic job and looking like a starter. Some people come to the party early while others come late. Shaq appears to be a late one but he is making up for lost time.

[rmoneyg35]

3 hours ago, Chaos said:

Jerious Wright, often overlooked in all the WR conversations, came up with some great catches yesterday. 

I do think Wright will be our #2 or #3 WR. It all depends on how healthy Curtis Samuel can be. If Samuel is healthy then he is our #3.

 

Wright is a solid player. He had two great WRs in front of him in Minnesota. Not to mention Minnesota had qb issues up until bridgewaters second year.

 

he balled out in the short amount of preseason reps he did play.

 

he has played in Norvs system, can catch the ball, good route runner, is quick, good speed and is one of the most solid 3rd down WR in the NFL.

 

I know a lot of people think DJ Moore was going to be the OROTY but I strongly disagree. He has to learn to run routes better and from what I am hearing he must learn to prevent being jammed by corners. At best he will have a Funchess type of rookie season with most of his stats occurring in the second half.

 

Funchess is our #1 WR, Samuel can be a solid #2, Wright will be the #2 or #3 while Torey Smith will get some snaps at all WR positions. DJ Moore and Byrd will make the occasional big play but due to so many good WR it will be hard for them to get many opportunities.

 

there isn’t really a true #1 Wr on the team, just a bunch of solid 2s and 3s. That isn’t a bad thing though because Cam won the MVP without a #1 WR and less talent then there is now.

[rmoneyg35]

3 hours ago, jfra78 said:

3 words O BA DA

How can Obada be a surprise player when he isn’t even on the field? Healthy scratch yesterday. Cox and Haynes are ahead of him on the depth chart.

 

unless some injuries occur on the D line he will be very lucky to even get on the field. I don’t think he lacks talent or skill to play at the DE spot but I don’t think he has more talent than the people ahead of him.