schmiddog
07-26-2007, 02:10 PM
This has been talked about at length before, but hadn't seen any discussion of it lately. Obviously it would make much more sense to discuss after camps\preseason, but it's always fun to predict these kinds of things, even at this time of year.
Offensive-Top Candidates(no order)
Dwayne Bowe-Apparently he had a bit of a shaky minicamp, but I'm confident Bowe will be starting come the beginning of the season. The more tape I see of him, the more impressed I am....he's a true physical specimen and a tremendous athlete with awesome hands (most of the time). The Chiefs don't have a whole lot to work with at WR, and I really see this guy having a big year. IMO, provided Huard and\or Croyle are tossing the skin with reasonable accuracy, 1,000+\8-10+ is not out of the question for Bowe.
Adrian Peterson-Probably a fixture on everyone's list, as he should be. The only things potentially standing in his way are a dismal passing game that will allow defenses to stack the box and the presence of Chester Taylor. The passing game should improve over last season (though still probably not be all that great) with the addition of Sidney Rice and the maturity of Tarvaris Jackson, and it is my belief that AD will replace Taylor atop the depth chart relatively early in the season, as he is just that good.
Marshawn Lynch-In one of the more advantageous situations of any rookie out there, coming to a team that just offloaded their franchise back. I don't think Lynch will ever be an elite NFL back, but he is definitely in a position to deliver right away in Buffalo and he's a tough,tough runner with great size and athleticism and a little speed to boot.
CJ-If there is ever a player in the NFL I have sympathized with, it's Mike Furrey, because no player deserves to be benched after leading the NFC in receptions and having a career year. CJ is just too good to not be starting when the season rolls around, and after adding an explosive Tatum Bell to the mix, the Lions are ready to win some games with their high powered offense. CJ will be an integral part of that, and may even be better than Roy Williams by season's end.
Greg Olsen-Perhaps the steal of the draft at 31, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Olsen had a huge year next year. Rex Grossman isn't exactly the ideal signal caller for him, but bad QB's\QB's that lack confidence tend to rely on their tight ends more than they should anyway, so that might help Olsen out.
Wild Cards
Ginn-I know he's got some work to do as a receiver, but his speed cannot be held back and I see him finding the endzone as a WR in his first year an appreciable number of times. Add in the minimum of 2 return td's (and yes I think that's basically a guarantee provided a full season with this guy) and a potential rushing TD or two, and I could see Ginn putting together a nice season flavored with the kind of versatility that the press ooos and awes over.
Sidney Rice-I know, I know. He's got a terrible QB and he's got some work to do. With those things said, I really believe Rice will be the second best WR out of this class when all is said and done, and maybe the Vikes passing game will wise up sooner than expected. If they do, watch out--Rice will take the league by storm. What people fail to realize about Sidney is just how good of an athlete he is. That special athleticism combined with his tremendous hands and absurdly good ability to adjust\torque his body in the air to adjust to balls is what made me put him on this list.
Offensive-Top Candidates(no order)
Dwayne Bowe-Apparently he had a bit of a shaky minicamp, but I'm confident Bowe will be starting come the beginning of the season. The more tape I see of him, the more impressed I am....he's a true physical specimen and a tremendous athlete with awesome hands (most of the time). The Chiefs don't have a whole lot to work with at WR, and I really see this guy having a big year. IMO, provided Huard and\or Croyle are tossing the skin with reasonable accuracy, 1,000+\8-10+ is not out of the question for Bowe.
Adrian Peterson-Probably a fixture on everyone's list, as he should be. The only things potentially standing in his way are a dismal passing game that will allow defenses to stack the box and the presence of Chester Taylor. The passing game should improve over last season (though still probably not be all that great) with the addition of Sidney Rice and the maturity of Tarvaris Jackson, and it is my belief that AD will replace Taylor atop the depth chart relatively early in the season, as he is just that good.
Marshawn Lynch-In one of the more advantageous situations of any rookie out there, coming to a team that just offloaded their franchise back. I don't think Lynch will ever be an elite NFL back, but he is definitely in a position to deliver right away in Buffalo and he's a tough,tough runner with great size and athleticism and a little speed to boot.
CJ-If there is ever a player in the NFL I have sympathized with, it's Mike Furrey, because no player deserves to be benched after leading the NFC in receptions and having a career year. CJ is just too good to not be starting when the season rolls around, and after adding an explosive Tatum Bell to the mix, the Lions are ready to win some games with their high powered offense. CJ will be an integral part of that, and may even be better than Roy Williams by season's end.
Greg Olsen-Perhaps the steal of the draft at 31, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Olsen had a huge year next year. Rex Grossman isn't exactly the ideal signal caller for him, but bad QB's\QB's that lack confidence tend to rely on their tight ends more than they should anyway, so that might help Olsen out.
Wild Cards
Ginn-I know he's got some work to do as a receiver, but his speed cannot be held back and I see him finding the endzone as a WR in his first year an appreciable number of times. Add in the minimum of 2 return td's (and yes I think that's basically a guarantee provided a full season with this guy) and a potential rushing TD or two, and I could see Ginn putting together a nice season flavored with the kind of versatility that the press ooos and awes over.
Sidney Rice-I know, I know. He's got a terrible QB and he's got some work to do. With those things said, I really believe Rice will be the second best WR out of this class when all is said and done, and maybe the Vikes passing game will wise up sooner than expected. If they do, watch out--Rice will take the league by storm. What people fail to realize about Sidney is just how good of an athlete he is. That special athleticism combined with his tremendous hands and absurdly good ability to adjust\torque his body in the air to adjust to balls is what made me put him on this list.