Cecil Shorts had a phenomenal breakout season while playing for a milquetoast 2-14 squad. Therefore, his accomplishments went largely unnoticed by NFL fans outside of Jacksonville. However, his unlikely emergence as a dangerous deep threat shouldn’t be ignored. The 2011 4th round draft pick from the tiny University of Mount Union finished the 2012 season with 55 catches for 979 yards and 7 touchdowns. His yards per catch average, 17.8, was the second highest in the league, only trailing perennial deep threat Vincent Jackson of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
After star running back Maurice Jones Drew suffered a season ending foot injury in Week 7, Shorts immediately became the Jaguars go-to playmaker. He easily outperformed the rest of the team’s receiving corps, including 2012 5th overall pick Justin Blackmon (64 catches,865 yards, 5 TDs) and concussion-addled free agent acquisition Laurent Robinson (24 catches, 254 yards, 0 TDs). He consistently put up solid to great numbers week in and week out, posting 75 receiving yards or more in 8 games. It should also be noted that Shorts accomplished all of this while catching balls from the uninspiring QB tandem of Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne.
If the Jaguars can acquire much needed talent for other roster positions, Shorts will benefit greatly, and his numbers (and name recognition) will continue to increase.
Under normal circumstances, it would be ridiculous to laud a premiere running back’s successful season as “surprising”. But Adrian Peterson has faced anything but normal circumstances over the last 12 months. Peterson suffered a devastating ACL/MCL injury in his left knee on a December 24, 2011 game against the Washington Redskins. His injury was so severe and extensive that doctors told him that he would probably miss a good chunk of the 2012 season. And even then, his trademark agility and elusiveness was expected to be hampered by his surgically reconstructed knee. But Peterson, a determined and driven player, was unfazed by these assessments. In a bold move, Peterson vowed to be ready to go by Week 1, and insisted that he would have the best season of his career.
Peterson didn’t only achieve those two goals, he exceeded them, having one of the best seasons for a running back in NFL history. He finished 2012 with 348 carries for an astounding 2,097 yards and 12 TDs. His 348 carries were the second highest total in the league. And his 2,097 yards were only 9 yards shy of the NFL single season record for rushing yards held by former Rams running back Eric Dickerson, who rushed for 2,105 yards in 1984. Still not impressed? Well, he had the second highest yards per carry average, 6.0, in the league, and he ran for 100 yards or more in 10 out of 16 games in 2012. In two of those games, he ran for over 200 yards.
Peterson’s accomplishments this season were obviously amazing. But they’re almost inconceivable when you consider that he achieved them while running on a knee that wasn’t at 100%, and while playing in a league that is quickly abandoning the running game in favor of heavy and complex passing attacks. He could be the last legendary workhorse back to electrify the NFL, and he clearly has no plans to end that reign anytime soon.
Fans of the Buffalo Bills entered the 2012 season believing that Fred Jackson would be their primary weapon on offense. But by the time the season ended, Jackson’s backup, C.J. Spiller, emerged as the offense’s real force to be reckoned with. This was totally unexpected, especially when many people had written off the former 9th overall pick from Clemson as a bust. In Spiller’s first two seasons in the league, he never ran for more than 600 yards, and he failed to stave off the older yet more productive Jackson. But Jackson’s 2012 campaign was marred by injuries that kept him on the sidelines for extended periods of time, so Spiller got one more shot at stardom.
And he took full advantage of it. Spiller finished 2012 with 207 carries for 1,244 yards and 6 TDs, and he quickly snatched the starting spot away from Jackson. His yards per carry average, 6.0, tied Adrian Peterson for second highest in the league, and he provided the Bills with many big time runs in an otherwise mundane, playoff-less season. It’s been argued that Spiller could’ve had an even bigger season if now ex-head coach Chan Gailey had utilized him more. It’s a legitimate point, especially when you consider that Spiller only carried the ball 15 or more times in 5 games this season. Hopefully, Buffalo’s next head coach will be able to take full advantage of Spiller’s talents. He will go into 2013 as one of the league’s most talked about runners, while Jackson will most likely be traded or relegated to a backup role.
At first glance, it may be easy to write of Demaryius Thomas’s sudden formidability as the byproduct of Peyton Manning’s successful return to greatness with the Broncos. After all, the entire Broncos receiving corps saw a major uptick in production with Manning at the helm of their offense. But in reality, Thomas made major strides on his own this season after two utterly forgettable seasons in the NFL before 2012. Thomas was chosen in the first round of the 2010 draft by Denver, with the expectation that he would emerge as a physical, playmaking WR in the mold of Terrell Owens or Anquan Boldin. But he did little to validate those lofty comparisons, catching 22 balls in 2010 and 32 balls in 2011.
However, in 2012 he hauled in a whopping 94 catches for 1,434 yards and 10 TDs. He quadrupled his production from his rookie season, and almost tripled his production from 2011. Now obviously, when you go from catching passes from the pedestrian Kyle Orton and the mechanically impotent Tim Tebow to a future Hall of Fame quarterback, you’re going to become more productive automatically. But selling Thomas’s personal progress short would be a mistake. In Thomas’s 22 catch rookie season, many WRs on the Broncos had productive seasons, even while catching balls from Orton. Here’s a look at the stat line for some of the Broncos receivers during that season:
Brandon Lloyd- 75 catches, 1448 yards, 11 TDs
Jabar Gaffney- 65 catches, 875 yards, 2 TDs
Eddie Royal- 59 catches, 627 yards, 3 TDs
Furthermore, Denver’s other emerging top flight receiver, Eric Decker, became Tim Tebow’s go to guy in the red zone last year, grabbing 8 balls for TDs. So Thomas, in essence, has gone from 0 to 60 in the span of a couple of seasons in the league. He still had a tendency to disappear in some games this season, such as his 4 catch, 13 yard outing against Baltimore, but he’s certainly improving at an exponential rate. Demaryius Thomas should be a big time playmaker in the league for years to come.
When I compiled this list for the 2011 season, I placed Brandon Browner, the former CFL standout and current Seattle Seahawks cornerback, number 5 on the list. This year, the number 6 spot goes to Seattle’s other starting CB, Richard Sherman. Sherman, a 2011 5th round pick out of Stanford, started 10 games in his rookie season with moderate success. This season, he became a permanent starter and emerged as one of the league’s most feared shutdown cornerbacks. He registered 64 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, and 8 INTs while playing for Seattle’s top flight defensive unit. His 8 interceptions tied for second most in the NFL, only trailing Chicago cornerback Tim Jennings, who had 9 picks.
Sherman’s production becomes even more impressive when you realize how many star players he shut down over the course of the 2012 season. In Week 5, he held the Carolina Panthers star wideout, Steve Smith, to 4 catches for 40 yards. In Week 6, he picked off the usually accurate Tom Brady in a 24-23 win for Seattle over New England. And in Week 8, he held the league’s indisputable top receiver, Detroit’s Calvin Johnson, to a measly total of 3 catches for 46 yards.
Personally, Sherman feels that he has been slighted throughout his football career. He believes that he should have been drafted higher than the 5th round in 2011, and he has vowed that he will become the best CB in the league to silence his pre-draft critics. Sherman feeds off of negativity, and he was just inexplicably snubbed from the Pro Bowl. So as Seattle enters the playoffs this weekend, expect him to be a fiery force to be reckoned with in the postseason.
The Giants had a disappointing 2012 campaign that was spoiled by injuries and underwhelming production from key players. But safety Stevie Brown, a virtual unknown before this season, stepped up in a big way when he replaced the injured Kenny Phillips in Week 4. He finished 2012 with 76 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and 8 INTs. His 8 interceptions tied the aforementioned Richard Sherman for second most in the NFL this season, and his 259 return yards off of those picks set a single season franchise record for the Giants. He even had exemplary performances against the NFL’s best quarterbacks. For example, he picked off New Orleans Saints gunslinger Drew Brees twice in a 52-27 victory for New York.
In order to understand why Brown’s production is so surprising, you have to look at his impact (or lack thereof) in the NFL prior to this season. He entered the NFL in 2010 as a late 7th round pick by the Oakland Raiders. He appeared in 15 games for the Raiders in 2010, but was underwhelming as a starter. The Raiders cut him right before the start of the 2011 season, and he spent most of 2011 sitting on the bench for both the Carolina Panthers and the Indianapolis Colts. The Giants signed him this past offseason with the expectation that he would only compete to be Phillips’s backup. He won that job, but then Phillips went down, Brown went in, and…voila, he’s an emerging defensive star. Phillips is a free agent in 2013, and he’s expected to leave New York for another team. So expect Brown to be an integral part of the Giants defense in the coming seasons.
As the 2012 began for the Washington Redskins, all eyes were on rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III. At the time, most people accurately believed that Griffin would have an immediate, positive impact on the Redskins offense. What they didn’t realize was that another rookie, with a much lower profile, was going to have an equally important impact on the up and coming Washington squad. Alfred Morris, 2012 6th round draft pick out of Florida Atlantic University, smashed onto the scene as one of the NFL’s most productive and reliable running backs this season. During the preseason, he was expected to play a minor role in a “backfield by committee” that would feature him, Roy Helu, Tim Hightower, and Evan Royster sharing carries in every game.
But by the time Washington’s Week 1 game against the New Orleans Saints had ended, it became clear that Morris was meant to be a feature back. He carried the ball 28 times for 96 yards with 2 TDs in that game, and head coach Mike Shanahan stuck with him from that point forward. He finished the season with 335 carries for 1,613 yards and 13 TDs. His 1,613 yards was the third highest total for a rookie in NFL history. His competitive and consistent play was pivotal in helping the Redskins rebound from their 3-6 start to winning the final 7 games of the season. Morris’s best game of the season came in the all important, division crown-deciding Week 17 matchup against the Cowboys. In that game, Morris ran the ball 33 times for 200 yards with 3 touchdowns, demolishing the Cowboys defense.
Shanahan has a penchant for turning late round running backs into star players, (see Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, and Reuben Droughns) so Morris should enjoy many more seasons of productive play.
When the Houston Texans said goodbye to former 1st overall draft pick Mario Williams in free agency this past offseason, it was assumed that second year defensive end J.J. Watt would fill in the team’s defensive playmaking void. Watt, the 11th overall pick in the 2011 draft, had a solid but not spectacular rookie campaign, racking up 64 tackles and 5.5 sacks. The hope was that in 2012, Watt would approach Williams’s typical level of production, which equated to about 12-14 sacks a season with 50-60 tackles.
Watt met and surpassed those expectations with ease, logging one of the best seasons for a defensive end in NFL history. He finished the 2012 regular season with 81 tackles and 20.5 sacks. He finished only 2.5 sacks shy of breaking Michael Strahan’s record for most sacks in a season. But Watt’s astronomical numbers didn’t just stop at sacks and tackles. He also had an incredible 16 passes defended, earning him the nickname “J.J. Swat”. His passes defended total was higher than many of the league’s top cornerbacks and safeties, such as DeAngelo Hall and Ronde Barber. Additionally, Watt forced four fumbles and recovered two.
Watt turned out to be an all around disruptive force against both the pass and the run. His style of play had very few weaknesses, and he was a game planning nightmare for opposing coaches. Bill Belichick, the most revered active coach in the NFL, even went so far as to say that Watt was “the most disruptive player in the league” and that he should be the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Watt’s explosive emergence this season surprised many. He even outplayed Mario Williams, who had a disappointing first season with the Buffalo Bills. As long as Watt maintains his current level of production, opposing QBs will have a major problem to worry about over the next few seasons.
Robert Griffin III, known more popularly by the acronym “RGIII”, entered the 2012 season as the most talked about player in the league. This rookie out of Baylor was ordained as the savior of the Washington Redskins back in April, when the team acquired him with the second overall pick in the draft. Scouts praised Griffin’s accurate arm, phenomenal running speed, and overall leadership skills. The Redskins, who had been searching for a franchise quarterback for over a decade, didn’t hesitate at the chance to grab him. Along with 1st overall pick Andrew Luck, the two quarterbacks were the most highly regarded QB prospects in recent NFL history. However, the general consensus among analysts was that Luck had a slight edge over Griffin in terms of becoming an elite NFL QB.
But, after one full season of NFL football, it appears that Griffin has a slight edge over Luck. Both QB’s have had excellent rookie campaigns, and they both have led their previously dismal squads into the playoffs. Luck even broke Cam Newton’s year old record for most passing yards by a rookie in a single season, throwing for 4,374 yards. But Griffin also broke rookie records, and did so with a better stat line and the benefit of pure athletic ability. Griffin completed 65.6% of his passes in 2012, throwing for 3,200 yards with 20 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions. His completion percentage and QB rating (102.5) were both rookie records. By comparison, Luck only had a completion percentage of 54.1% with a QB rating of 76.5. Along with RGIII’s passing prowess, he also ran the ball 120 times for 815 yards and an additional 7 TDs. His rushing total was higher than some the league most recognizable backs, such as Michael Turner and DeAngelo Williams.
RGIII is no project player: He’s already an All-Star, and he’s primed to dominate the league for the next decade. His immediate emergence as a dual passing/rushing threat will give the Redskins a unique edge on their opponents in this year’s postseason and beyond.
Lost in all of the preseason buzz about Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III was the stealthy emergence of Russell Wilson, a 5th round rookie out of Wisconsin. When the Seahawks selected Wilson in the draft, many experts were bemused by their decision. After all, they had just signed the highly coveted free agent quarterback, Matt Flynn, to a 3 year, $19.5 million dollar contract. Plus, critics believed that Wilson’s height was inadequate, and that his style of play wouldn’t transition well in the pros. But the Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll, thought that Wilson was a fierce and capable competitor, so he made the surprising decision to announce that Flynn wouldn’t automatically be given the starting job. Rather, he would have to compete with Wilson for the slot. Wilson clearly outplayed Flynn in the preseason, so Carroll stood by his word and made Wilson the starter in Week One.
As if that storyline wasn’t surprising enough, Wilson ended up putting together a season that easily rivaled, or even surpassed, the performances of Luck and Griffin. Wilson finished the 2012 season with a 64.1% completion percentage, 3,118 passing yards, and 26 TDs with only 10 INTs. His 26 TDs tied Peyton Manning’s record for most passing TDs in a season by a rookie QB. He also did some damage with his legs, rushing for 489 yards and 4 additional TDs. His smooth, confident transition from the college game to the NFL was the key to the Seahawks surprising 11-5 season. When they won, Wilson had a collective 114.9 passer rating. But when they lost, his passer rating was 74.3. So long as Wilson plays well and gets the support he needs, the Seahawks will be a disruptive force in the NFL.
And, decades from now, a third name will be included in discussions about who was the best QB of the 2012 draft class.
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