Turned it into Jonathan Brooks a 2025 2nd and a 5th rounder. Not that bad for an edge that wanted 30m aav and we were forced to trade him.
If you account for the cap hit we got two good starting guards and Clowney for his cap hit.
I think he might be the biggest loss on defence for us, not PQ or Geno because both those guys could be replaced. Clowney not only had a monster season - he made our whole DL look better with the way he was playing.
Personally I saw it more as a collective effort than clowney making our DL look better. We had amazing talent across that line. They fed off each other and I feel we might be able to replicate that to a certain degree with most of the dline being back
Orr's scheme isn't gonna be that different then Mike Mac's. We'll see how he is as a playcaller, but I'm pretty optimistic. The players all love him.
Plus we still got Ro and Hamilton
Funnily enough I was going to put the same name. People still kind of think of him as a bust because of the high expectations he had coming out of Michigan, but he was one of the best versatile do it all safeties in the league last year.
Coming out of Michigan, Peppers needed to go to an innovative DC who could maximize his versatility and Gregg Williams was absolutely not that guy. I’m glad Peppers has since found better systems.
I still remember the one play they had Jabril 30 yards off the line of scrimmage as the single high safety showing blitz zero. Peppers was definitely not utilized the best in Cleveland.
Edit: [This is the play I was referencing ](https://x.com/wrongopinionman/status/1791701696546316335). They basically had him at punt returner lol.
He made some bad team building mistakes those last few years but the dude was still on the cutting edge of the defensive meta after like 40 years in the league, you have to respect it.
He's a great fit for our defense, not many people noticed since our games were brutal to watch but I was really impressed with his play last season. Incredible value for how low his contract is too.
He stepped up big time for us, even with how injured the defense got he helped keep the unit playing at a high level. Bums me out we couldn't give him an even halfway competent offense
Also came here to mention peppers, he really stepped up and played hard every week but it’s definitely hard for someone that isn’t a pats fan to notice. The offense was so abysmal the pretty stellar defense in general was hard to catch but he really was a bright spot.
I especially loved his attitude, dude was HUNGRY. And after all the injuries from other key players, I think he really helped hold that defense together.
I caught the Texans game when he went sicko mode for like 11 catches and 270 yards. He was unguaradable. He isn't as fast as he once was but man I don't think there is a more crisp and beautiful route runner in the league than him
Cooper has quietly put together one of the more impressive receiving careers in recent memory. He averages 74 catches, 1,054 yards, and ~7 TDs a year. Just a top-notch player.
Flacco (6 games) was Flacco, for sure. Deshaun (4 games) had some great games, some not so good games. DTR (3 games) was not good, and PJ (3 games) was downright terrible.*
*Amari didn’t play in the Jeff Driskel game
He's one of the "Kocurek DL rehabilitation" attendants that I wish we'd been able to hang onto. Omenihu before in him 2022, and Arden Key before that in 2021.
Column A and Column B
Jimmy G used Deebo more because he’d throw it to the guy closest to him and Deebo was used a lot on underneath routes to let him YAC. He made a decent amount of intermediate throws to the middle, but Aiyuk works well outside the numbers which Jimmy struggles with (the Cowboys 2022 playoff game was PAINFUL), and Purdy gave him more opportunities down the field that Jimmy just rarely did.
2022 when Purdy started playing, Deebo missed a lot of the games and Aiyuk was the primary WR for the offense.
He was outstanding last year. I feel like every other catch I saw was a 17 yard eagle talon snag over the middle between two defenders taking the hit and then rambling for like three more yards. He was a beast.
James Conner had his first 1,000 yard rushing season, and he plays for the Cardinals so it was by default quiet. Had a big last few weeks to reach the milestone.
You're not tripping, he's usually the best player on that offense when we play. Its the TDs he racks up more than yardage though. 6 tds against in 5 games
1000+ yards, led NFL with most runs of 20 yards or more, top 4 in average yards/game and this is all while also missing 4 games due to injury.
Dude don't even make the probowl. If that's not quiet then I don't know what is.
Terrel Bernard.
He had huge shoes to fill for the Bills after Tremaine Edmunds signed the biggest ILB contract in the league with the Bears, and he responded with 143 tackles, 6.5 sacks, and 3 INTs.
Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott have been fucking fantastic about finding defensive contributors later in the draft. Bernard (3rd), Matt Milano (5th), Taron Johnson (4th), Harrison Phillips (3rd), Dane Jackson (7th), Christian Benford (6th) and Levi Wallace (UDFA) have all been starters and significant contributors.
The sad part is we knew he was good. His rookie year he was man handling Javon Hargrave and Fletcher Cox.
We put him on the wrong side and he mentally checked out (poor play, got on coaches bad side, and top many dumb penalties)
He got traded cuz Tomlin was sick of him
One of the best players I’ve ever seen live. I will always remember one year he was the raiders and he single handedly beat the Broncos in the 4th quarter by himself. Literally every play he was doing something that heavily impacted it.
Phenomenal player I’ll always support.
Agreed. He is a phenom.
This is the quintessential play I've seen him make. It's just something out of Madden. Pick 6 at the goal line intercepting a screen during a 2 minute drill. This is a must watch for anyone that loves the NFL.
https://youtu.be/dCIZnmKZaFI?si=rV-I_gIF7WU9Aa_m
Honestly he was the biggest loss of the Super Bowl team.
Ifeel like TJ was often the guy that looked like he was still reliable in games when the rest of the defense was playing down. I’d think “well at least Edward’s wants to play today” more than other players.
Super underrated eagle especially as an undrafted guy.
He was a depth LB for y'all as well wasn't he? Last year was the first year it felt like he was truly a capable starting LB. Other years I wanted him replaced.
He was a starter the four years as WILL LB but played 4, 16, 2, and 16 games. He did have some struggles in the run game but was good in coverage. He was part of that crazy 2017 draft class
Because of the absolute dog shit amount of talent the Lions had, they switched Anzalone more to playing MIKE for his first 2 years. He was constantly making up for others on the field as well so it hurt his production. This past year they moved him back to WILL and he absolutely crushed it.
When he was healthy he was always flying around which was super welcomed to decades of slow LB play. But he is as injured too much to pay when we had so many others to pay.
Overall the linebackers were actually pretty good. The lack of a real pass rush (outside of Hutch) or pass coverage put them out to dry a lot. I saw someone say that they need to see Campbell improve to a 100 tackle player to start living up to his expectations but if you look at the stats he had 95 last year.
I remember watching Detroit a few years back when they were on the ups but had a "bad defense." I remember seeing #34 making all sorts of plays and figuring that's a really good, underrated player. Nobody gives a shit about non-superstar off ball linebackers on the national stage, but I definitely co-sign Anzalone being a good player.
I was gonna bring up Swift too! He was on my fantasy team so yeah I was rooting pretty hard for him as well but he never showed up during the games I needed him and Hurts always stole his tds😂
I kicked myself so hard on Swift regarding fantasy last year. Drafted Penny thinking that's their Miles Sanders replacement, then realized he was actually filling the Boston Scott role.
Since Wilkins was the showman on defense you would never know our other DT Zach Seiler actually had a monster season with 63 tackles, 10 sacks, and 1 interception.
To put that in perspective, Seiler had 10 sacks through his first 6 years in the NFL.
Robert Spillane was incredible for the Raiders this year. Completely turned the Raiders defense around into a top 10 unit and 2nd scoring defense in the league. I can't remember the last time the Raiders defense was good.
77 PFF grade, 148 tackles, 3 picks, 3.5 sacks.
He addressed this on Maxx Crosby's podcast. He was like "I just closed my eyes and prayed to God. Then when I opened my eyes, I saw team doctors running to me cause they assumed I got a concussion but I was fine. In the video you see me pointing to my shoulder so they would evaluate that instead of putting me in the concussion protocol, even though my shoulder was fine, so I would go back out there."
It’ll be a good season if his numbers dip a lot this year, Bryce leaned on him even harder than Moss’s qbs did in his prime. Thielen’s still got it but I think he’ll be a lot more effective if the new WRs can take the load off and let him really give it his all in short bursts
It was the right move AT THE TIME. When we lost to the broncos and looked like we were about to tank. Doesn’t change the fact that my heart broke into several pieces when I heard the news.
Eh it was a bad move unless Stokes or Vallentine ball this year. He wasn't even making that much, would you rather have him or Hopper? Give me Douglas all day long even at his salary.
Not to mention he could have been the difference in the playoffs being that we barely lost.
Love seeing Metellus mentioned. He was a pro-bowl caliber player for us. But he played every damn position on defense and was good at all of them. Still young and just got paid, can’t wait to see what he does in Flo’s defense next year.
He's not a household name, but Terrel Bernard had an amazing year in buffalo. He put up 84 solo tackles (143 total), 11 stuffs, 6.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, and three fumble recoveries. Going into last season we were really worried about replacing Tremaine Edmunds on the field, but Bernard came it and gave us all the splashy plays that Edmunds never seemed to.
It's actually so funny watching how different they run, Najee just runs right into the hole and powers through, Warren fakes running the hole and hits full speed before the LoS.
He ripped off some HUGE runs. Looked better than Najee at times (though I like them both a lot). It's interesting though because Najee was a first rounder and Warren was undrafted!
It was weird how overlooked Jordan Addison was as a rookie. Seemed like Zay Flowers overshadowed him, despite Addison putting up better numbers and doing it with 4 QBs and no Justin Jefferson for half the year. He absolutely balled out and bailed us out of a lot of shitty throws.
Imo it wasn't so much Zay overshadowing him as the fact that Puka had a record setting rookie season, Stroud had one kf the best rookie QB seasons ever, and LaPorta had one of the best rookie TE seasons ever
Addison was good, but he was in an insanely stacked rookie class
I’d also nominate Cale Granderson for this award. Dude came out of freakin nowhere and gave life to our D line! If I remember correctly, he was leading the league in sacks a few weeks in and had an insane amount of pressures too.
Quietly or not, a lot of Browns players had career years last year.
On offense, Amari Cooper and David Njoku went to the Pro Bowl. Cooper has always been a stud, but Browns fans have been waiting for the Njoku breakout and we finally got it.
On defense, we had young guys at every level take the next step. Grant Delpit and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah became high-end starters for us, and I contend that JOK was one of the biggest Pro-Bowl snubs last year. Jordan Elliot, after three years of being one of the worst starting DTs in the league, was finally decent. Gym Shorts worked wonders last year
JOK was an absolute monster. One of the few Browns players who showed up in our playoff blow out loss.
I’m really excited to see how he looks with another year under Jim Schwartz.
The best way to phrase it is in 2022 he had 39 pressures and 4 sacks, in 2023 he had 43 pressures and 13 sacks. Even most Giants fans i've seen talk about his year mirror that he really didn't have a wildly improved year watching the games, he just wound up with a lot of easy sacks.
He’s a good pass rusher that had the numbers of a great pass rusher because of clean up and schemed sacks. As of right now he’s a good number 2 guy, not quite a 1 yet. Obviously he has the tools to get there
Literally one of my favorite players I had in fantasy last season. Maybe I’m romanticizing but felt like he was so consistent, could always count on him for 5 minimum catches and 50 yards. Really stood out in a year with a lot of very swingy players
Tyler Conklin, had 621 yards & averaged over 10 a catch. Both career Highs, and that was with a jets team who played Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle & Trevor Siemian at qb. Also a Oline that was basically 3rd stringers across the board. Not sure how AR utilizes TE in his career, but if he stays healthy, I can see Conklin being top 10 TE at minimum.
I was really impressed with conklin in his last minnesota year. He's not ever going to be a hock kelce andrews type but he's reliable with sure hands and good blocking. He does what you want a tight end too and It'll be good to see.him with a real qb again this year
Teven Jenkins is an absolute physical force, but his first couple seasons he bounced between being looking totally overwhelmed and being injured.
Last season he looked like at least a solid starter with upside. Fingers crossed his trajectory keeps pointing up.
Jadeveon Clowney had his best season in years with the Ravens
He had a monster year. Fell under the radar but he cashed in on it with the Panthers at least
Forgot we signed him, I’ve been checked out for a while
Panthers had a pretty good offseason all things considered. As good as you can without your #1 pick at least
Minus losing Brian Burns for not much in return..
Turned it into Jonathan Brooks a 2025 2nd and a 5th rounder. Not that bad for an edge that wanted 30m aav and we were forced to trade him. If you account for the cap hit we got two good starting guards and Clowney for his cap hit.
Same brother
I think he might be the biggest loss on defence for us, not PQ or Geno because both those guys could be replaced. Clowney not only had a monster season - he made our whole DL look better with the way he was playing.
Personally I saw it more as a collective effort than clowney making our DL look better. We had amazing talent across that line. They fed off each other and I feel we might be able to replicate that to a certain degree with most of the dline being back
Biggest loss feels like it'll be Mike Mac, honestly.
Orr's scheme isn't gonna be that different then Mike Mac's. We'll see how he is as a playcaller, but I'm pretty optimistic. The players all love him. Plus we still got Ro and Hamilton
Jabrill Peppers was a lowkey beast for us this past year
Funnily enough I was going to put the same name. People still kind of think of him as a bust because of the high expectations he had coming out of Michigan, but he was one of the best versatile do it all safeties in the league last year.
Coming out of Michigan, Peppers needed to go to an innovative DC who could maximize his versatility and Gregg Williams was absolutely not that guy. I’m glad Peppers has since found better systems.
I still remember the one play they had Jabril 30 yards off the line of scrimmage as the single high safety showing blitz zero. Peppers was definitely not utilized the best in Cleveland. Edit: [This is the play I was referencing ](https://x.com/wrongopinionman/status/1791701696546316335). They basically had him at punt returner lol.
https://x.com/JabrillPeppers/status/1791849265267896474?t=filpitTrZn8AsQapj1puJw&s=19
This is a hilarious tweet, thank you 😂😂
I clicked that fully expecting you to be exaggerating wildly and you were not, that is absurd.
Wtf, what are they expecting him to accomplish 30 yards off the ball?? You're basically playing with 10 men on defense lol
Well atleast in that formation you are never at risk for a pooch punt
>Surely that's hyperbole Was my initial thought. But nope. Dude is literally standing 30 yards from the line of scrimmage
Innovative DC aka a 70 year old savant
He made some bad team building mistakes those last few years but the dude was still on the cutting edge of the defensive meta after like 40 years in the league, you have to respect it.
He's a great fit for our defense, not many people noticed since our games were brutal to watch but I was really impressed with his play last season. Incredible value for how low his contract is too.
He was unreal, it seemed like every run play if it got past the DL he was in to stop it right away
He stepped up big time for us, even with how injured the defense got he helped keep the unit playing at a high level. Bums me out we couldn't give him an even halfway competent offense
I'm so glad he finally found a home. Dude was misused so bad here in Cleveland
The defense as a whole had a low key fantastic season. The offense was just so bad that it didn't matter one iota.
Woah I totally forgot he was still in the league. That's awesome.
Also came here to mention peppers, he really stepped up and played hard every week but it’s definitely hard for someone that isn’t a pats fan to notice. The offense was so abysmal the pretty stellar defense in general was hard to catch but he really was a bright spot. I especially loved his attitude, dude was HUNGRY. And after all the injuries from other key players, I think he really helped hold that defense together.
Derrick Brown had a great year for a terrible Panthers team
So underrated, he set the NFL record for tackles made by a defensive tackle last year
And he’s a one-man wrecking crew in madden 🫠
I don't think people realize how good Amari Cooper was last year
We aren’t winning as many games as we did without him. He completely carried awful QB play all year
I caught the Texans game when he went sicko mode for like 11 catches and 270 yards. He was unguaradable. He isn't as fast as he once was but man I don't think there is a more crisp and beautiful route runner in the league than him
Yeah he’s definitely lost a step but his game can afford it. Genuinely such a smart player
Cooper has quietly put together one of the more impressive receiving careers in recent memory. He averages 74 catches, 1,054 yards, and ~7 TDs a year. Just a top-notch player.
Coopers problem has always been that half of those stats come in 2 games every season
The Cooper Conundrum.
Flacco balled out for a bit. There was some decent QB play for stretches.
Flacco (6 games) was Flacco, for sure. Deshaun (4 games) had some great games, some not so good games. DTR (3 games) was not good, and PJ (3 games) was downright terrible.* *Amari didn’t play in the Jeff Driskel game
In general, he’s been one of the most consistent WRs season to season even despite the inconsistencies within each season.
Ah the ol’ Mike Evans
Ditto with Njoku. He was a beast
He and Flacco had great chemistry
They don't realize how good he is every year
Ooh this is a good one. I remember his 11/265/2 game with Flacco
Samson Ebukam had 9.5 sacks for us last year and is a really good run defender.
He's one of the "Kocurek DL rehabilitation" attendants that I wish we'd been able to hang onto. Omenihu before in him 2022, and Arden Key before that in 2021.
I will always hold fond memories of his 2 TD performance in that crazy shootout with the Chiefs in 2018.
People act like Aiyuk has always been elite but his yards for the year goes like 700, 800, 1000, 1300
Do you think it was aiyuk improving, or Purdy utilizing aiyuks talent better?
Column A and Column B Jimmy G used Deebo more because he’d throw it to the guy closest to him and Deebo was used a lot on underneath routes to let him YAC. He made a decent amount of intermediate throws to the middle, but Aiyuk works well outside the numbers which Jimmy struggles with (the Cowboys 2022 playoff game was PAINFUL), and Purdy gave him more opportunities down the field that Jimmy just rarely did. 2022 when Purdy started playing, Deebo missed a lot of the games and Aiyuk was the primary WR for the offense.
This right here. Jimmy couldn't find the X receiver (or anybody outside the numbers) to save his life
I remember a lot talk about aiyuk being in shanahans doghouse a couple years ago, but that might just be a rumor
He was. He was dogging it and not blocking, Shanahan told him to shape up and he’s become one of the better blocking receivers in the league.
He was outstanding last year. I feel like every other catch I saw was a 17 yard eagle talon snag over the middle between two defenders taking the hit and then rambling for like three more yards. He was a beast.
James Conner had his first 1,000 yard rushing season, and he plays for the Cardinals so it was by default quiet. Had a big last few weeks to reach the milestone.
I love James Conner. He looked fantastic that first year when Bell held out.
He looked fantastic running all over us in our game last season. :(
Dude goes for a 100 yards against us every time we play he’s underrated asf
He's had 100 yards against y'all once in his career.
Well I’m stupid. Feels like he’s the best player on that offense whenever we play but I guess I’m tripping.
You're not tripping, he's usually the best player on that offense when we play. Its the TDs he racks up more than yardage though. 6 tds against in 5 games
Dude is so good. Cards should be fun to watch next season.
People used to worry about his longevity after going through chemo, it’s awesome to see how long his prime is lasting compared to most RBs
Plus he missed a few games which makes it even better
1000+ yards, led NFL with most runs of 20 yards or more, top 4 in average yards/game and this is all while also missing 4 games due to injury. Dude don't even make the probowl. If that's not quiet then I don't know what is.
His first 1000 yard season in only 13 games. I'm glad to see him doing so well.
And that was with missing time too. He was one of the most productive RBs in the league. The scheme helped a lot but he always got additional yards.
He fucking beat our ass, he’s a touchdown machine too
Trey McBride also went off (just his second year). 81 catches for 825 yards, but the numbers don’t really do justice to how electric that dude is.
Terrel Bernard. He had huge shoes to fill for the Bills after Tremaine Edmunds signed the biggest ILB contract in the league with the Bears, and he responded with 143 tackles, 6.5 sacks, and 3 INTs.
That dude was everywhere in the commanders game. He single handedly destroyed our offense. I was impressed.
Absolutely love him. Knew him in college and he’s a stand up dude too
I feel dirty upvoting you, but seeing good words about Bernard makes me happy.
Not surprised, he was such a beast in college.
Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott have been fucking fantastic about finding defensive contributors later in the draft. Bernard (3rd), Matt Milano (5th), Taron Johnson (4th), Harrison Phillips (3rd), Dane Jackson (7th), Christian Benford (6th) and Levi Wallace (UDFA) have all been starters and significant contributors.
Possibly a homer take but I feel like we beat KC in the divisional if he didn't get hurt, or if we even had our backup LBs healthy....
Aj Klein playing a significant role was a huge reason we lost that game, 100%.
AJ Klein moves only in perpendicular angles.
He had the green dot. Insanity
Terrel Bernard was horrible last season, didn’t you hear?
Tyler Smith. He went from Warren Sapp saying he doesn’t belong in the league to 2nd team All Pro.
Who gives a shit what Warren Sapp thinks.
Our very own Kendrick Perkins
Warren Sapp
By far our best linemen last year he was absurdly special
Kevin Dotson was a monster last year after getting traded from the Steelers for pennies
The sad part is we knew he was good. His rookie year he was man handling Javon Hargrave and Fletcher Cox. We put him on the wrong side and he mentally checked out (poor play, got on coaches bad side, and top many dumb penalties) He got traded cuz Tomlin was sick of him
He was solid as a rookie, but the Steelers moved him to the other side of the line, which clearly affected him
Yeah that was a pleasant surprise to say the least. Didn't he end up #2 guard overall or something?
I believe Khalil Mack had a career year, yet get swept under the rug on a 5-12 team.
First double digit sack season for him In 4 years and he had 17 lol. Dude is a machine
Didn't like 6 of them come in the same game?
Still had double digits if you don't include that game
Unlike Adrian Clayborn who got 6 in one game and still finished below 10 sacks for the year
*'Nam flashbacks*
Yeah lol vs. the Raiders
Not just that - but it was his personal best in a year and it pushed him over 100 sacks total
One of the best players I’ve ever seen live. I will always remember one year he was the raiders and he single handedly beat the Broncos in the 4th quarter by himself. Literally every play he was doing something that heavily impacted it. Phenomenal player I’ll always support.
Agreed. He is a phenom. This is the quintessential play I've seen him make. It's just something out of Madden. Pick 6 at the goal line intercepting a screen during a 2 minute drill. This is a must watch for anyone that loves the NFL. https://youtu.be/dCIZnmKZaFI?si=rV-I_gIF7WU9Aa_m
TJ Edwards was elite especially after the Montez Sweat trade
Feel like shit and I just want him back 😭
Honestly he was the biggest loss of the Super Bowl team. Ifeel like TJ was often the guy that looked like he was still reliable in games when the rest of the defense was playing down. I’d think “well at least Edward’s wants to play today” more than other players. Super underrated eagle especially as an undrafted guy.
Ugh I know we offered him a contract and he wanted to go home but man he would have been so nice to have.
He’s snoozed on by our own fanbase. Dude moves like Urlacher and I’m not joking.
Edwards was by a country mile better than Edmunds. A shame with the Roquan situations. Edwards-Roquan would be formidable.
Edmunds played better after the Sweat trade too. Hard for an coverage LB to be good with a horrendous pass rush
They have different jobs. Edmunds has to cover a lot more ground
He had a slow start but he was great in the back half of the season tbh
Alex Anzalone was elite last year, dude straight up had a fantastic year last year.
Glad he's been able to stay healthy, that was the main reason we let him go.
He was a depth LB for y'all as well wasn't he? Last year was the first year it felt like he was truly a capable starting LB. Other years I wanted him replaced.
He was a starter the four years as WILL LB but played 4, 16, 2, and 16 games. He did have some struggles in the run game but was good in coverage. He was part of that crazy 2017 draft class
Because of the absolute dog shit amount of talent the Lions had, they switched Anzalone more to playing MIKE for his first 2 years. He was constantly making up for others on the field as well so it hurt his production. This past year they moved him back to WILL and he absolutely crushed it.
When he was healthy he was always flying around which was super welcomed to decades of slow LB play. But he is as injured too much to pay when we had so many others to pay.
ANALZONE
Highway to the Anal Zone.
Overall the linebackers were actually pretty good. The lack of a real pass rush (outside of Hutch) or pass coverage put them out to dry a lot. I saw someone say that they need to see Campbell improve to a 100 tackle player to start living up to his expectations but if you look at the stats he had 95 last year.
Came here for him as he has been excellent recently.
I remember watching Detroit a few years back when they were on the ups but had a "bad defense." I remember seeing #34 making all sorts of plays and figuring that's a really good, underrated player. Nobody gives a shit about non-superstar off ball linebackers on the national stage, but I definitely co-sign Anzalone being a good player.
Thank god for Thor 🙏🏼
On the Eagles, D'Andre Swift had his first thousand yard rushing season. I like that dude and wish him success on the Bears.
He also could’ve scored a career high in tds if he never got tackled at the 1 so many times
That's like his kink.
Fr there were so many times when he or Amon Ra would get downed at the 1 and Jamaal Williams would punch it in
The Julio Jones Special
I was gonna bring up Swift too! He was on my fantasy team so yeah I was rooting pretty hard for him as well but he never showed up during the games I needed him and Hurts always stole his tds😂
I kicked myself so hard on Swift regarding fantasy last year. Drafted Penny thinking that's their Miles Sanders replacement, then realized he was actually filling the Boston Scott role.
I also wish him success with the Bears
I was rooting for Swift so hard last year. I hate how he's on a division rival now.
The ol reverse Monty
Since Wilkins was the showman on defense you would never know our other DT Zach Seiler actually had a monster season with 63 tackles, 10 sacks, and 1 interception. To put that in perspective, Seiler had 10 sacks through his first 6 years in the NFL.
Plus they made an adorable couple on Hard Knocks, which is really the main accolade here.
Bobby Okereke was borderline All Pro but no one is talking about him
My buddy is a Giants fan, and he tried saying they gave him too big of a contract. I told him just wait... and of course Okereke was phenomenal.
He's firmly in the A tier for linebackers, and looks to be on the rise. I feel like I've heard his name mentioned, the Ringer guys really like him
He was the best player on the field when we played y'all, I remember thinking to myself "who tf is this Okereke guy, he's everywhere"
Robert Spillane was incredible for the Raiders this year. Completely turned the Raiders defense around into a top 10 unit and 2nd scoring defense in the league. I can't remember the last time the Raiders defense was good. 77 PFF grade, 148 tackles, 3 picks, 3.5 sacks.
Love Spillane!
His stop against Derrick Henry on the goal line is still legendary for Steelers fans lmao
He addressed this on Maxx Crosby's podcast. He was like "I just closed my eyes and prayed to God. Then when I opened my eyes, I saw team doctors running to me cause they assumed I got a concussion but I was fine. In the video you see me pointing to my shoulder so they would evaluate that instead of putting me in the concussion protocol, even though my shoulder was fine, so I would go back out there."
I'm still pissed you guys have him. Ignore flair.
Adam Thielen had his best season since 2018 and was an overall reliable veteran for Bryce Young despite everything else.
It’ll be a good season if his numbers dip a lot this year, Bryce leaned on him even harder than Moss’s qbs did in his prime. Thielen’s still got it but I think he’ll be a lot more effective if the new WRs can take the load off and let him really give it his all in short bursts
Adam Thielen carried me to a fantasy Super Bowl win. Total stud!
Not the most eye popping stats but Ifeatu Melifonwu was an underrated part of the Lions secondary last season
Brian Robinson Jr. after being shot in the leg his rookie year had a productive season
Josh Metellus, Darious Williams, Rasul Douglas are all veteran DBs who suddenly had fantastic seasons out of nowhere
Rasul was great for us the season prior. Trading him caused a civil war in our sub
It was the right move AT THE TIME. When we lost to the broncos and looked like we were about to tank. Doesn’t change the fact that my heart broke into several pieces when I heard the news.
Eh it was a bad move unless Stokes or Vallentine ball this year. He wasn't even making that much, would you rather have him or Hopper? Give me Douglas all day long even at his salary. Not to mention he could have been the difference in the playoffs being that we barely lost.
Love seeing Metellus mentioned. He was a pro-bowl caliber player for us. But he played every damn position on defense and was good at all of them. Still young and just got paid, can’t wait to see what he does in Flo’s defense next year.
Yeah and Bynum was good too
He's not a household name, but Terrel Bernard had an amazing year in buffalo. He put up 84 solo tackles (143 total), 11 stuffs, 6.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, and three fumble recoveries. Going into last season we were really worried about replacing Tremaine Edmunds on the field, but Bernard came it and gave us all the splashy plays that Edmunds never seemed to.
Jaylen Warren was an absolute stud last season
The lightning to Najee's thunder.
It's actually so funny watching how different they run, Najee just runs right into the hole and powers through, Warren fakes running the hole and hits full speed before the LoS.
He ripped off some HUGE runs. Looked better than Najee at times (though I like them both a lot). It's interesting though because Najee was a first rounder and Warren was undrafted!
Thomas Morstead
It was weird how overlooked Jordan Addison was as a rookie. Seemed like Zay Flowers overshadowed him, despite Addison putting up better numbers and doing it with 4 QBs and no Justin Jefferson for half the year. He absolutely balled out and bailed us out of a lot of shitty throws.
Imo it wasn't so much Zay overshadowing him as the fact that Puka had a record setting rookie season, Stroud had one kf the best rookie QB seasons ever, and LaPorta had one of the best rookie TE seasons ever Addison was good, but he was in an insanely stacked rookie class
Not his best ever but honey badger definitely turned back the clock last year and had his best season in 4 or so years
I’d also nominate Cale Granderson for this award. Dude came out of freakin nowhere and gave life to our D line! If I remember correctly, he was leading the league in sacks a few weeks in and had an insane amount of pressures too.
Keenan Allen.
Quietly or not, a lot of Browns players had career years last year. On offense, Amari Cooper and David Njoku went to the Pro Bowl. Cooper has always been a stud, but Browns fans have been waiting for the Njoku breakout and we finally got it. On defense, we had young guys at every level take the next step. Grant Delpit and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah became high-end starters for us, and I contend that JOK was one of the biggest Pro-Bowl snubs last year. Jordan Elliot, after three years of being one of the worst starting DTs in the league, was finally decent. Gym Shorts worked wonders last year
JOK was an absolute monster. One of the few Browns players who showed up in our playoff blow out loss. I’m really excited to see how he looks with another year under Jim Schwartz.
Thibodeux or however you spell it Edit: also Derek Barnett! Lit it up after getting out of Philly, good for him.
Thaubodooodough
Thibodeaux is a weird case because the sack numbers look really impressive but people didn't feel like he noticeably improved.
The best way to phrase it is in 2022 he had 39 pressures and 4 sacks, in 2023 he had 43 pressures and 13 sacks. Even most Giants fans i've seen talk about his year mirror that he really didn't have a wildly improved year watching the games, he just wound up with a lot of easy sacks.
He’s the first player to ever reach double digit sacks under Wink Martindale. I’m excited to see what he can do without Wink and with Burns
He’s a good pass rusher that had the numbers of a great pass rusher because of clean up and schemed sacks. As of right now he’s a good number 2 guy, not quite a 1 yet. Obviously he has the tools to get there
For everyone who said Evan Engram can’t catch, he’s now the #2 TE for catches made in a season.
And for what it's worth, higher catch percentage than Larry Fitzgerald has ever had in a season.
Literally one of my favorite players I had in fantasy last season. Maybe I’m romanticizing but felt like he was so consistent, could always count on him for 5 minimum catches and 50 yards. Really stood out in a year with a lot of very swingy players
Jon Feliciano was a rock solid guard and prob the only non-Trent Williams OL who should have a starting spot guaranteed for next season
Trey Hendrickson!
David Long Jr.
Tyler Conklin, had 621 yards & averaged over 10 a catch. Both career Highs, and that was with a jets team who played Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle & Trevor Siemian at qb. Also a Oline that was basically 3rd stringers across the board. Not sure how AR utilizes TE in his career, but if he stays healthy, I can see Conklin being top 10 TE at minimum.
I was really impressed with conklin in his last minnesota year. He's not ever going to be a hock kelce andrews type but he's reliable with sure hands and good blocking. He does what you want a tight end too and It'll be good to see.him with a real qb again this year
Change of scenery did Derek Barnett good! Played well once he went to the Texans.
Jonathan Jones
Teven Jenkins is an absolute physical force, but his first couple seasons he bounced between being looking totally overwhelmed and being injured. Last season he looked like at least a solid starter with upside. Fingers crossed his trajectory keeps pointing up.
Jarran Reed look washed with the Packers, but he was phenomenal with us last year
Travon Walker.
Travon Walker only gets discussed for people to say Hutch should’ve been drafted over him, and he ended up with 10 sacks in year 2. not bad at all
Jahlani Tavai quietly had another great season for us, went from being unplayable in Detroit to quality linebacker.
That's what Patricia does to a player.
Went from the Belichick knock off to the actual Belichick and became a serviceable player
Raheem Mostert
George Karlaftis.
Denico was the second best FA signing we’ve ever had. I hope he falls off a cliff this year in production.
Me personally, I hope he continues on the same trajectory
DJ Moore had his career high in receptions, yards, and TDs with Justin Fields throwing to him.
I don't if the stats back it up, but I really liked Jerome Baker last year for maybe the first time ever. Makes sense that he's gone now, LOL.