The Football Diner Big Top 5
Defensive Players Looking To Make a Big Impact
by Jody Jamieson
28/3/2008
 
Every year we look to those players who are going to break out and make an impact in the forthcoming season. These "break-out" players tend to come under 2 categories. Firstly they tend to be high draft picks who haven't quite set the league alight like expected in their first couple of seasons. Alternatively they can be low picks who came from nowhere and showed the world who's Boss (like Giants tight-end Kevin). Next time out, I'll highlight a few offensive players to look out for in 2008, but this week on Top Fives I've got 5 defensive players who I look to make a big impact in 2008.
 
5. Stewart Bradley, Eagles Linebacker
 
Obviously have to get the homer pick in there somewhere! Picked 87th overall last April, Bradley saw very limited playing time over the first 15 weeks of the season. His play in the last two weeks of the season is probably one of two reasons the Eagles were very comfortable is cutting Takeo Spikes.
 
Bradley made his first start against the New Orleans Saints when Philadelphia knew their season was as good as over. Playing at middle linebacker, he had a great game, recording six tackles, one sack and a game-clinching interception. What really cemented a tremendous game for Bradley was when New Orleans got a first down inside the five yard line. They went for four running plays, and Bradley recorded the tackle on every play to keep the Saints out of the endzone and preserve Philly's lead.
 
Bradley is likely at this moment in time to start in 2008 alongside Omar Gaither and Chris Gocong at linebacker.
 
4. Brandon Meriweather, Patriots Safety
 
Meriweather didn't get a start last season, but did show signs of why the Patriots were willing to part with a first rounder for the former Miami Hurricanes safety in last year's Draft when given the chance. He looked fairly good in coverage, but in run support he looked like a possible long term replacement for Rodney Harrison when he decides to finally hang them up.
 
Belichick is likely to give Meriweather much more game time next season. He showed flashes last year that he has ability and Belichick is the type not to throw a rookie on the field immediately, and with the run New England had last year, he had no need to change anything. Now with holes in the defensive backfield to be filled with the loss of Asante Samuel, Randall Gay and Eugene Wilson, the Patriots will know that while they will need an upgrade at corner, they aleady have three very good safeties in Meriweather, James Sanders and Rodney Harrison. No need to panic just yet.
 
3. Gaines Adams, Buccaneers Defensive End
 
Naming Adams as a breakout player may suggest to some that Adams didn't have an impressive rookie season. Nothing could be further from the truth, as he had a very good rookie season with 5.5 sacks. My prediction for 2008 is that Gaines Adams will record 12 sacks and make the Pro Bowl. We'll see how that prediction pans out!
 
Adams went 4th overall to Tampa Bay last year in the Draft and filled a need. A strong linebacking corps didn't quite have the support up front to do it justice till they selected the former Clemson Tiger. However, it wasn't all plain sailing for him, as at the midway point of the season he hadn't made a start and had only 1.5 sacks. A two sack game against the Falcons in Week 11 in only his second Buccaneers start signalled the upturn for Adams, as he finished the season off pretty strongly.
 
Adams will almost definitely start in 2008 for Tampa Bay. Look for him to have an impressive year in a solid Tampa defense.
 
2. Paul Posluszny, Bills Linebacker
 
Posluszny would have likely had an outstanding rookie season had it not been for a broken arm picked up in Week 3 against New England that ended his season far too early. Selected at the start of the second round by Buffalo after they traded up to get him, "Poz" as he is known among teammates made an extremely solid start against Denver in Week 1, and carried it on up until his injury. At the time of his injury, he was third in the league in tackles with 26.
 
Posluszny played college football at Penn State, wearing jersey number 58 in tribute to his idol Shane Conlan, who played for Penn State in the mid-80s. However, when he was picked up by Conlan's first NFL team Buffalo, he resisted wearing 58, before switching to 51. Wearing Conlan's jersey at Penn State was one thing, but wearing it for the Bills was entirely another to the rookie.
 
If he stays injury free in 2008, I fully expect Posluszny to have a great second year in the NFL. He slotted into Dick Jauron's system effortlessly first time round, and is likely to do the same again.
 
1. Atari Bigby, Packers Safety
 
Bigby started his breakout in December for Green Bay when he was named December's NFC defensive player of the year. Quite an honour for the former Amsterdam Admiral. Bigby was undrafted when he left Central Florida and declared for the 2005 NFL Draft.
 
The Dolphins and Jets brought him in but weren't suitably impressed, before the Packers picked him up and farmed him out to Amsterdam. No-one really saw any potential in Bigby (apart from Nick Halling, if you believe him!) but Green Bay kept him on as a special teamer, and he gradually worked his way onto the field, starting 14 games last season. Bigby made the most of his opportunity, recording 86 tackles, 5 picks and 3 forced fumbles.
 
Following on from his award, he kept the momentum going in the playoffs, and had a memorable game against Seattle in the snow at Lambeau. Bigby seemed to be making plays on every Matt Hasselbeck drop back, and recorded 7 tackles (one for a loss) and had a forced fumble. With the score at 14-14, Bigby forced a fumble which Green Bay recovered. They scored on the ensuing possession and never looked back.
 
Bigby did have issues in coverage at times last season, but got better and better as the year went on. If he can keep on improving at the rate he did last year, then he could be a mainstay in the Green Bay defensive backfield.
 
Off-Season Thoughts
 
The NFL owners meeting will take place in the next few days. There are always lots of different changes to the league debated and voted on at this annual meeting, which is a healthy thing to make the league better. It seems likely that one designated defensive player will get a headset installed in their helmets, marked by the green dot (probably the most asked email question in the history of Sky Sports!) which I think is a good idea after the whole Spygate thing. One bizarre thing that will be debated is about players hair covering the name on the backs of their jerseys. It seems that it will be debated as to whether hair hanging out of the back of the helmet should be classed as a uniform violation, due to players being tackled via a spot of hair pulling. It would certainly be interesting to see if any players would make a stand and take the fines. Seeing Troy Polamalu with a buzz-cut just seems too strange to me!
 
I'm very sad to hear that a young NFL prospect has passed away at the age of just 24. Heath Bennedict, who played offensive line at Newberry College had declared for this years Draft but was found dead in his home on Wednesday night. I'm finding it rather harrowing that he died of "natural causes". 24 year old athletes should not be dying of natural causes. It's becoming a rather worrying trend in sports right now. Mickey Renaud, a fifth round pick in the last NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames, collapsed and died just last month at the age of 19. On this side of the pond we had Sevilla player Antonio Puerta and Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell collapse and die during games. They were 22 and 25 respectively at the time of their deaths. Sport has suffered too much tragedy in the past year and I hope something can be done to prevent this happening in the future.
 
And Finally...
 
Sometimes the NFL can go for too much of a good thing. It's fantastic that we are getting a regular season game on our shore annually right now, but there is talk that in the near future we could get as many as four games a season in the UK. I wouldn't say it was overkill, but is it really logistical? Firstly, you are asking for a quarter of the league to play a game over here, which would be bad enough for teams, but then how do you get stadiums sorted? Wembley isn't likely to host all four, what with the fuss over the pitch last time round with England Euro 2008 qualifiers going on at the time. Where do the rest of the games get played? Cardiff seems great but I have concerns that there would be no room to fit a pitch what with the stands being so close to the pitch. Hampden would defeat the purpose as I can't see them bringing the game over here to play in front of 52,000.
 
The only real logistical stadiums here in my mind would be Wembley, Murrayfield and Twickenham. If four games are to be played outside the US, then I don't think we should get all of them. I'd say Buffalo playing in Toronto, a game in Mexico, and a further two here would suffice. The league will need to add an 18th week and give everyone two bye weeks if this is the long term plan.