The Football Diner Big Top 5
Offensive Players Looking To Make a Big Impact
by Jody Jamieson
20/4/2008
 
A couple of weeks ago, I had a look at five defensive players who I predict will have a big impact on their clubs in the 2008 season, listing young mid-round picks, injured rookies, and former NFL Europe players. This time round I have a few underachieving first round picks from recent years, a back-up who will now get his chance to start, and a second year wide-out. Top Fives brings you my offensive players to look out for in 2008.
 
5. Reggie Bush, Saints RB
 
It's got to happen sometime. Saints fans will blindly defend Reggie Bush to the hilt, but if we're all looking objectively, he has completely under performed since being taken with the 2nd overall pick by New Orleans in 2006. Saints fans will defend him by saying "I can't be bothered going through this argument again." Sounds to me like they've ran out of ways to defend him.
 
The criticism of Reggie Bush could only have been increased by the fact that Adrian Peterson came into the league and had the type of year Bush would have been expected to have by now. Incredibly Peterson rushed for more yards in 2007 than Reggie Bush did in his first two seasons (1,341 to 1,146) but then that doesn't quite satisfy the Saints fans undying love for Reggie. He does have more receiving yards (1,159) in his career, but comparing Bush to Peterson by statistics is quite scary. Bush is a receiving threat, and did haul in 73 passes last year to Peterson's 19. But Bush had only 417 yards receiving, to Peterson's 268. Bush had 998 total yards last year, while Peterson had 1,609. It's just ludicrous when you look at it that way.
 
However, the way I look at Reggie Bush, he is just too talented to keep up his thus far disappointing lack of production. He needs to become better at running between the tackles, and he needs to be more effective getting the ball in space. All the talk has been that Bush is hugely effective with the ball in space, but while he has his moments, he needs to have them more consistently. I think Bush could have his coming out party this coming season. He has a point to prove.
 
4. Steve Smith, Giants WR
 
Smith spent a lot of the start of his rookie campaign on the sidelines with an injury. He was involved in the first two games before shoulder and hamstring injurys kept him out of the lineup till December. With Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer starting at wideout for New York, guys like Sinorice Moss and David Tyree got their chance while Smith sat on the sideline. Moss looked reasonable, and David Tyree was a nobody till his infamous catch in the Superbowl. Smith is easily the more talented player of the three and will likely be the third receiver on the Giants depth chart, and has an outside chance to knock off Toomer in training camp.
 
8 catches for 63 yards and no scores is hardly something to write home about, even despite his lack of games. His post season performances were tremendous however, with 2 huge catches on a late second quartrer drive in Dallas setting up a touchdown, and then he made 5 catches in the Super Bowl. Four of those were on third down.
 
I'm a big fan of Smith. While he may never be better than his Carolina Panthers namesake, I fully expect him to break-out in 2008. He has talent and is a lovely route runner. He'll get open down the field, but he's at his most effective when he is simply moving the chains, getting open underneath, making the catch, and then converting for a first down.
 
3. Troy Williamson, Jaguars WR
 
There's a brave prediction! Williamson has got talent, that there is no question of. What he also seems to unfortunately have is hands of stone. Troy has great speed, an excellent ability to get wide open anywhere on the field. Unfortunately he was responsible for the worst collection of drops by a receiver in a season I've ever seen.
 
Sometimes a change of scenery will do a player the world of good. Williamson was selected 7th overall by Minnesota in 2005, but his time with the Vikes was largely a disappointment. His ability to put passes on the floor was uncanny. However from what I have seen from the wide-out, I still think he can make it in the NFL. Everyone loves to jump all over players who struggle and declare them a bust. Hopefully Troy will prosper with new surroundings in 2008.
 
2. Ben Utecht, Bengals TE
 
I thought Utecht was good enough to be a regular starter at Indianapolis. Unfortunately he had Dallas Clark ahead of him so getting the nod to start was always going to be difficult. Despite being the backup, Utecht still managed to make 31 receptions last year. He has good hands, runs decent routes, and is a pretty good blocker.
 
Utecht was undrafted in 2004, and the Colts signed him up as a free agent almost immediately. He's had a reasonable time with the Colts, the undoubted highlight being winning Superbowl XLI. He never quite got his chance to start in Indy, and moved onto the Bengals a few weeks back as a restricted free agent. Cincy will play him $9,000,000 over 3 years.
 
It looks likely that Chad Johnson will suit up with Cincinnati in 2008, so with Agent Ocho being double covered, and T.J. Houshmandzadeh on the other side, Utecht could find wide open spaces over the middle. I still think the Bengals are going to suck next year because of their awful defense, but I think their offense should be fairly good. If they can get a reasonable running game going next year, they have a chance to put up a lot of points.
 
1. Vince Young, Titans QB
 
Young showed flashes last season that he could be a good pocket passer. Unfortunately he can't show this off consistently as he is currently working with perhaps the worst receiving core in the NFL. Roydell Williams, Justin McCareins and Justin Gage don't exactly fill you with confidence in their ability to get open. In my opinion Tennessee have got to go out and get Young a receiver to give their passing game a chance to be consistent.
 
One game stuck out for me last season as to why life is so difficult for VY. Against the Broncos at Mile High on a Monday Night Young threw for 300-odd yards, 1 TD, 2 picks, rushed a few times for positive yards and scored a rushing touchdown. It was an excellent performance from him, as the INT's were very unfortunate that time around. However one play stuck out for me. The Broncos coverage fell apart as Dre Bly sat in zone coverage a la a Cover 2 play, but had no safety help over the top. Roydell Williams managed to get wide open and Young couldn't believe his luck, lobbing a lovely pass to Williams, who managed to do his best Troy Williamson impression and drop it. It summed up what Vince has to work with.
 
The Titans fired Norm Chow as Offensive Co-ordinator, which in my opinion was a very good decision. Chow really seemed to try to hold Young in the pocket due to the fear of him getting injured. What can make Vince great is his ability to escape the pocket and make things happen. I remember against New Orleans they had first-and-goal and Young rolled out to his right, taking half of the Saints D with him, before throwing back across his body to his wide open tight end. It was beautifully worked, and if Mike Heimerdinger can allow Young to play his game, then we could see #10 blossom into an excellent quarterback. A decent wide-out wouldn't go amiss either!
 
Off -Season Thoughts
 
Now that the schedule has been released, the usual suspects have their mass of nationally televised games. Indianapolis, New England, Dallas and the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. I had a look down the Sunday and Monday Night Football games and one name kept cropping up that I was delighted to see. The Cleveland Browns. The Browns were so exciting to watch last year, and I have high hopes for them to repeat the trick in 2008. Obviously the guys who decide who plays where and when have the same thoughts. Cleveland aren't ready for a push at the Super Bowl, but I do have high hopes for them. All will be explained at a later date when I do my Top Five "Wild Predictions" in a few weeks time.
 
The Draft is just a week away now, and everyone's Draft board is sitting pretty right now, with little scope for change between now and the Dolphins picking 1st. I have my board and every year there seems to be a major faller, who is projected to go in the Top 10, before crumbling down the board. This year I can see it being Keith Rivers. I don't quite see what everyone else does in him. He's a good, but not great tackler. He's pretty decent in coverage, and I feel he's a bit one dimensional as a pass-rusher. He seems to be a guy who will fit into a system to me without being a premier backer. The Bengals could be interested in taking him 9th. I wouldn't be surprised to see him fall past 20th.
 
And Finally...
 
I want to get slightly away from football for the time being, to talk about a bizarre story coming out of baseball, and the building of New Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Gino Castignoli, a Boston Red Sox fan living in New York, and working on Yankee Stadium, buried a David Ortiz shirt deep in the concrete in an attempt to "curse" the Yankees. $50,000 and quite a few man hours were spent trying to unearth the jersey and now the Yankees are considering pressing criminal charges. There is not a judge in the world who wouldn't throw out that case.
 
This sort of horseplay probably goes on all over the world. I have heard rumours there is a Newcastle United jersey planted in the concrete in the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. I'm sure Sunderland fans aren't happy about it, but they'll not exactly lose sleep over it. No doubt someone will have tried the same trick at the Colts new Lucas Oil Stadium, with possibly a Ravens jersey. Maybe another NFC East jersey will be buried deep in the concrete at the Cowboys new stadium. Who knows? And who cares?!
 
The Yankees are taking themselves a little too seriously with their nonsense over this. Thankfully this overbearing paranoia will hopefully be restricted to the Yankees and not spill out all over America and the world.