Last year rookies suck as Brian Orakpo, Clay Matthews and Michael Oher made an immediate impact for their teams. Now more than ever organizations rely on their draft picks to contribute right away. Every week, Redzone will take a look at which rookies are establishing themselves as budding stars and which are struggling.
Off to a great start...
Ndamukong Suh: The #2 overall pick in the draft turned in a dominating performance on Sunday vs the Bears. His stats don’t jump off the page (1 tackle/ 1 sack) but he made his presence felt in other ways. He consistently drove the linemen assigned to him in the backfield and was an integral part of the Lions goal line stand which began with the Bears on the 1 yard line with 1st and goal to go. In his first performance, Suh looked like a man amongst boys.
Trent Williams: Another guy who we can’t turn to stats to tell the story but anyone who watched this guy for more than a few plays Sunday night knows he is a special athlete. He was great in open space on screens but probably the most impressive statistic is that he held Demarcus Ware to only one sack. Mike Shanahan did not give Williams any help from the Tight Ends or Running backs to block Ware. Clearly he was up to the challenge.
Sam Bradford: In his first start, Bradford threw the ball 55 times and threw 3 interceptions. On the plus side he had a completion percentage of 58% and threw a touchdown pass to Laurent Robinson. It’s not a great stat line for Bradford, but clearly the Rams coaching staff is comfortable letting him throw the ball around. The only quarterback who threw the ball more in week 1 was Peyton Manning. All rookie quarterbacks have their struggles but he looked accurate and efficient most of the time. He will only get better as the season moves along.
Dexter McCluster: This 5’8, 170 pound do-it-all athlete showed football fans why the Chiefs made a point of picking him early in the second round. His game winning 94-yard punt return touchdown was a club record and sent the Arrowhead faithful into a frenzy. Charlie Weis will work him into the offence more and more and it will frustrate opposing defenses to no end.
Not so hot..
CJ Spiller: The darling of the preseason looked very average in his first regular season action. Spiller had 11 touches for 14 yards in the Bills loss to Miami. I don’t blame Spiller, his offensive line is awful, but in the preseason he looked like he could do it all himself. It was a cruel joke for Bills fans as Spiller will have to wait for improved line play and a better passing game to really display his talents.
Kyle Wilson: For a guy who was praised for his man coverage skills, Wilson was exposed on Monday night by the Ravens. He was flagged repeatedly for pass interference calls that were cost the Jets valuable field position. In Wilson’s defense, he was matched up against a pretty good receiving core. That being said, he needs to play better and avoid the penalties or Rex Ryan won’t be able to send as much pressure as he likes to.
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