Breakout stars to watch out for
The reason why the NFL is so unpredictable and why experts make so many mistakes when judging a team is because it’s hard to take into account new stars that emerge every single year.
No one saw stars like Sidney Rice and Miles Austin coming last year. No one expected Vince Young to resurrect his career by coming off the bench in mid-season and leading the Titans to an 8-2 finish after they started 0-6 under Kerry Collins. No one envisioned Chris Johnson rushing for 2000 yards.
The point is made, every year we see new stars. It is perhaps the biggest reason why teams who struggled the year before will come out of their shell and tear up the league the following year.
Quarterback Kevin Kolb of the Philadelphia Eagles may fit the billing quite well as a breakout star of this year. Kolb has had three full seasons to learn from Donovan McNabb who was traded to the division rival Washington Redskins this offseason. Those are big shoes to fill and Kolb has only made two career starts.
The good news is he has had time to learn Andy Reid’s system which will benefit him well. He also has a fantastic arsenal of weapons around him. He has one of the league’s best playmakers in DeSean Jackson at receiver, as well as Jason Avant and tight end Brent Celek. Many had wondered if Aaron Rodgers would be able to fill Brett Favre’s shoes after the Packers traded him and Rodgers answered the call. Kolb should be a perfect fit in the Eagles system and will be a star by season’s end.
We saw some flashes of just how good wide receiver Mike Wallace can be for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Wallace will have Hines Ward on the opposite side of the field and after the first four-to-six games of the season, he’ll have Big Ben Roethlisberger back under centre. With Santonio Holmes being traded this offseason, Wallace will play a much bigger role in the offence than last year, where he had 39 receptions and will become the top option as a deep threat. He scored the game-winning touchdown last year on a last second play when the Steelers beat the Green Bay Packers in a dramatic finish in week 15. His catch showed the kind of big plays he is capable of making.
Cameron Wake of the Miami Dolphins made a slow transition into the NFL last year. The outside linebacker formerly of the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League saw limited snaps due to the presence of veterans Joey Porter and Jason Taylor. With both veterans gone, Wake now has a much bigger role with the Fins. He terrorized quarterbacks in the CFL with 43 sacks in just two seasons and now he’ll get a better chance this year to do the same to NFL quarterbacks. We saw the improvement in him as the season progressed and he made adjustments to adapt to the NFL. He’s made the adjustments and he has amazing speed when reaching the quarterback.
The Baltimore Ravens have built their reputation on having a fearsome defence. With aging veterans Ray Lewis and Ed Reed being banged up, defensive tackle Haloti Ngada should become a new cornerstone to the Ravens defence. Ngada is already perhaps the best run-stopper in the game and has tremendous athleticism for a player up the middle. While some may already see him as one of the best defensive tackles in the game, his sack total should increase this year which would build a stronger case for him. Ngada should soon be given a new contract by the Ravens because he has clearly outperformed his rookie contract. Expect some big things out of the quiet Ngada.
These are only some names on a list that may grow to be too high to count. This is the beauty of the NFL, where no one can ever be sure of how good a team is because of all the players nobody has heard much about but can surprise you and lead their teams to greatness.
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