Vilandil Tasardur Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Bob Sanders getting cut has got me thinking, who do you guys think are your top ten "what if" players. Players who probably should have been phenomenal, revolutionary, even hall of famers, but were held back for whatever "if." Bob Sanders strikes me as the kind of player that could have had Sean Taylor, or even greater impact if he played at least 12 games every season, but he never did. Another example might be Randy Moss. Randy only ever ran about 2-3 routes, maybe 4-6 plays per game. Despite that, he put up close to HOF statistics and is probably one of the best receivers to ever play the game. "What if" he had studied the play book, ran all the routes, and went hard on every play. Would he be the greatest receiver ever? Gale sayers is another obvious one. What if he never tears those two knees? What if he plays for 12 seasons or more? What kind of numbers would he have put up if he played as long as Payton or Emmit? Barry Sanders also comes to mind. Although he did play for ten seasons, I always wonder "what if" he had played four more years? Where would he stack up all time? Does anyone else jump out at you? Are these any other "what if" players worth noting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinfan2k Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Every time I hear about Moss, people say he is one of the smartest football players on the team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vilandil Tasardur Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Every time I hear about Moss, people say he is one of the smartest football players on the teamReally? I wouldn't have thought it, but I guess it doesn't seem outlandish. It still doesn't change the fact that he only played hard at best 15-20% of the snaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Al Haynesworth and Darryl Gardner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conn Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Clinton Portis, if he never came here and stayed in Denver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Bo Jackson might have been among the 2 or 3 greatest running backs ever to play the game if A: He had focused only on football, and B: He didn't suffer that debilitating hip injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dallascrushers Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 well I feel primarily it was Lavar Arrington dealing with Redskins players....and Barry Sanders retired early (I know he is a hall of famer just feel he had more left if the damn Lions would have let him out of contract) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vilandil Tasardur Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Lavar is a good one for the skins. What if he had become a cerebral player and not a free lancer? Could he have become a Ray Lewis like figure in our defense? Shoot, even Carlos Rogers come to mind. I firmly believe that if Carlos catches just ONE of his dropped picks (the one against Seattle in the 05 playoff game) that we would be talking about locking him up right now. I know, it was his rookie year and he dropped a million since then, but I feel that if he had caught that single one we would be more forgiving of the rest. He really established a horrible reputation not just for drops, but drops at horrible times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Lavar is a good Redskin "what if" ... ESPN's 30 for 30 ran a "what if" piece called "The Best There Never Was" about Marcus Dupree. Dupree was heavily recruited out of high school and signed with Oklahoma. Barry Switzer, the coach there at the time, said of Dupree as a freshman "He was the best player on the field. Earl Campbell was the only other guy I ever saw who was like that -- physically ready, as a true freshman, to be the best player on a great college team. Maybe even ready for the NFL at that age." Like so many others, injuries derailed his career. The interesting thing about him is that he suffered a devastating knee injury in 1985 his second year in the fledgling USFL. At age 21, his athletic career seemed over. He went home, worked different jobs, and put on lots of weight. In 1990 he happened to meet Walter Payton through some business connection, and Payton urged him to try to get back to playing shape. So he did. Worked like hell, and got back to running a 4.3 40. The Rams, who drafted him in 1986 in case he ever recovered, signed him - 5 and a half years after his last competitive football game. He made the roster, and played some. The next year the Rams replaced head coach John Robinson with Chuck Knox. Knox cut Dupree, even though he led team in preseason rushing, including 212 yards against the Raiders in the last preseason game. Dupree seemed fine with it in the 30 for 30 segment. His whole thing was proving to himself that he could get his body in tip top shape and make it to the NFL even after a devastating knee injury. What might have been... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dallascrushers Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 to be honest I think the biggest what if is Ernie Davis from Syracuse that died tragically of Lymphoma and he was supposedly better than Jim Brown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Tater Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Well, if we're going OS, what if Greg Cook does not blow out his shoulder? Football as we know it would be different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 to be honest I think the biggest what if is Ernie Davis from Syracuse that died tragically of Lymphoma and he was supposedly better than Jim Brown He's definitely got to be on the list. Tragic story. Two time all-American at Syracuse... Number one overall NFL draft pick - by the Redskins, who then traded him to Cleveland for Bobby Mitchell and a future 1st round pick. Cleveland envisioned pairing him in the backfield with Jim Brown. But he never played a down in the NFL. He was diagnosed with lymphoma in the summer of 62 and died in May 1963 at the age of 23. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny555 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 to be honest I think the biggest what if is Ernie Davis from Syracuse that died tragically of Lymphoma and he was supposedly better than Jim Brown What movie was about Davis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conn Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 What movie was about Davis? Something about "the Train" or something....hmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vilandil Tasardur Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Davis certainly belongs. I caught the back end of that movie and balled like a girl when he tells his girl she needs to take the job in Oakland. I've never heard of Greg Cook though. Any insight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahons21 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 What if LT wasn't addicted to cocaine when he played? Could he really have been better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.A.C.O.L.B. Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 How good was Ki Jana Carter? Serious question. I was too young to really know the scouting report on him. Legit #1 or just another Cincy reach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onedrop Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 with all the heart he showed making it back into the nfl i would have like to see what rocky bleier would have done had he never been injured in vietnam. for the record, bleier was way before my time but he was a monster just coming back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedskinWarship Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 What if LT wasn't addicted to cocaine when he played? Could he really have been better? no, he would have been worse actually, because... seriously though, a what if for the redskins, is trent green. what if the skins ponied up some more dough. he only went 6-8 the only year he started, but he put up great numbers, and would have only improved. if not for head injuries he would probably still be playing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebluefood Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Sonny Jurgesen. -What if he had a good defense to back him up throughout his time here? -What if George Allen let him play the way he wanted to play? -What if he wasn't injured in 1972? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman21ST Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Honestly, I'm surprised that no one's brought Sean Taylor up yet. What if he hadn't been at home that night? How good could Area 51 have been? Could we have done something in the playoffs that year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrecker Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Honestly, I'm surprised that no one's brought Sean Taylor up yet.What if he hadn't been at home that night? How good could Area 51 have been? Could we have done something in the playoffs that year? I feel what happened to Sean Taylor is the biggest what if history changer of a football team ever. If this did not happen we would have made a deep playoff run that year, Joe Gibbs would have stayed at least another year, Greg Williams would have taken over and by now we would have been a perenial playoff team with a dominating defense. There would have been no Zornisms, Bingo callers or Haynesworth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vilandil Tasardur Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 I feel what happened to Sean Taylor is the biggest what if history changer of a football team ever. If this did not happen we would have made a deep playoff run that year, Joe Gibbs would have stayed at least another year, Greg Williams would have taken over and by now we would have been a perenial playoff team with a dominating defense. There would have been no Zornisms, Bingo callers or Haynesworth. I agree that Sean devastated the team, but I just don't see things this way. I think that if Sean didn't die we wouldn't een make the playoffs that year. The team played inspired ball led by a veteran QB who knew the system, I just don't think the players show that kind of heart if Sean didn't die. I agree that Gibbs and Williams would have stayed, but at some point the JC contract would have expired and it would have been the same old redskins. A brilliant defense and a question a QB, does he stay or does he go? I just basically see the offense as still the same old cluster **** even with Sean here. Back on topic, however. I don't know why, but I often wonder about David Carr. I really thought the kid could play and wonder where he'd be if he wasn't unfortunate enough to be drafted in the same year that a horrible expansion team was created. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueinBuf Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Maybe not a what if, but I remember when Vernon Davis was coming out of college everybody was going crazy. He was going to revolutionize the TE position, I read that statement many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKM311 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Maybe not a what if, but I remember when Vernon Davis was coming out of college everybody was going crazy. He was going to revolutionize the TE position, I read that statement many times. If he actually had a decent QB throwing him the ball, he definitely would have. Look at his stats and play now. Imagine him with a QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.