5 Biggest Non-QB Surprises - Players - 2015 Season

[superozman]

We talk enough about KC in his own thread, lets talk about the other positions.  Frankly, I might not have the best eye for talent, so seeing who agrees or disagrees. (If I had a great eye for talent, i'm obviously doing the wrong job!!!!!!!).  Since many of the articles that the news outlets write come in 5's lets do it this way.  My top 5 in no particular order are:

 

1.        Morgan Moses – I was really rooting for Sherff to become the RT as I figured he had to be better than anyone we had.  Moses won the job, and never looked back.  I’m ecstatic we have Williams/Moses for our T’s, as i feel so many teams year in and year out look for that strong of a combination, or even just 1.  And to have Sherff in the middle who played well, Moses really stepped up to make me feel confident in this offensive line.  Next year hopefully run blocking can improve.

 

2.       Will Compton – There were a few people who stepped in to starting roles this year, and the Redskins truly  had a next man up mentality.  However, I have to say one person who stood out was Will Compton.  Not the fastest, not the biggest, but he was all over the field.  He had 96 tackles this year.  Only started 10 games.  Hopefully building on that next year if he wins the job, i feel it’s his to lose.

 

3.       Deangelo Hall to S – I think the toughest element here is it was mid year, and it went as smooth as it did.  He wasn’t taking bad angles, he did a better job at tackling than i expected.  I think what he needs to do next year is add a ball hawk element to his game.  I know DHall is a polarizing player amongst the Redskins fan base, but you can’t knock how this transition went. 

 

4.       Chris Baker – Pot Roast, Ricky Jean-Francois, and Stephen Paea were all brought in last year.  One of the reasons I believe we have Sherff and not Leonard Williams.  However, with those additions, it could have been very easy for Baker to take offense to that and packed it in.  He suited up for 1 game with Miami, 1 with Denver, and 0 with Washington his first 3 years in the league.  He then started 0, 3, and 12 his next 3 with the Skins before these acquisitions.  What does he do?  A)  Wins a starting job   Has a career high in sacks – 6 C) has his first 3 Forced Fumbles D) Has a career high in tackles.  Oh, and seems like a great locker room presence.

 

5.       Jamison Crowder – Before 2014, we had Pierre Garcon/Josh Morgan/Leonard Hankerson/Santana Moss.  Gruden knew we needed a change, so we brought in Andre Roberts to be the #2, and got rid of Morgan and Hankerson.  Later, we jumped at the opportunity to sign DJax, which made Roberts in essence the slot guy.  However, even with a defined role, and this year while DJax was out, Roberts never really grasped the opportunity.  Jamison Crowder this year, though, did.  He stepped up as a reliable target with only 2 drops!  He displayed elusiveness, ability to fill in for Djax and play the slot. I'm probably one of the few who hope to retain both Garcon and DJax, so i'd like to see him in the slot another year.  WR's breakout around year 3...if he needs to replace either of the above, he should be ready!

 

 

Who I feel just missed the cut – Will Blackmon (Gruden after week 10:  “We needed a veteran guy who could play multiple spots, and he was perfect for us. . . . He’s probably been our most pleasant surprise.”), Mason Foster, LeReiubs to C.

[justice98]

I might have to go with Will Compton.

Or Jordan Reed, in that he played as many games as he did. I was surprised by that. I might've put the over/under at 9 coming into the season.

[daveakl]

Quinton Dunbar.

[gortiz]

Alfred - didn't think he would be this bad. 

 

Keenan - what happened? he was a taclking machine and then the bottom fell out. 

 

DHall - didn't think he would be here let alone contribute

 

Hopkins - he was great. 

[Wildbunny]

Kyshoen Jarrett man!

Way more of a surprise than Hall to S to me.

[Riggo-toni]

Kyshoen Jarrett man!

Way more of a surprise than Hall to S to me.

Have to agree here. Hall was already established, and was injured much of the year, so I just didn't see his performance as a surprise. Jarrett was drafted as a SS and ended up excelling at nickel CB.

[Kurd Cudins]

It seems like I am the only one who thought the D Hall safety experiment was a failure. Perhaps he can learn to change habits with a full, healthy offseason. 

[chrisxcore]

Most of mine have already been stated, but I'll chime in anyway. In no particular order:

 

1) Kyshoen Jarrett for the reasons some have already stated. What a pleasant surprise, far exceeded expectations and I have high hopes for him going forward. Versatile player that can fill multiple roles - and do so very well. Not afraid to stick his nose in and make a hit, seems to have a knack for finding the ball and the play. You can't really teach a lot of those traits.

 

2) Jamison Crowder - Many were calling for him to be cut when domestic violence allegations came up prior to the season. In no way would I condone that, but I'm glad it seemed to be just that - allegations - and that Jamison put together a great season. He appears to be a great teammate, has passion for the game and I see him playing a big role in our offense in the future. I really think the sky's the limit for this kid.

 

3) Brandon Scherff - I mean, what can you say? Some did not like the pick when it happened and understandably so. However, he played virtually ALL year (I read somewhere that he missed one, ONE snap all season?!) and was an anchor on the right side of the line. I certainly envision years of dominance and Pro Bowls in his future.

 

4) Morgan Moses - Wow. Who even saw this one coming? Unbelievable step forward this season into a starting role that almost no one had him pegged for. Played extremely well in most cases, though there's definitely room for improvement. Let's hope that his leap into next season is as big as we saw for 2015. If it's close, we've got a very special player and the right side of our O-Line is set for years.

 

5) Will Compton - Dude's nasty. Just a nasty football player. Seems like a Scot guy through and through. Stepped in without much playing time and virtually no time with the starting squad. Did an excellent job. I think his performance says a lot about our inside linebackers and their quality of play, but I won't take anything away from #51. He balled out and hopefully he's here, playing a major role for a long time.

 

* Jordan Reed should be on everyone's list. However, his performance this season was no surprise to me. I knew he would separate himself if he could just stay healthy.

 

Finally, honorable mention: 
 

Preston Smith

Chris Baker

Quinton Dunbar

[SkinssRvA]

I am one of the people who did not believe in Compton, and was firmly in keenan's corner.  Surprised that it turned out the way it did.  I don't think Keenan is here next year.

 

Chris Baker was definitely a surprise

 

Dunbar did an admirable job when our injuries started mounting.  Blackmon for that matter did as well.  Very consistent player pretty much the whole season.  

[justice98]

Yeah, Keenan Robinson was a good one. Didn't expect his game to fall off the table.

I wasn't surprised by Moses, because when he was drafted he was talked about as potentially being a starter one day and they seemed to be grooming him as such at RT. He just needed some coaching up and a little seasoning.

[Probos]

Quinton Dunbar.

 

This has to be the biggest "didn't see it coming surprise".

 

Others for me -- Compton, Foster and I thought LeRibeus did a pretty good job filling in at center. 

[Wildbunny]

Moses was definately not living to is supposed ceiling last year. He's a real surprise this year. But I'd say the Right side of our line is a huge surprise to me. Scherff + Moses wasn't what was expected, they hold their ground pretty well in pass protection. Run blocking is still a work in progress though.

 

Last, we tend to forgot Tress Way as a surprise last year. But here again, we got Dustin Hopkins, another guy coming off the street, that took the job, and never let it go. What used to be a liability at Redskins Park, which is Special Teams, is slowly become a force with two real good kickers in the making, and even a few returns for TD. Both are really young and have still works to do. But it's going the right way.

 

One thing that I'd like to ask regarding my man crush of the year: Kyshoen Jarrett (who I noticed during Pro days on NFLNetwork as an interesting guy that seemed to have some passion for the game in these exercices). The best thing I read about him was Joe Barry saying that he had to find a way to get him more involved and more often on the field. When a coach thinks about ways to adapt his scheme so you can get more involved means you're doing good.

 

Honorable mention; I might get some flak, but I liked LeRibeus this year. Guy stood up to play Center. Wasn't perfect by all means, but kept on fighting and working. I'm wondering where he can go with a full year in the offseason working with Callahan at C.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Does anyone know how Moses graded out this year? I "thought" he played well, but I can't find any metrics.

[Morrison J]

1. Chris Baker is the clear no.1 for me. Went from a solid rotational guy to one of the faces of the team. 

 

2. Will Compton. Always did a pretty nice job when called upon in the past but I never saw him growing into a captain like role in the team. Had no idea he had such football smarts. Very nice surprise. 

 

3. Jordan Reed. I think we all knew he was talented. I wouldn't have said top 3 TE in the league type good though. Became our most important offensive player apart from Kirk and made a huge position of weakness a bit of a strength. 

 

4. Morgan Moses. I loved him in Virginia and was a big fan of the draft pick at the time it happened Whats not to love here? http://gfycat.com/RareJadedAndeancondor

Thought he'd slide straight in at RT in his first year and do pretty good. Obviously was very wrong there and there was more growing pains than I'd expected. Credit to the player and Bill Callahan though for developing him. Moses is only gonna get better and we definitely have our two tackles of the future locked down imo. 

 

5. The Rookies. (Looking at Scherff, Smith, Crowder, Dunbar, Jarrett, Jones). Not sure they can count as proper surprises as I expected McCloughan to have more hits than misses on draft night given his history. To get 6 really important contributors though surpasses all expectations. Great to have a good young core that'll grow with the team. 

[Wildbunny]

5. The Rookies. (Looking at Scherff, Smith, Crowder, Dunbar, Jarrett, Jones). Not sure they can count as proper surprises as I expected McCloughan to have more hits than misses on draft night given his history. To get 6 really important contributors though surpasses all expectations. Great to have a good young core that'll grow with the team. 

 

I'm not really sold on both Dunbar and Jones. First is a miscast that still have a long way to go. I wouldn't be much surprised to see him rotting on the bench next year, and maybe even get cut short of the 53. He's the most that have any chance to be a "one year wonder" even if he's not that much wonderful to me.

Jones is a headcase to me. He looked interesting at first, but never found him that great. He got a few costly fumbles at times (Morris had none this year). He'll probably be around next year, but I'm not seeing this guy as our RB of the future right now. And RB usually don't last long in this league, so window will close quickly for him.

[Stadium-Armory]

Scherff and Moses looked good in pass pro but.. the running game really has me scratching my head. I'm still not convinced that either are long term solutions. 

[Morrison J]

I'm not really sold on both Dunbar and Jones. First is a miscast that still have a long way to go. I wouldn't be much surprised to see him rotting on the bench next year, and maybe even get cut short of the 53. He's the most that have any chance to be a "one year wonder" even if he's not that much wonderful to me.

Jones is a headcase to me. He looked interesting at first, but never found him that great. He got a few costly fumbles at times (Morris had none this year). He'll probably be around next year, but I'm not seeing this guy as our RB of the future right now. And RB usually don't last long in this league, so window will close quickly for him.

If we had Matt Jones healthy and active then I bet he scores a TD from half an inch out against GB after Jackson's **** up. I think Jones is our guy next year. We prob draft someone early enough in the draft to compete with him too though. I like him. 

 

Dunbar is an incredible athlete who it should be noted was super productive as a WR at Florida. He's done really well in the position switch overall imo and theres clearly upside there but I'm just glad to see us use our brain and develop such a physical gifted athlete to help us out to be honest. 

 

Give him a full offseason as a CB and let him keep learning. No reason to believe he couldn't be a solid contributor once again. 

[justice98]

Scherff and Moses looked good in pass pro but.. the running game really has me scratching my head. I'm still not convinced that either are long term solutions.

I was confused why they weren't better in the run game when all we here is how OL like to run block vs pass block. But perhaps they're a victim of the kind of OL college football is producing. I think heard Dilfer or somebody talk about that.

[skins4eva]

Scherff and Moses looked good in pass pro but.. the running game really has me scratching my head. I'm still not convinced that either are long term solutions. 

 

I think the problem with the run game has a lot to do with scheme.  

[justice98]

I'm not really sold on both Dunbar and Jones. First is a miscast that still have a long way to go. I wouldn't be much surprised to see him rotting on the bench next year, and maybe even get cut short of the 53. He's the most that have any chance to be a "one year wonder" even if he's not that much wonderful to me.

Jones is a headcase to me. He looked interesting at first, but never found him that great. He got a few costly fumbles at times (Morris had none this year). He'll probably be around next year, but I'm not seeing this guy as our RB of the future right now. And RB usually don't last long in this league, so window will close quickly for him.

You coulda penciled Jones in at 2016 starting RB early in the season, but that went south quick. When he wasn't fumbling, he was worse the Morris when he got to carry it. They almost have to spend some resources looking for another potential starting RB.

I think the problem with the run game has a lot to do with scheme.

Perhaps, but at some point, it's a hat on a hat, and you just gotta win. They didn't do that enough in the run game.

[Hogs 1991]

Mines is Will Blackmon . He practically came off the streets and started producing, causing turnovers left and right for us.

[bobandweave]

Preston Smith - Never thought he would lead the league in sacks this year

Jamison Crowder - Never thought when we drafted him that he would catch more passes this year then Art Monk did in his rookie season and break that record

Alfred Morris - Never thought we would see him struggle and get the attempts that he did this year. It was a contract season for him and I know this is going to hurt him which sucks

Jay Gruden - When the season started I thought well here's his auditon for this job hope he does well and he did great. If you asked me this time last year if he would have been back for a third season I would have put the odds no better then 50-50 and now I've not seen anyone asking that so the answer is 100% yes. Hell of a turnaround

Scot McCloughan - When he came on board I was excited without results and now I've seen them and more then pleased. Its pretty rare for me to see my excitement realized, In his first season he saw the Giants two time SB winning head coach fired, the Eagles superstar head coach fired, he saw this team play a team one week and fire the defensive cordinator the next in the middle of the season too. He saw his team go from the 5th pick in the draft one year to the 21st the next. He saw his team miss the playoffs for 3 seasons not only get there but win the division who has won it one time in the past 16 seasons before this year. He did the impossible and found a franchise QB for this franchise who's not had one of them for over 30 years, He saw his top four rookie picks all play significant minutes and make a name for themselves. He didn't oversee any expensive free agent flops and has set this team up with money, draft picks, and a hope for the future that's not been this high in over 20 years. While I was hopefull this would work I didn't think it would be this good, this fast.

[MorrisFan46]

Chris Baker

Preston Smith

Kyshoen Jarret

Jordan Reed

Jamison Crowder

[Bang]

Chris baker has always played high motor.. my problem with him last year is he seemed to be more interested in a pose than making sure the play was finished. 

This year he finished, and i was not surprised at his break out.

 

Will Compton and Mason Foster.. wow. Nobody sees that coming, and both appear to be the "McCloughan mold" of hard working, smart and intense players.  To me, they are the shape of what is to come.

 

Preston Smith rose up down the stretch, i love what i see on the horizon. I am not 100% sure, but i think i heard a stat heading into the WC game that we had 24 sacks over the final 6 weeks, most in the NFL. Kerrigan, Smith, and Baker..  they could be what we are looking for in a starting rotation.

 

Quinton Dunbar is one of those surprises that just makes you laugh because it is so unexpected. he has grown as a corner, and even though he had his rookie mistakes, by and large it looks to me like he's a very good man cover corner. I am trying to recall a play in which he got solidly beat.. and I'm not. He gave up some balls, but most of the time he was right there. He's tall and he's long..  when he learns the position, he can maybe create some takeaways. Real nice pick vs the Giants.

If he can continue to build on these skills, he could be a real gem of the like we haven't found around here in a long time.

 

Blackmon showed up in a pinch, but he gave up more than a few big plays, and after Beckham beat him, he became a bit of a target. BUT, mad respect for him for coming in cold and playing his ass off all year. he made more good plays than bad. he's a scrappy tackler.

 

 

Jordan Reed: Yeah yeah, we knew he was a weapon ,but WOW.. not like 'mentioned in the same breath as gronkowski" weapon. He is a straight up MONSTER who bullies DBs and linebackers alike. There is no answer for him,  and the only thing that stops hism,  is him.

I thought he had an all-pro season. ALL PRO.

 

DeSean Jackson showed what you get with him. Occasional bonehead plays, and big time gamebreaker ability. He's the best deep threat in the NFL, and I mean it. Garcon showed up in the 2nd half of the season, and was as tough as nails. he made some big plays.  Crowderi liked on screen passes especially, and as a slot receiver he was very good, even through a few rookie mistakes.,, but as a returner, i was underwhelmed.

Ryan Grant can hit the road, provided he doesn't fall down on the way out the door.

 

Scerff and Moses : suddenly the right side of the line is no longer a problem and will be a bona fide strength.

 

JAY  GRUDEN
He has quieted everyone, every critic, every gossip hound. he has turned a hostile press to his side. His coaching hires are working out, players are playing like a team on the rise. His offense works. He's been excellent this year. The job is not overwhelming him, even when it was bleak in the first half of the season. 

 

Joe Barry
Using a triage approach to a mangled defense, and managed to come up with ways to get pressure as the season wore on. Took raw players like Compton and schemed them into being successful.

 

Perry Fewell:

did more with less than any coach on this team, New pieces all season long, and he made it work well enough to win games. Can't wait to see what he can do with a healthy set of defensive backs.

 

Ben Kotwika
Special teams finally are playing disciplined football. The occasional hiccup, but overall very nice to see. 

I believe our long long LONG nightmare on special teams may be over. 

 

~Bang

[skinny21]

Season was full of surprise contributors, which makes sense given the surprising turnaround with our record.

To some degree or another, Foster, Compton, Robinson (negatively), Blackmon, Hall, Moses, Scherff, Reed, Crowder, Johnson (negatively), LeRibeus, Baker, Hopkins and Smith were all surprises.

But the two that really stand out, the ones that no one saw coming, were Jarrett and Dunbar.

Jarret, a 6th rounder, was behind Ihenacho, Goldson, Johnson, Robinson in camp - I doubt many of us saw him contributing on anything other than ST. To turn around and become our starting nickel corner, and play well at the spot was a massive surprise.

Dunbar - the UDFA, switching positions, making the roster and then earning solid PT (even if by default) and not looking totally out of his element - breaking up some passes (and picking off Manning in the endzone).