The two biggest surprises are Volson and CTB. I thought Volson would develop into a good guard, but he is way ahead of where I thought he'd be this early in his career. CTB has stepped in for Awuzie and is playing like he belongs, and has surprisingly been not much worse than Awuzie. Apple has always had the talent, he's coming into his own here under Lou.

This is a great thread. I immediately thought of the rookies, Volson and CTB. And Irwin, making clutch grabs with one hand while snacking on a grilled Velveeta sandwich with the other. But I can't disagree with any of the names tossed out. This is what a TEAM is. Guys inspiring each other to be better than we expected, maybe even better than they thought they could be.

I believe that having so many players exceed expectations is a testament not only to them, but to their coaches. Maybe Zac, Callahan, Lou and the rest haven't made chicken salad out of chicken shit, but they have helped some average players become good, good become very good, and very good become great. Add coaching staff to the list of people who have exceeded expectations.

Also much credit to Duke and his staff, who have brought in high character men who want to be great and are willing to put in the work and allow themselves to be coached, and who put TEAM first.

Pratt
Irwin
Perine
CTB
Apple
Volson
Tufele

EDIT: I forgot Wilcox. Obvious miss.

I thought Hurst would be good so no surprise there.

I thought Perine was fine last year (screen pass TD vs Chiefs) but he has been better than I thought, partucularly receiving.

Pratt was great in the POs last year, but I did not know if it was a blip or not. No blip. He leveled up.

Irwin has been a fantastic surprise, filling in for Tee and Chase. He is a fine WR4 and I hope he sticks around. Not really a guy I'd want as a starter, though.

I thought we were screwed when Chido got hurt. Have not lost a game since. CTB & Apple deserve a ton of credit. Apple's raw numbers may be a bit down, but not much. CB1 is a step up from CB2. I wanted Woolen or Marcus Jones and thought CTB was a Round 3 guy. Not a huge fan of the trade up to get him. However, I get it. Excellent vs the run, great athlete, but a bit raw in coverage. He has been all those things, but has also made some great plays (saved 2 TDs last week).

Volson has been bumpy but I thought it would be far worse. There isxa player in there, I think.

We got Tufele off the street when DT/NT was decimated by injuries, and I expected nothing. We got more than that & he played his way onto the roster.

I forgot Wilcox, who has been serviceable. Still think he is TE3, though.

(01-12-2023, 03:34 AM)basballguy Wrote: Apple was worse this season than last.  How in the world did you think he played better?

Saw another Apple response.  Befuddled how he can be worse than last season and our worst rated CB but people still think he played better than expectations.  Must've really expected him to be much worse than he really was.

Simple, last year he was CB2. This year, after Chido got hurt, he has been CB1. His assignment is much more diffulicult. We are not in zine all the time. But he has held up pretty well and we have not lost a game with him at CB1. 

You could chart my opinion of Germain Pratt and the bottom of the valley is right before he has that interception to end our playoff game against the Raiders. It has just kept going up and up and up from there.

(01-12-2023, 01:39 PM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: Pratt
Irwin
Perine
CTB
Apple
Volson
Tufele

EDIT: I forgot Wilcox. Obvious miss.

I thought Hurst would be good so no surprise there.

I thought Perine was fine last year (screen pass TD vs Chiefs) but he has been better than I thought, partucularly receiving.

Pratt was great in the POs last year, but I did not know if it was a blip or not. No blip. He leveled up.

Irwin has been a fantastic surprise, filling in for Tee and Chase. He is a fine WR4 and I hope he sticks around. Not really a guy I'd want as a starter, though.

I thought we were screwed when Chido got hurt. Have not lost a game since. CTB & Apple deserve a ton of credit. Apple's raw numbers may be a bit down, but not much. CB1 is a step up from CB2. I wanted Woolen or Marcus Jones and thought CTB was a Round 3 guy. Not a huge fan of the trade up to get him. However, I get it. Excellent vs the run, great athlete, but a bit raw in coverage. He has been all those things, but has also made some great plays (saved 2 TDs last week).

Volson has been bumpy but I thought it would be far worse. There isxa player in there, I think.

We got Tufele off the street when DT/NT was decimated by injuries, and I expected nothing. We got more than that & he played his way onto the roster.

I forgot Wilcox, who has been serviceable. Still think he is TE3, though.

Good call on Tufele....sure didn't think he would be much just coming off his couch.

Lots of great names in this thread and agree with most of them being pleasant surprises. 

(01-12-2023, 02:31 AM)casear2727 Wrote: Perine
Adeniji
Irwin
Wilcox
Apple

All of these guys have stepped up.

Plus our 2 rookies in Volson and CTB have played better than I thought they would as rookies, especially Volson.

I thought CTB might take Apple's job if Awuzie stayed healthy but he didn't and Apple has played well enough it wouldn't of even 
happened if Chido was healthy. Just a fantastic job by the staff getting the backup players ready and yeah I don't think a single fan
would of predicted how well Irwin has played. Plus a lot of people were calling for us to move on from Perine in the Offseason which
would of been a major mistake. Pratt has played like an All Pro this season.

(01-12-2023, 04:08 PM)Wyche Wrote: Good call on Tufele....sure didn't think he would be much just coming off his couch.

Lots of great names in this thread and agree with most of them being pleasant surprises. 

Yeah, I liked Tufele but didn't think he could step in and play the way he did in DJ's absence. The only hint was that I heard we were
going to take him in the draft ahead of Shelvin but Jay got taken before our pick so we settled for Shelvin.

Pratt, Volson, Tufele, Vonn Bell being as good as he is surprised me. Irwin didn’t surprise me because I’m the one who said he should’ve made the 53 in the first damn place.

My only other surprise is CTB. I did not think he’d be good enough to start and we not be afraid of other QBs targeting him. He’s been targeted plenty this year and came through for us.



Final answer is Pratt. Him taking the next step as a linebacker wasn’t ok my radar. No way we keep him and Logan but we should. I’d say bye bye to both Bates and Bell if we could keep Pratt and Wilson

Better? Volson, Perine, CTB, Karras

Less than expected? Jonah (Come on big fella, got to be better)

(01-12-2023, 03:34 AM)basballguy Wrote: Apple was worse this season than last.  How in the world did you think he played better?

Saw another Apple response.  Befuddled how he can be worse than last season and our worst rated CB but people still think he played better than expectations.  Must've really expected him to be much worse than he really was.

This seems like a very uninformed reply.  

I had zero expectations that Apple would be our CB1, in fact I think many thought that CTB would take his spot before the season ends.

The fact that he has held his own as CB1 since Chido went down for 8 straight wins is outstanding. 

If I'm being honest, I question anyone's football intellect that:
1. Thought he would be good enough to be a CB1 prior to the season - which you must have?
2.  Is unable to see how well he has held down the fort for 8 straight wins - or is this you?

Everyone has been mentioned but I’ll throw Higgins out there. He’s an A1 receiver.

Volson, but with a caveat. Let's get the caveat out of the way.

Volson wasn't good. He was objectively bad, and he was bad all season. He was awful to start the season, so at least he got better from there. Out of 95 guards with at least 100 pass-blocking snaps, he allowed the 30th highest pressure percentage. He finished 6th in raw pressures allowed. He was 4th in raw sacks allowed and allowed the 32nd highest sack rate. This is all among guards only.

I genuinely thought he would be arguably the worst G in the league. I voted that he would be benched by week eight in bfine's prediction thread. He definitely isn't the worst G in the league - he is below average, and I do think he has some room to grow. I think he is athletically limited, so I don't think he will peak very high, but I won't be surprised to see him settle around a league average type player and anchor the LG spot for a few years. 

So, he is definitely my pick. I expected him to be positively awful and he finished below average.

(01-12-2023, 09:26 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: Volson, but with a caveat. Let's get the caveat out of the way.

Volson wasn't good. He was objectively bad, and he was bad all season. He was awful to start the season, so at least he got better from there. Out of 95 guards with at least 100 pass-blocking snaps, he allowed the 30th highest pressure percentage. He finished 6th in raw pressures allowed. He was 4th in raw sacks allowed and allowed the 32nd highest sack rate. This is all among guards only.

I genuinely thought he would be arguably the worst G in the league. I voted that he would be benched by week eight in bfine's prediction thread. He definitely isn't the worst G in the league - he is below average, and I do think he has some room to grow. I think he is athletically limited, so I don't think he will peak very high, but I won't be surprised to see him settle around a league average type player and anchor the LG spot for a few years. 

So, he is definitely my pick. I expected him to be positively awful and he finished below average.

woahh be careful saying that or sunset bengal is gonna quote you and put you in his signature. Watch out!

but seriously, I thought he would be a disaster like Carman, but he's not. And so for that, he outperformed my expectations. 

he's still not good though.