Player who Breaks Through/Player who Regresses

[Ring 6]

Breakthroughs
Cunningham. He is going to be a very good 34 OLB.
Brace. I saw a lot of talent in the reps he got last year. If his head is on straight he will be a perfect complement to Haynesworth and VW and we will have a dominant run stopping DL. Brace at times last year was unblockable. Hopefully this year those times will be more frequent.

Dropoffs
Woodhead. Not a flash in the pan, but everything fit together for him last year.
BJGE. Most of the players who could have taken or shared reps with him last year were often injured. If all 4-5 RBs are healthy BJGE will see fewer touches. I think his stats exceeded his talent as well.

 

[ay-yo]

All of the obvious candidates have been discussed (Spikes, Cunningham, Chung, etc) as far as break though candidates go so I'll throw out a few names who haven't been mentioned.

For break through how about Meriweather. His problems (discipline / angles) are easier to fix than problems with say athleticism or play diagnosing. Plus he's in a contract year and reports say he's gotten stronger.

Gronk could also break though to the pro bowl level. Sure he had a great year last year but he could take another step and garner national attention as one of the best TE's in the league this year.

For regression (all names here have already been mentioned) Branch seems an obvious fit with 85 coming in, TE's improving and (hopefully) catching more passes and the running game being a bigger part of the game plan.

The other choice for regression is Connolly. Not much to base it off of other than last year being his first year getting meaningful PT. Hopefully he keep it up or Cannon surprises and gets PT right away.

 

[Ring 6]

All of the obvious candidates have been discussed (Spikes, Cunningham, Chung, etc) as far as break though candidates go so I'll throw out a few names who haven't been mentioned.

For break through how about Meriweather. His problems (discipline / angles) are easier to fix than problems with say athleticism or play diagnosing. Plus he's in a contract year and reports say he's gotten stronger.

Gronk could also break though to the pro bowl level. Sure he had a great year last year but he could take another step and garner national attention as one of the best TE's in the league this year.

For regression (all names here have already been mentioned) Branch seems an obvious fit with 85 coming in, TE's improving and (hopefully) catching more passes and the running game being a bigger part of the game plan.

The other choice for regression is Connolly. Not much to base it off of other than last year being his first year getting meaningful PT. Hopefully he keep it up or Cannon surprises and gets PT right away.

I would expect the experience gained by Connolly would make him a better candidate to improve than decline.

 

[s3antana5757]

Aso's coverage is much better than his ball skills and he plays a particular side of the field, often not covering the other teams #1. Combine all that with the fact that rest of the Raiders secondary isn't nearly as good as the Pat's, you comparison really starts to fall apart. As long as McCourty stays healthy, he has the focus, drive, talent and smarts to continue to improve.

Agreed, but he never gets thrown out to get any INT's. Someone had said that his INT's going down doesn't mean he's regressed, and I couldn't agree more. I was pointing to that fact that Aso is a good to great CB, and doesn't pick passes. I like McCourty alot, but I think he'll experience a little bit of a sophomore slump and he'll be great in his 3rd season. I hope I'm wrong, and this thread is entirely speculation obviously.

 

[captain stone]

Progression:
Chung
Fletcher
Spikes
McCourty
Edelman
Price
Hernandez
Law & Order

Regression:
Meriweather
Cunningham
Butler
Wilhite
Brace
Haynesworth
Deaderick
Ocho
Tate
Morris
Koppen
Wendell
OBurger

 

[TruthSeeker]

Dropoffs
Woodhead. Not a flash in the pan, but everything fit together for him last year.
BJGE. Most of the players who could have taken or shared reps with him last year were often injured. If all 4-5 RBs are healthy BJGE will see fewer touches. I think his stats exceeded his talent as well.

I've got to agree with you. If Woodhead doesn't drop off, we have one of the biggest steals of a running back ever.

 

[SyN65]

Breaks through:

Edelman (I hope...)
McCourty
Spikes
Gronkowski
Hernandez

Regresses:

Woodhead
Branch
Welker