Which player(s) has exceded expectations this season?

[Armchair Quarterback]

I'm going to go with

1. Danny Woodhead- Had no expectations for him at all seeing he wasn't on the team to begin the season.

2. Aaron Hernandez- Knew he was good but is on pace for about 900 yards in his rookie season.

3. Brandon Deaderick- Expected him to be a solid player just maybe not this early. Got a rookie starter out of the 7th round and he doesn't look out of place.

4. Rob Ninkovich- Had almost no expectations for him but as played well for a waiver wire pickup.

 

[xmarkd400x]

2. Aaron Hernandez- Knew he was good but is on pace for about 900 yards in his rookie season.

That is actually pretty darn impressive.

... rookie wide receivers gained 1,000 yards only four times (Anquan Boldin, 1,377 yards in 2003; Randy Moss, 1,313 yards in 1998; Mark Clayton, 1,193 yards in 2004; and Terry Glenn, 1,132 yards in 1996).

DraftHistory.com - NFL Pro Football College Draft

If Hernandez were to get 900 yards, that would put him at #8 on the all time recievers list (I couldn't find a comparable TE list), putting him in good company. There's a few relative unknowns on that list also, but the success that he is having puts him in some pretty darn good company.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

I agree with your list and add Wes Welker. I was expecting him to be coming off of PUP around now.

 

[patriotsdynasty12189]

Mayo, Chung, McCourty, Wilfork, Deaderick, Ninky, Cunningham, Spikes and Arrington. Are players that have impressed.

TBC, Meriweather, Butler and Warren have been disapointments. I had pretty good hopes for Warren to be a player like Bobby Hamilton was for us. TBC and Meriwather have degressed but looks like Brandon is coming out of it. And Butler is just disapointing.

Wright, Brace, Pryor, Wilhite, Guyton have been players that have been performing at the level I thought they would.


Offensively obviously Woodhead and the Tight Ends and BJGE.

But Brady has been disapointing, he was so good in the pre-season and early in the year but seemed to have tailed off. I expect him to get in a rhythm soon.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

I agree with your list and add Wes Welker. I was expecting him to be coming off of PUP around now.

Good point, he may not seem like the Welker of old but the fact he is playing at all is a bonus.

 

[Calciumee]

Arrington is exceeding!

But of course Woodhead and Hernz

 

[zimmy]

Because we had so many unknowns going into the season quite a few players have exceeded:

Deaderick, Cunningham, McCourty, Ninkovich, Chung, Arrington, Woodhead, Green-Ellis, Connolly, Hernandez.

On the flip side, players who have disappointed (from what we expected pre-season):

Banta-Cain, Butler, Meriweather, Vollmer (at least in pass protection)

Every one else is pretty much as expected

 

[karguy85]

I also think Chung has really exceeded expectations. He has made a lot of progress this year, compared to his rookie season. Let's just hope he gets back on the field soon.

I think Edelman has been disappointing this year compared to how he progressed at the end of last year. It might just be a result of not getting the requisite playing time because Welker and Branch are both be similar type of players and we don't really need 3 slot guys on the field at the same time.

 

[mgteich]

McCourty and Arrington are impressing lots of folks (and also Chung as a nickel).

Results don't seem to matter. Quarterbacks are completing a higher percentage of passes against the patriots than against any other team in the nfl. No team has better passing stats than the patriots allows from our opponents. We allow a higher percentage of third downs to be converted than any team in a decade.

McCourty and Arrington may be solid prospects (and even look great compared with Bulter, Wilhite and Wheatley). But their performance only looks good because of the comparison with other patriot corners. Yes, I am very glad that they have stepped up, but they really haven't been very effective.

 

[blackglass3]

Chung and Hernandez have been awesome. I thought we would go with a 3 Saftey rotation between Meriweather, Sanders, and Chung. But once Meriweather came around and until Chung got hurt, we've been great at the S position. Hopefully when Chung comes back they can continue to build that chemistry.

And did anyone expect what we've seen out of Aaron Hernandez?

 

[Patjew]

Wooddick for sure.

 

[captain stone]

Because I posted a list in the Disappointments thread, it's only fair that I post one
in this thread.

Sheriff Woody - The best RB here since the '04 Dillon,
though their styles are totally different.

Hernandez - Legalize It.

Gronk - The game-changing stinkbomb in Cleveland notwithstanding,
I thought he would be a constant injury question.

Fletcher - is better than Guyton.

McCourty - Solid coverage, near-flawless technique,
and much better hands than I thought he had.

Everybody else is pretty much who I thought they would be, for better (some) or worse (more).

 

[stcjones]

K

I'm going to go with

1. Danny Woodhead- Had no expectations for him at all seeing he wasn't on the team to begin the season.

2. Aaron Hernandez- Knew he was good but is on pace for about 900 yards in his rookie season.

3. Brandon Deaderick- Expected him to be a solid player just maybe not this early. Got a rookie starter out of the 7th round and he doesn't look out of place.

4. Rob Ninkovich- Had almost no expectations for him but as played well for a waiver wire pickup.

I would go Chung, woodhead, hernandez, and spikes.

 

[mgteich]

A fine list!

I would add Chung and Crable.

I'm going to go with

1. Danny Woodhead- Had no expectations for him at all seeing he wasn't on the team to begin the season.

2. Aaron Hernandez- Knew he was good but is on pace for about 900 yards in his rookie season.

3. Brandon Deaderick- Expected him to be a solid player just maybe not this early. Got a rookie starter out of the 7th round and he doesn't look out of place.

4. Rob Ninkovich- Had almost no expectations for him but as played well for a waiver wire pickup.

 

[Modest]

Hernandez
Chung
Mccourty
Woodhead