Who Surprised You The Most This Season?

[Ian]

To try and lighten the mood this afternoon, which player surprised you the most this season, and give us some examples of why you feel that way.

 

[italian pat patriot]

Mc Courty - when we drafted him i was skeptical...

what a playier he has been ! great, awesome

 

[patsinthesnow]

BJGE.

Go back to the threads in August.

 

[TriplecHamp]

Woodhead. Think about it, the guy was collected off the trash heap and he played like a second round draft pick. Who really expected him to contribute at all let alone become a big weapon in our offense?

 

[Keyser Söze]

14-2

and McCourty

 

[BlueString94]

Randy Moss.

 

[niknarayanan]

Hands down The Law Firm... If you had told me in September that he would be a 1000 yr rusher, i would have said you're bonkers... But man was he good!

 

[coolguy]

Bill by coaching a 28th rank defense

 

[Ron Sellers]

Really tough to limit it to one answer. While many will point to McCourty, I would say the emergence of BJGE and Woodhead would have to be right up there. McCourty was expected to at least get some playing time; many didn't think BJGE would make the roster out of camp, and nobody expected anything from Woodhead when he was signed.


As far as what surprised me the most, I would say two things: the absolute transformation of the offense post-Moss; doing that on the fly in mid-season was amazing. The other was the defense, which for the first time in years was able to take over games by forcing turnovers while the outcome of the game was still in doubt. Absolutely did not see either of those things coming back in August.

 

[Patriots2001]

Bill by coaching a 28th rank defense

Imagine how good this team could be if they had a top 5 defense ???

 

[Hardboiled]

Woodhead

Welker coming back

 

[Mark.]

Alge Crumpler-I've always liked him as a player and felt like he gave it his all even when Gronkowski and Hernandez were getting most of the balls thrown their way while he was blocking. Did his play where he ran down Harris remind anyone of the Ben Watson play in the Denver playoff loss?

 

[SoonerPatriot]

Definitely BJGE and McCourty. They exceeded everyone's wildest expectations.

As far as unpleasant surprises it has to be Chung. Started off like gangbusters and regressed as a player as the season went on.

 

[jmt57]

Danny Woodhead

When he was signed I didn't think he'd even see the field. Ended up with 1024 yards from scrimmage, six touchdowns, and 6.8 yards per touch. Surprisingly adequate in picking up the blitz too. There were certainly others that exceeded expectations, but none more so than Woodhead.

 

[757PatsFan]

Alge Crumpler-I've always liked him as a player and felt like he gave it his all even when Gronkowski and Hernandez were getting most of the balls thrown their way while he was blocking. Did his play where he ran down Harris remind anyone of the Ben Watson play in the Denver playoff loss?

Yes I completely agree...I love guys that give it all every single play and yes I still think that Ben watsons play was one of the greatest hustle plays in sports history

 

[MassPats38]

BJGE, then Woodhead, then Welker.

I never figured BJGE would make the roster, and then he rushed for 1000.

Woodhead because I saw him as a 'scouting' acquisition with his size, and he turned out to be a played. I thought the loss of Faulk would hurt in a huge way, but Woodhead was a more than capable substitute.

Welker because I figured he would appear mid-season, and then he would have lost some of his quickness. As he relies on quickness and cuts, I thought he might be done for good after his injury.

 

[Leave No Doubt]

Woodhead

Welker coming back

Can't disagree with anybody's choices but Welker's comeback was nothing short of astounding. Plus he sustained it, never faltered, never missed a beat. What injury

 

[andrewgarrr]

Randy Moss.

I don't know if you're joking here, but I was surprised by Randy Moss this season. I didn't think he would drop off so quickly. I also didn't think he was going to lose it and defy the 'Patriots Way' in the way that he did.

I expected a 1200+ yard, 70+ catch, 10+ TD season from Randy completely with the Patriots.

 

[juny]

Woodhead

Can't believe how many holes he squeezed through and extra yards he picked up after initial contact. Was pretty pessimistic about 3rd down option after Faulk went down early, but Woodhead did the job (and mightily well too).

 

[BradyToAmendola]

BJGE - rushed for 1,000 yards; was everything Maroney was not; north and south, physical runner.

Wes Welker - looked 100% all year; like the knee injury never happened.

Deion Branch - I remember everyone thinking this guy was old and washed up when the Patriots traded for him.

Gronk & Hernandez - Well, Hernandez didn't really surprise me. I knew he would be a stud.

Gerard Warren - Great year; stepped up big-time in place of Ty who I'm looking forward to getting back next year!

Mike Wright - Might have been the team's best pass rusher. Too bad he got hurt.

Kyle Love - He really came on at the end of the season.

Rob Ninkovich - He played well yesterday; had some big plays during the year; "did his job."

McCourty - No explanation necessary.

I almost forgot Woody! What a pleasant surprise he was! I thought Faulk's injury would be huge, but thankfully Woody stepped in and was almost as good as Faulk. The only think he really lacked was the pass blocking, but running and catching he was just as good if not better.