5 NFL Players Who Must Step Up in 2012

The 2012 NFL Preseason is now well underway, and before you know it we'll be settling in with a bowl of nachos and a cold drink to watch the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants face off in the season opener on September 5.

With each new season hope spring eternal for all 32 NFL teams, but in all honesty maybe half of those teams have a legitimate shot at making the trip to New Orleans to do battle in Super Bowl XLVII.

Many of those teams face questions that could easily derail their title aspirations, and if those teams are going to keep the train on the tracks, several players, included the handful listed here, are going to have to step up their games.

Philip Rivers, QB, San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers were considered by most the favorites in the AFC West heading into the 2011 season, but things didn't go quite as planned, with the team lurching its way to an 8-8 mark and missing the playoffs altogether.

A large of part of the Chargers' woes a season ago can be traced to the play of quarterback Philip Rivers, who threw nearly as many interceptions in 2011 as he did in 2010 and 2009 combined and posted his lowest quarterback rating since 2007.

With starting running back Ryan Mathews already on the shelf with a broken clavicle, there will be added pressure on the San Diego passing game early in the season, and Rivers needs to cut down on the mistakes if the Chargers are going to right the ship and get back into the thick of a very winnable division.

Michael Vick, QB, Philadelphia Eagles

Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers weren't the only quarterback and team that failed to meet expectations a season ago.

In fact, after an outstanding 2010 season that led to a playoff appearance Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick was rewarded with a fat contract extension, and after a very busy offseason, the Eagles entered the 2011 campaign as a trendy Super Bowl pick out of the NFC.

However, Vick proceeded to turn the ball over twice as many times last year as the year before while accounting for 11 fewer touchdowns, and not only did the Eagles not make the Super Bowl, but also they failed to make the postseason at all.

Many pundits are once again predicting big things from the Philadelphia Eagles in 2012, but for the team to realize those goals the Eagles need Vick to stay healthy and take care of the football.

Isaac Redman, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers

With starting running back Rashard Mendenhall seemingly destined to begin the 2012 season on the physically unable to perform list it appears that the job of lead back in the Pittsburgh Steelers ground game this season will fall to fourth-year pro Isaac Redman.

The former Bowie State star performed fairly well when pressed into action last year, gaining nearly 500 yards on the ground while averaging 4.4 yards per carry, including a 121-yard performance on 17 carries in last year's playoff loss to the Denver Broncos.

If the Steelers are going to keep pace with the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals in what has become a very tough AFC North, they're going to need a strong running game, especially given the unsettled contract situation of star wideout Mike Wallace.

That places a great deal of pressure of Redman's shoulders, although if his comments to KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh via Sports Radio Interviews are any indication he's more than ready to shoulder the load. He said:

"

I’ve been waiting for this opportunity since I was six years old. I’ve been waiting for a long time and I really don’t look at it too much differently. I don’t put a bunch of pressure on myself or get too overwhelmed with anything. Just come out here and take it day by day.

"

Brandon Carr, CB, Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys' secondary was the weak link in their defense a season ago, and New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning took full advantage of that weakness in the pivotal Week 17 matchup between the two teams, piling up over 350 passing yards in a game that sent the Giants into the playoffs and the Cowboys home for the winter.

Team owner Jerry Jones has never been the type to sit on his hands, and Jones was incredibly aggressive in addressing the defensive backfield in the offseason, signing free-agent cornerback Brandon Carr and selecting Morris Claiborne of LSU in the first round of April's draft.

The 26-year-old Carr, who had 45 tackles and four interceptions for the Kansas City Chiefs a season ago, will be counted on to anchor the Dallas secondary this year.

If the Cowboys are going to make some noise in an NFC that's littered with elite quarterbacks, they'll need Carr and the Dallas pass defense to be much improved in 2012.

D.J. Smith, LB, Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers lost only one game in the regular season last year, but that all went for naught when the team was unceremoniously dumped from the playoffs by the New York Giants due in large part to Green Bay's defensive deficiencies.

Hopes of an improved defense in 2012 took a big hit last week, when inside linebacker Desmond Bishop, who led the team with 115 tackles last year, went down in the first preseason game with a hamstring injury that will reportedly cost him most, if not all of the 2012 season.

Bishop's injury is a devastating blow to the Packers defense and thrusts second-year pro D.J. Smith, who had 27 total tackles and an interception in three starts last year, into a pivotal role in the middle of Green Bay's 3-4 front.