2015 NFL Draft: 5 Veteran Players Who Should Be Worried About Their Jobs
There will be nervous eyes watching the NFL draft Thursday night from many different locations. Some picks may cause fans at home to not watch at all and instead closely examine their hands. And in more luxurious living rooms, veteran players will watch with a phone nearby, ready to call their position coaches if some young first-round stud is picked to replace them.
Andrew Whitworth won’t have that reflex. The 34-year-old Cincinnati Bengals left tackle and second-team All-Pro in 2014 fears no man.
“I’ve always had the opposite mentality,” he told Paul Dehner of The Cincinnati Enquirer. “Mess up and draft someone at my position, because you’re going to sit around and watch him sit on the bench.”
“I see it as a challenge.”
That’s defiant, brave and wholly unnecessary intimidation from a man who stands 6’7” and weighs 330 pounds. Outwardly, Whitworth’s attitude is shared by every veteran starter. But inwardly? Football players are still humans, and worrying about your job is never a pleasant experience.
That angst is heightened when there’s a chunk of the calendar dedicated to selecting your replacement. Back in 2011, then-New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush didn’t exactly enjoy watching his depth-chart fall unfold live, tweeting “it’s been fun New Orleans” right after Mark Ingram was selected in the first round.
Employment circumstances can change swiftly at this time of the year. Let’s look at five aging and/or fading veterans who could be watching the draft in fear, preparing for training-camp battles.
Donald Brown Will Become Expendable If the Chargers Draft a Running Back
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The San Diego Chargers will likely look to fill a swirling black hole in their backfield if there’s no blockbuster trade for Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota involving Philip Rivers.
At No. 17, they could target either Georgia's Todd Gurley or Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon after losing Ryan Mathews in free agency. They may even be aggressive and look to trade up, which becomes concerning if your name is Donald Brown (the football-playing running back Donald Brown—not the 33 other San Diego Donald Browns).
Brown isn’t exactly a young whippersnapper at his position anymore after turning 28 early in April. He was signed in 2014 to a contract that unfortunately doesn’t offer much cap savings this year, with a cap hit of $4 million and $2.2 million in dead money, per Spotrac.
So cutting Brown if Gurley or Gordon joins the Chargers is less about money and more about wise roster management. General manager Tom Telesco and head coach Mike McCoy will be asking themselves if Brown is worthy of occupying a precious roster spot.
They’ll be pondering that question while observing a few facts, none of which are in Brown’s favor:
He was signed for much-needed depth with Mathews’ brittle nature in mind. When Mathews first went down in 2014, Brown started three games. His per-carry average in those games was 2.1 yards.
His overall per-carry average didn’t get much better. On 85 attempts, Brown averaged 2.6 yards, a startling decline from his final season with the Indianapolis Colts in 2013 when he chugged along nicely at a career-high 5.3 yards per carry.
He did, however, contribute as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. Brown caught 29 passes for 211 yards, even while playing only 41.1 percent of San Diego’s offensive snaps, per PFF. But with Danny Woodhead healthy now, the backfield-pass-catcher gig is taken. Woodhead is only a year removed from setting a new career single-season high with 605 receiving yards, second among all running backs in 2013.
Gurley/Gordon would vacuum up most of the backfield workload immediately, because that’s what happens when the year is 2015 and you select a running back in the first round. Woodhead would then keep his passing-down-specialist role, and second-year back Branden Oliver could provide a change of pace after showing brief promise during his rookie season (two 100-plus-yard rushing games).
Brown’s roster spot may still be in danger even if the Chargers wait until the second or third round to address their running back need (Indiana’s Tevin Coleman? Miami’s Duke Johnson? Alabama’s T.J. Yeldon?). There wouldn’t be a role left for him with a new, fresh running back aboard, and he would be surplus depth.
Unused spare parts usually become castaways.
Cullen Jenkins Could Be in Trouble If the New York Giants Get Younger Up Front
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Not so long ago, Cullen Jenkins was an interior pass-rushing force.
In 2010, the defensive tackle recorded 7.5 sacks during a championship-winning season with the Green Bay Packers, which still stands as his career single-season high. The following season, he logged a still solid 5.5 sacks with 40 tackles after signing with the Philadelphia Eagles. Then he moved on to the New York Giants in 2013 and has since gone about the process of losing gracefully to age, a football player’s eternal enemy.
The now-34-year-old Jenkins has reached the "potentially discarded veteran" stage of his career, and the eject button could be pushed if the Giants pursue a defensive tackle in the first round. Washington’s Danny Shelton is a common mock draft pick for the Giants after his boulder-like frame (6’2”, 339 lbs) led to nine sacks and 16.5 tackles for a loss in 2014.
Shelton would be a formidable force while lining up alongside Johnathan Hankins, who finished seventh among all tackles in 2014 with 23 run stops, per PFF. Meanwhile, Jenkins struggled through a calf strain and finished with only a single sack. His 15 tackles were the second-lowest single-season mark of an 11-year career.
The Giants defense allowed a league-worst 4.9 yards per carry in 2014. Justifying Jenkins’ roster spot could quickly become difficult if installing younger beef up the middle to fix that leak is an early priority.
Will Captain Munnerlyn Be Pushed Aside by Trae Waynes?
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If your name is Captain Munnerlyn, by rule you have to spend a season with the Minnesota Vikings. Sadly, this Captain has encountered violent waters, and another storm could be brewing.
We’re not far removed from happy times for Munnerlyn, the cornerback who should be in the prime of his career at age 27. In March 2014, he signed a three-year contract with the Vikings worth $11.25 million, with $4.45 million guaranteed. Then he proceeded to allow a high volume of catches and long gains—which is a problem because his job is stopping catches and gains of any kind.
Munnerlyn gave up five touchdowns and finished his first Vikings season with a 104.4 passer rating allowed in coverage, per PFF. That was awful enough to rank him 59th out of the 73 cornerbacks who were on the field for at least 50 percent of their teams' snaps.
That’s the first sign of Munnerlyn’s possible demise and status as the weak link in an otherwise solid secondary. The Vikings gave up an average of 223.2 passing yards per game (7th) in 2014, and fellow cornerback Xavier Rhodes excelled in the same Passer Rating Allowed metric that’s damning for Munnerlyn (75.7, good enough for 16th).
The next strike for Munnerlyn? Potentially being replaced by a soon-to-be 37-year-old. The Vikings took a flier on Terence Newman during free agency, and head coach Mike Zimmer told the St. Paul Pioneer Press his newest cornerback will start on the left side.
If Munnerlyn faces demotion to slot duties when a cornerback who was drafted in 2003 is added to the roster, his short-term future will take another gut punch if the Vikings reinforce their secondary by drafting Michigan State’s Trae Waynes. He’s widely viewed as the top cornerback in the 2015 draft class, and Minnesota is in prime position to grab him at No. 11.
Munnerlyn will have to overcome a steep uphill battle for a roster spot if Waynes joins the depth chart. He’s also at a further disadvantage because Newman is familiar with the Vikings’ defensive scheme after already playing under Zimmer at two of his previous career stops as a coordinator (Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals).
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Nate Washington Might Not Be Able to Hold on Much Longer
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If there’s ever a section of the Pro Football Hall of Fame dedicated specifically to secondary receivers, it will be named after the Houston Texans’ Nate Washington.
He’s never been spectacular, and he’s never produced eye-popping numbers. Instead, he’s just been steady, with the right sprinkles of receiver vanilla to complement whoever needs complementing.
Over nine seasons, Washington has averaged almost exactly 700 receiving yards per year, chugging along at 43.4 yards per game with 40 career touchdowns. Certainly not game-breaking stuff, but there’s great value in consistently meeting the standards for average performance.
There will always be room for the NFL’s Nate Washingtons. There just might not be room for the actual Nate Washington much longer.
The Texans are in the middle of a youth movement on their wide receiver depth chart. That’s why longtime franchise icon Andre Johnson was released. Now, DeAndre Hopkins, with his high ceiling and even higher leaping, is the Texans’ top receiver at the ripe age of 23.
It’s also why another receiver could be on the way shortly, crowding the depth chart further.
The Texans signed Washington earlier in April for veteran support. They tossed a mere $1 million his way, very much the sort of contract pushed toward an aging player hoping he has enough left to become a cheap gem.
But it’ll take more than being impressively average to secure a spot if the Texans add either Central Florida’s Breshad Perriman or Louisville’s DeVante Parker, both of whom could be available at No. 16 (Perriman is more likely than Parker, though a slight fall for the latter is possible). That first-round wide receiver would start opposite Hopkins, with Cecil Shorts—who was also signed earlier this offseason—sliding in to assume slot duties.
Washington would then be battling the also youthful (though disappointing) DeVier Posey, meaning his fate could rest with exactly how much Texans head coach Bill O’Brien values his veteran savvy among a group of wide receivers who lack experience.
Will B.J. Raji Have to Fight for His Roster Spot?
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The Green Bay Packers face uncertainty at defensive tackle.
They have B.J. Raji returning after a torn biceps cost him the 2014 season. Prior to the injury, he was declining. Raji is long removed from his hip gyrating days when he was a Pro Bowler in 2011 and had 6.5 sacks in 2010.
He was replaced in 2014 by Letroy Guion, who then recorded 23 defensive stops—10 more than Raji during his last healthy season (per PFF). On the field, Guion was a force while constantly collapsing the pocket. But off the field, he faces a likely suspension and a questionable long-term future after marijuana and firearm possession charges.
Both were re-signed to meager one-year deals this offseason. Guion was set up for a nice haul before his off-field missteps and instead had to accept a one-year deal worth $2.75 million. Raji signed a similar agreement, agreeing to the standard post-injury “prove it” contract worth $1.75 million.
It’s difficult to know what the Packers have in Raji now, and Guion’s off-field behavior may not make him a long-term solution, which is why general manager Ted Thompson could be motivated to seek certainty at the position.
Thompson might choose to address one of several areas in the first round, including cornerback depth after Tramon Williams departed as a free agent. But if the right name is available, a defensive tackle will be too tempting after the Packers allowed 119.9 rushing yards per game in 2014 (23rd).
At 30th overall, temptation could come in the form of Texas’ Malcom Brown, Oklahoma’s Jordan Phillips or Florida State’s Eddie Goldman. Then another difficult decision will follow: Does Raji—a tackle who hasn’t registered a sack since 2011—stay on the roster? Or will an immediate transition start?
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