10 Athletes We're Still Waiting On to Be Stars
Every new year brings with it predictions regarding who will be the next big stars in the sports world.
Experts "knew" that Sidney Crosby would be an elite player in the National Hockey League. LeBron James was the next face of the National Basketball Association even before he first took the court as a Cleveland Cavalier. It was seemingly only a matter of time during his rookie year before Peyton Manning showed that he would be a tremendous quarterback.
Some supposed future stars do not shine as brightly early on into their careers.
Joel Embiid is one example. Embiid, once deemed worthy of a third overall draft pick by at least one team, could become one of the biggest busts in NBA history if only because we have no idea what he will be as a pro player. We should see Embiid take the court next fall, but nothing is guaranteed as of April 2016.
Andy Dalton, who has produced memorable moments while with the Cincinnati Bengals, continues to be overshadowed by his woeful postseason record. We may have already seen the best days of Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford. Soccer followers are still waiting for Jack Wilshere and Christian Eriksen to take the next figurative steps of their careers.
None of this is to suggest that the athletes featured in this piece won't become stars at some point. They just aren't at that level yet, and at least some may never get to that status.
Who among them will be seen as the biggest sports star a decade from today?
Dustin Johnson
1 of 10
Tiger Woods or no Tiger Woods. We could be on the cusp of a golden era of the PGA Tour.
Yes, Jordan Spieth just suffered an epic collapse at the 2016 Masters. Spieth is only 22 years old and already has two major championships on his resume. Twenty-eight-year-old Jason Day and 26-year-old Rory McIlroy round out golf's next Big Three who could entertain fans and television viewers for years to come.
Then, there is Dustin Johnson.
Both those making conventional predictions and those looking to make sexy picks before a major can overlook Johnson. This has nothing to do with the personal problems that he has experienced during his career (h/t Golf.com). The perception, over the years, has been that Johnson's short game will betray him when he needs it most.
Jaime Diaz of Golf Digest wrote about this last February when he claimed that Johnson "is so close to greatness but still so far away":
"Still, to get to a point with his game where he can not only close out a major championship, but win by multiple strokes—the way Spieth, McIlroy and Day have done—Johnson has to get much better with the short clubs. Last season he ranked 119th in scrambling. Sand play is a particular weakness; his 38.60 percent sand-save rate ranked 178th on tour. His best streak of four sand saves in a row ranked 206th.
Johnson can look similarly wooden with the putter. Last season he ranked 121st in putting inside of 10 feet. Last month at Kapalua, where he finished T-10 despite leading the event in greens in regulation, he lost at least a stroke to field in putting every round.
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That same problem came back to haunt Johnson in a big way at the 2016 Masters.
While Spieth fell apart on the 12th hole, Johnson had multiple opportunities to close the gap separating him from the top of the leaderboard. As Mike Johnson of Golf Digest explained after the fact, Dustin Johnson's putting was again his undoing:
"Johnson had eight putts from inside 20 feet for either birdie or eagle, with six of them 13 feet or closer that failed to find the hole. Among the crucial misses were a 13-footer on 13 and a 20-footer on 15, both for eagle that could have put pressure on Danny Willett. As it was, Johnson never got closer than two stokes. A 15-footer that didn’t fall on 16 essentially ended his chances. When asked if there was any putt he would like to have back, Johnson, who finished T-4 after a final-round 71, simply replied, “All of them that didn’t go in.”
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Johnson can play a course with the best of them on the PGA Tour—until, that is, he gets to greens. Remedying that is the only way Johnson will become a recognized star.
Matthew Stafford
2 of 10
Good NFL quarterbacks make those around them better.
Would wide receiver Wes Welker have become one of the best undrafted offensive players of his time had he not played with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning? Would we have ever known about tight end Kevin Boss had he not become a favorite red-zone target of Eli Manning and not caught 18 regular-season touchdowns (h/t Pro-Football-Reference.com) as a member of the New York Giants?
Odds are those men are grateful they'll never have to answer such questions.
Whether or not you view Detroit Lions starter Matthew Stafford as a franchise quarterback could depend on your definition of the term. Of course, QB-hungry teams such as the Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams, New York Jets and others would happily take Stafford on their rosters. One would not, however, need to look at stats to know that no team would take Stafford over top-tier QBs such as Brady, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning, if for no other reason than each of those signal-callers has played in the Super Bowl.
Stafford will have an opportunity to silence critics and prove that he is a star in 2016, as he will be the biggest name on the Lions offense. Calvin Johnson, one of the best wide receivers in the NFL when healthy and in his prime, surprised the football world when he announced that the 2015 season would be his last. As Jeffri Chadiha of NFL.com wrote about last March, Johnson's decision to retire leaves Stafford without his top weapon and security blanket:
"The high-risk passes that Stafford often lofted into double coverage aren't going to land in Johnson's hands anymore. The constant attention that Johnson drew from opposing defenses also means the Lions will need more from wide receivers like Golden Tate and newly signed free agent Marvin Jones. Stafford has spent the last seven years going through a variety of growing pains and leading Detroit to a 42-51 record when he's started. This fall has to be the time when his maturation process, at age 28, takes a huge leap forward.
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A 28-year-old quarterback could still have a solid decade left in the tank. Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Brady are a few examples. Will Stafford match the accomplishments achieved by those great players, or will he remain a solid QB who never took that next step and helped guide the Lions to a championship game?
Yasiel Puig
3 of 10
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig is many things. Boring does not make the list.
Puig played like a future star for the majority of his first two seasons in Major League Baseball. As a rookie, he homered on 19 occasions (h/t Baseball-Reference.com). Puig finished the regular season with a .319 batting average and a .925 OPS. While he suffered small declines in each of those stats in his second campaign, he increased his RBI output from 42 in 2013 to 69 in 2014.
Puig was named to the 2014 MLB All-Star Game. That experience could have gone better for the young slugger, but that is neither here nor there.
The hopes that Puig would be the future of the Dodgers were gone by 2015, and they had been replaced by stories of Puig becoming a headache inside the clubhouse. As Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports wrote about last June, some within the team were ready for the Dodgers to move on:
"Inside the Los Angeles Dodgers' clubhouse, the contempt some teammates hold for outfielder Yasiel Puig is no longer a secret limited to whispers. They discuss it openly, resigned to the fact that the Dodgers don't plan to trade their mega-talented right fielder no matter how deep the animus runs.
"We've talked about this," one Dodgers player told Yahoo Sports. "At this point, it would be addition by subtraction."
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Such stories followed the release of the book, The Best Team Money Can Buy. In that book, author Molly Knight pulled back the curtain and showed how Puig had become a nuisance for the Dodgers.
Passan continued:
"While some issues, like his habitual tardiness for games, have abated this year, according to sources, Puig's work ethic in batting practice and the weight room continue to bother some teammates. Much of the hostility stems from a general sense of entitlement shown by the 24-year-old. During spring training this year, as Knight writes and multiple sources confirmed to Yahoo Sports, Puig argued with teammates over who should be allowed on a plane ride that typically includes wives and girlfriends. The subject of someone from Puig's entourage joining the traveling crew came up, and sources told Yahoo Sports that Puig argued with pitcher Zack Greinke and nearly came to blows with infielder Justin Turner over the matter.
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Playing well and winning games heals all wounds in sports. Puig, still just 25 and in the early stages of his career, began the 2016 season going 13-of-33 from the plate (.394) with a home run, a pair of triples, a double and an OPS of 1.136.
Don't bury Puig's star status for good just yet.
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Jack Wilshere
4 of 10
Is Jack Wilshere overrated?
Take that question to your favorite Internet search engine, and you will find more than a fair share of articles and blog posts on the subject. Just this past February, Express.co.uk listed Wilshere among its "Top 15 most overrated footballers," saying that Wilshere was "too often on the treatment table but when he's on the pitch the Arsenal and England man often flatters to deceive."
While Wilshere has flashed brilliance at times for Arsenal and England, the 24-year-old has not yet earned himself the right to be named captain of either squad. Peter Wood of Le Grove (via the Daily Mail) put some of the blame for this on Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger in a piece that was published in June 2015:
"Wenger has struggled with Wilshere. In the youngster’s breakthrough season, the manager overplayed him to the tune of 46 starts. This was far too many games for a young body to take, with the manager hinting that he’d pushed his star into the ‘red zone’. The following season, he was wiped out by injury and didn’t make an appearance. Sadly, he’s struggled to regain fitness ever since. He’s failed to make more than 30 starts for Arsenal that breakthrough season.
The other issue the manager has had problems with centres around his position. Wilshere can play anywhere in the midfield, including either side of Wenger’s 4-3-3. I don’t think it’s unfair to suggest that Jack’s preferred position is in the deep lying playmaker role. He’s won six out of the last seven man of the match awards for England in that role. Roy Hodgson has turned him into a superstar for England. He’s even helped Jack add goals to his game with two absolute stunners against Slovenia. He plays with a confidence that’s missing for Arsenal, but, it’s fair to say he’s playing with players that are of a lower level.
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One thing Wenger has not been able to do is place Wilshere in a protective bubble. Wilshere was forced to undergo ankle surgery in September 2011 (h/t Arsenal's official website). He required minor knee surgery in May 2012 (h/t BBC.com). Another ankle injury sidelined Wilshere in November 2014 (h/t BBC.com). Wilshere missed 10 months of action after he suffered a fractured fibula in the summer of 2015 (h/t BBC.com).
Wilshere has also done himself few favors off the pitch. He has been criticized after being caught smoking on multiple occasions (h/t Mirror). He was also accused of being involved in an "altercation" at a nightclub in April 2016 (h/t the Guardian).
Wilshere may never become a star if he is unable to remain fit. He also must stop being his own enemy when away from club and national team duties.
Kevin Love
5 of 10
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love has done well to earn himself spots in commercials and advertisements. Anybody who watched even a little bit of the 2016 NCAA tournament probably saw one of the spots that featured Love as a member of "The Hoopers." Those who have followed the 2015-16 Cavs may find some humor in Love playing a moody teenager in those commercials, but such discussions are for another piece and another time.
Love is not, however, a basketball star; at least he isn't yet.
Cleveland teammate LeBron James is a star, one who will be regarded as one of the greatest players in NBA history. Stephen Curry is on his way to becoming the biggest star in the NBA today if he is not already at that level. In just a couple of months, Curry could be a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and also a two-time NBA champion.
As of the middle of April 2016, however, Love's resume is one that belongs to a guy who was a great player on bad Minnesota Timberwolves teams and who has come up short as a member of a Big Three.
Not all of that is Love's fault, of course.
Love could not do much of anything when Kelly Olynyk of the Boston Celtics decided to play pro wrestler and rip Love's shoulder from the socket during the first round of the 2015 NBA playoffs (h/t USA Today's For the Win). That incident removed Love from the playoffs well before James and the Cavs had an opportunity to play for a title.
Take two for Love and the Cavaliers begins on April 17 when Cleveland hosts the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 2016 NBA playoffs. Love can cement himself as a star by helping end the championship drought that has plagued Cleveland for over 50 years.
Matt Ryan
6 of 10
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and Detroit Lions starter Matthew Stafford have a lot in common.
Both men have put up solid stats throughout their careers. Both have been fortunate to play with elite talents on offense. Both have been able to play home games indoors without having to worry about the elements. Both have been good fantasy football QBs at points of their careers.
Neither man is a star, though, and there are worries that Ryan may actually be regressing even though he will turn just 31 later this spring.
Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution explained this past January:
"ESPN has an index it calls Total Quarterback Rating, which it considers superior to the NFL’s passer rating. Per QBR, here’s where Ryan has ranked year by year — second in 2008, 14th in 2009, fourth in 2010, sixth in 2011 and 2012, seventh in 2013 and 2014. The one wobble was in his slightly difficult sophomore season, in which he also was hurt. Once past that, he been a bloomin’ metronome.
This season he ranked 15th in QBR. And if you’re saying, “You’re cherry-picking one weird stat to make him look bad,” be advised that he was 20th in passer rating after five consecutive seasons of finishing 12th or better. His performance in 2015 wasn’t that of a franchise quarterback. Even with Jones catching passes for 1,871 yards and Devonta Freeman rushing for 1,061 more, Ryan was just another guy, which is something he’d never been.
NFL quarterbacks tend to be like baseball beat writers: They burn out young or last a long time. There was no reason Ryan, at 30, should have had his worst NFL season. He made the rookie mistakes he hadn’t made as a rookie. The Falcons didn’t disclose any injury — then again, they hid Vic Beasley Jr.’s labrum — but something was amiss.
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More worrisome than Ryan's stats in 2015 is what is missing from his resume: a defining playoff victory. Ryan has, to date, started in five postseason games (h/t Pro-Football-Reference.com). His lone victory in the playoffs occurred in January 2013 when he led a game-winning drive to defeat the Seattle Seahawks (h/t ESPN.com). The Falcons won that contest with a late 39-yard field goal.
Ryan played well in the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers the following week, but he also committed two costly turnovers in a losing effort (h/t ESPN.com).
The Falcons took steps to provide Ryan with additional time in the pocket when the club signed All-Pro center Alex Mack (h/t CBS Sports). Atlanta also signed free-agent wide receiver Mohamed Sanu. Neither of those acquisitions will mean much for the Falcons, though, if Ryan does not improve from what he provided the club in 2015.
Michael Brantley
7 of 10
Fans of the Cleveland Indians must be sick of seeing their favorite team picked as preseason favorites to make it to the World Series.
The Indians were victims of the supposed "Sports Illustrated curse" last season. Cleveland was front and center on certain SI covers in March, and the magazine picked the Indians to win the World Series. The Indians finished the season at 81-80 and far from a playoff spot (h/t Baseball-Reference.com).
Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo picked the Indians and New York Mets to make it to the World Series during the Mike & The Mad Dog Reunion that occurred in March (h/t EliteSportsNY.com).
Along with a solid pitching staff, having a potential superstar in outfielder Michael Brantley has likely affected such predictions. Brantley's first breakout season occurred in 2014 when he hit 20 home runs, drove home 97 RBI and batted .327 (h/t Baseball-Reference.com).
Brantley finished third in American League MVP voting behind Mike Trout and Victor Martinez (h/t Cleveland.com) for 2014. While Brantley was again impressive in 2015, he earned zero first-place MVP votes at the end of the campaign (h/t Baseball-Reference.com).
There are two things working against Brantley becoming one of baseball's next big stars. The first is a shoulder problem that required offseason surgery, one that has kept Brantley away from the Indians this April as he completes rehabilitation assignments (h/t Akron Beacon Journal).
The other is the fact that Brantley plays in Cleveland.
Diehard fans of the Indians may not like to admit it, but the club is third in the hearts of casual Cleveland fans behind both the Cavaliers and the Browns. It doesn't help that the Indians have made a single postseason appearance since dropping the 2007 American League Championship Series to the Boston Red Sox (h/t Baseball-Reference.com).
Brantley being the key man for an Indians side that wins the AL Central and has a significant run in the postseason would do wonders for his status as a star. Otherwise, he may have to venture from Northeast Ohio to get to such a level.
Christian Eriksen
8 of 10
Christian Eriksen was always going to have an uphill climb upon joining Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2013.
For starters, Eriksen was one of the "Magnificent Seven" (h/t SkySports.com) acquired by Spurs to make up for the loss of Tottenham superstar Gareth Bale. Eriksen was also the unnamed heir apparent to former Tottenham midfielders Rafael van der Vaart and Luka Modric.
Van der Vaart was beloved by the Spurs faithful. Modric played so well for the north London outfit that he completed a move to Real Madrid a year before Bale followed Modric to the Spanish giants.
Eriksen is not yet where Modric was when Modric departed Tottenham; that is to say Eriksen would not get into the current Real Madrid squad. To his credit, though, Eriksen has bagged 30 goals across all competitions since joining Spurs (h/t TransferMarkt.com). He has notched eight goals and 12 assists during the current campaign.
As have others in the Tottenham squad, Eriksen has benefited from finding his role under current boss Mauricio Pochettino. Thomas Cooper of Bleacher Report wrote about this following Tottenham's 3-0 defeat of Manchester United on April 10:
"In preceding seasons, his selection out wide often left him operating too much on the periphery. He was still an attacking threat but not as involved as when deployed centrally (even then this writer argued still a deeper midfield role could at least sometimes be more conducive to his shaping games than the advanced one he predominantly occupied here).
But this year, the emergence of (Deli) Alli in attacking midfield has been a blessing for Eriksen. The youngster's more focused, dynamic style has helped lessen the creative burden on the Dane.
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Harry Kane evolving into one of the top strikers in English football over the past two seasons has overshadowed Eriksen and others in the Tottenham squad. The 24-year-old midfielder can do nothing about that. Eriksen can, however, continue to develop under Pochettino and then prove himself on club football's biggest stage next fall, assuming that Tottenham are able to hold on to a Champions League spot.
Andy Dalton
9 of 10
There is only one stat of Andy Dalton's NFL career that matters as it pertains to these types of discussions: 0-4.
Andy Dalton has started four playoff games under center for the Cincinnati Bengals. Dalton and the Bengals lost each of those contests. Sure, Dalton matched 25 touchdown passes with only seven interceptions during the 2015 regular season (h/t Pro-Football-Reference), but he was sidelined with a thumb injury when the Bengals lost to their division rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the playoffs.
That's Andy Dalton. Good enough to get you there but unable to step up when it matters most.
Forget, for a moment, discussions about whether or not a certain athlete is a star. Instead, think of the names of current NFL QBs you would want leading your favorite team into a one-and-done playoff game.
Tom Brady may top your list. Cam Newton, the reigning NFL MVP, played well last postseason until he ran into the defense of the Denver Broncos. Aaron Rodgers has won MVP honors during his career. Eli Manning has two championship-winning drives on his resume. Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson, Drew Brees and Carson Palmer could also all come to mind.
Dalton doesn't even belong in the conversation.
Teams have won Super Bowl championships without great quarterbacks. The Broncos did so a couple of months ago. Peyton Manning was already a star because of what he had achieved over the years, though, and some may even argue that Manning deserved to be carried to a title because of all that he had given to pro football during his career.
For Dalton to get anywhere close to such a status, he needs to win at least one postseason game.
We'll start with one and go from there.
Joel Embiid
10 of 10
In fairness to the other athletes featured in this piece, the final section should be the shortest of all. After all, Joel Embiid has done nothing as a pro other than watch games and attempt to heal.
You have to give the Philadelphia 76ers credit for having patience. The 76ers acquired Nerlens Noel in the 2013 NBA draft despite knowing that Noel would be sidelined for an entire season because of a torn ACL (h/t NJ.com). Philadelphia repeated that process in 2014 when the club used the third overall pick to take center Embiid despite knowing that he could be sidelined for up to eight months because of a fracture in his right foot.
Embiid ended up missing his entire rookie year.
Any hopes that Embiid would be ready for the subsequent season were dashed in the summer of 2015 when he suffered a setback and required additional surgery (h/t NBA.com). Perhaps knowing ahead of time what was to come, the 76ers selected center Jahlil Okafor with the third pick of the 2015 NBA draft.
The 76ers have now been without Embiid's services for two seasons. That has not, according to Brian Seltzer of the team's official website, prevented those running the club from believing Embiid can be a contributor next fall.
"Embiid is not expected to be available for summer league play. All signs have suggested that the goal is to have him ready to go, at full strength, in the fall.
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“I think that as far as some of the young players that are there, he is a bright spot,” said Bryan Colangelo on the 97.5 FM The Fanatic Morning Show on Monday. The newly-installed President of Basketball Operations emphasized Embiid’s recovery would not be rushed, saying, “[Owners] have spent a lot of time, health, and money to make sure his path back to the court has been right. The skill set, the size, the size-to-skill ratio is really good. I think you’re going to have the ability to play a couple different styles with him. He’s a nice piece to have.”
Those of us unable to see into the future can only offer guesses of what Embiid will be in the NBA. Can his body withstand a full pro season? Heck, can he get through summer training sessions without suffering another massive setback?
Embiid can forget about being a star at the moment. He first needs to get on the court.
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