Biggest Unknowns in the Sports World Right Now
Unknown sports commodities are similar to lottery tickets. One may be a figurative jackpot or an absolute bust. You just don't know until you thoroughly examine the product.
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff is the prime example in 2016. The Rams acquired Goff with the first pick in this year's draft, and yet head coach Jeff Fisher has, as of the middle of November, decided to sit Goff and allow the rookie to learn the pro game from the sidelines. Thus, we haven't yet seen what Goff will be as an NFL quarterback.
Goff isn't the only NFL rookie who remains an unknown in the fall of 2016. Paxton Lynch of the Denver Broncos is still waiting for his opportunity to be named starting QB, and one can only guess when Lynch will receive an opportunity to feature in the team's starting lineup. At this point, either QB may remain on the bench up through the conclusion of the current regular season.
Starting pitcher Zack Wheeler has never truly shown what he can do as a member of the New York Mets. Paige VanZant is a star in the Ultimate Fighting Championship for reasons that have nothing to do with fighting. Yasiel Puig was almost out of Major League Baseball earlier this year.
Each of the athletes mentioned in this piece could become stars, or all could flop and fall on their faces. Among them, who do you believe will be the biggest sports star 10 years from now?
Cody Kessler
1 of 10
All who evaluate Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Cody Kessler should remember Kessler wasn't supposed to play for the Browns during his first season.
While the Browns moved on from Johnny Manziel earlier this year, the club acquired former Washington Redskins starter Robert Griffin III. Cleveland also retained veteran Josh McCown before selecting Kessler in the third round of the draft.
Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson likely had a plan that involved RG3 starting and Kessler learning behind both Griffin and McCown. All of that changed in September, however, after both Griffin and McCown suffered shoulder injuries. Kessler, thus, became the default starter for the Browns, and he impressed fans with his toughness but also left plenty to be desired due to his inability to consistently throw the ball deep down the field.
Jackson benched Kessler in the second half of the November 10 game involving the Browns and Baltimore Ravens, and that may be a sign the head coach has seen all he needs to see from the rookie. Kessler unluckily plays for what is currently the worst team in the NFL, and one can only wonder what might have been had the Dallas Cowboys or Denver Broncos and not the Browns drafted him this past spring.
Jose Ramirez
2 of 10
The Cleveland Indians were the biggest positive surprise of the 2016 Major League Baseball season. While the Tribe began the season with enough talent to compete for a playoff spot, multiple injuries plagued the club's starting rotation during the second half of the campaign. Cleveland nevertheless overcame such obstacles en route to winning the pennant and nearly winning the World Series.
Infielder Jose Ramirez was a big reason for Cleveland's successful year. Ramirez became a revelation for the Indians in 2016, as he posted career highs in batting average (.312), stolen bases (22), RBI (76) and runs scored (84), per Baseball-Reference.com.
Jeff Schudel of the News-Herald gave the following numbers in a piece about Ramirez in early October: "He batted .355 (50 for 141) with runners in scoring position. He was 26 of 71 (.362) when runners are in scoring position with two out."
Ramirez turned only 24 years old in September, meaning his best days could be to come. Then again, 2016 may prove to be only a blip on the radar for a young talent who has, to date, played like an All-Star only one season.
Frank Kaminsky
3 of 10
The Charlotte Hornets are apparently cautiously optimistic about center Frank Kaminsky, as the club recently exercised his third-year option, per Fox Sports South. This will give the Hornets additional time to evaluate Kaminsky, but it in no way means he is, for sure, part of the team's long-term future. His current contract, via Spotrac, includes a club option for the 2018-19 campaign.
Charlotte drafted Kaminsky instead of selecting Justise Winslow or accepting a trade from a different team, and the 23-year-old has flashed moments of brilliance during his young career. Kaminsky has shown he can be an asset on both ends of the court, and he is currently averaging 9.7 points per game via Basketball-Reference.com.
Kaminsky scored 13 points and accumulated five rebounds in a win over the Utah Jazz on November 9.
Charlotte drafted Kaminsky ninth overall in 2015, and that's the biggest reason he makes the list. Kaminsky still has a ways to go to prove he was worth that type of investment and show he is more than a standard center.
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Jalen Hurts
4 of 10
Back in October, Dieter Kurtenbach of Fox Sports offered reasons for why the 2016 Alabama Crimson Tide may be the best of Nick Saban's many talented squads since Saban took over at the university. Alabama seemingly looks unbeatable following the second Saturday of November, so much so that it would be news if the Tide won a game only by single digits. Any opponent will be an underdog leading up to a contest versus Alabama.
One reason for Alabama's success this year is true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts. Hurts is the prototype for a "create-a-player" QB one may build for a modern offense. He can air it out and throw for over 300 yards while at the same time rushing for 100 yards during the same game. Hurts stands at 6'2", and he weighs over 200 pounds. At just 20 years old, Hurts has yet to fully mature physically and as a player.
His ceiling remains somewhat of a mystery, but there are reasons to believe he could one day be a star in the NFL.
As Gil Brandt of NFL.com recently explained, Hurts is a better thrower of the ball than Louisville's Lamar Jackson. This will probably make Hurts a better prospect than Jackson in the eyes of some pro scouts, assuming Hurts will continue to improve during his collegiate career.
Zack Wheeler
5 of 10
The New York Mets theoretically should have the strongest starting rotation in Major League Baseball. Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler all are seemingly potential future aces. All, unfortunately for the Mets, have dealt with injury issues during their young careers, and one could say all five pitchers are unknown products as of the fall of 2016.
Wheeler is probably the biggest unknown of the five because of his limited play. The 26-year-old first debuted for the Mets during the 2013 campaign, per Baseball-Reference.com, and he made a total of 49 starts up through the end of the 2014 season. Wheeler underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2015, and the Mets subsequently shut him down, minus one rehab start, until spring training in 2017.
Fans of the Mets realize the club can keep all five starters for only so long, which is why they're anxious to see Wheeler back on the mound. Whether or not Wheeler will meet or even exceed expectations is anybody's guess at this point.
Paxton Lynch
6 of 10
Paxton Lynch of the Denver Broncos is a young quarterback who replaced a legend but who also was never supposed to be in the starting lineup during his rookie campaign.
Peyton Manning—one of the greatest QBs in the history of the NFL, who was a shell of his former self during his last season—helped the Broncos win the Super Bowl this past February before he retired and rode off into the sunset. The Broncos responded by trading for Mark Sanchez after Brock Osweiler signed with the Houston Texans. Denver then drafted Lynch, and the thought, this past summer, was that Sanchez would start for the Broncos come September.
That, of course, didn't happen. Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak named Trevor Siemian his starter, Denver released Sanchez and Lynch became Siemian's backup. Lynch has thus far thrown a total of 59 passes during his rookie campaign.
Lynch's status as an unknown could change before 2016 ends. Siemian has failed to cement himself as Denver's QB of the future, and Lynch could receive an opportunity to win the gig this fall.
Dragan Bender
7 of 10
Dragan Bender of the Phoenix Suns is unlucky in some ways. Bender, relatively unknown among casual basketball fans at the start of 2016, did not ask to be selected fourth overall in this year's draft class, and the seven-footer happened to enter the NBA one season after big man Kristaps Porzingis became a star while featuring for the New York Knicks.
Bender is not Porzingis, a young phenom who flirted with winning Rookie of the Year honors in his debut season. The 18-year-old selected by Phoenix earlier this year is, as Kellan Olson of ArizonaSports.com explained, "not in a direct spot to get playing time." Bender didn't play in three straight games earlier this spring, and he hasn't made headlines with his performances when given opportunities to shine.
Bender is a project for the Suns and a young athlete who is many years away from his prime. We can only hypothesize what he will be as a pro by the time he enters his mid-20s.
Paige VanZant
8 of 10
Paige VanZant is arguably the most interesting athlete signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship because she is a star outside of her sport.
The 22-year-old looks like a model, she seems to possess a "girl next door" personality, as Damon Martin of Fox Sports wrote in December 2015, and she has proven she can get over among individuals who normally ignore mixed martial arts shows. VanZant reached the finals of a Dancing With the Stars competition earlier in 2016, a program that drew million of viewers each time VanZant performed.
One thing VanZant lacks is an impressive fighting resume. VanZant currently sits at 7-2-0, but she hasn't fought on a single pay-per-view in 2016. She is eighth in the current UFC rankings, and no reasonable fight fan or observer could believe VanZant could hang with strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk as of November 2016.
VanZant is still in the infancy of her career. She could evolve into an all-around dominant fighter by the time she enters her physical prime. Then again, VanZant could also pursue careers outside of fighting if she fails to climb up the UFC rankings over the next 12 to 24 months.
Yasiel Puig
9 of 10
Even the Los Angeles Dodgers don't know what to do with or think about 25-year-old outfielder Yasiel Puig.
Puig, seemingly, possesses the physical tools to be a superstar in the league. He was named to the All-Star roster in 2014, and he has featured in multiple playoff games for the club over the past several years. A drop in his play coupled with alleged off-field matters led to Puig being demoted in 2016, though, so much so that the club assigned him to Triple-A in August, as ESPN.com reported. Puig ultimately finished the campaign with the Dodgers.
His future in Los Angeles and in the league remains in doubt as of November 14.
Per ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick, the Dodgers are "afraid" to trade Puig this offseason, according to at least one National League scout. One assumes that's the case because of Puig's upside. Puig continues to be untapped potential as of the end of 2016, and the Dodgers need to decide sooner rather than later if he will be part of the club's long-term future.
Jared Goff
10 of 10
For all we know, we may not see quarterback Jared Goff in the Los Angeles Rams starting lineup until September 2017.
The Rams are in NFL purgatory as of the middle of November. They sit at 4-5 after Week 10, meaning the team is still in the playoff race but also behind several other would-be contenders. Los Angeles, thus, has reasons to keep Goff on the bench and also reasons to want to insert Goff into the starting lineup before his first pro season comes to an end.
ESPN.com's Alden Gonzalez wondered via a piece published on November 14 if Goff could "save" the Los Angeles offense after the Rams defeated the New York Jets in a 9-6 contest during which both sides were lackluster. A fan would hope Goff, the first pick of this year's draft class, would be ready to go at the halfway point of his debut season, but nobody can adequately grade a rookie who hasn't played.
Goff may be a future superstar, or he may be a complete bust. We won't know until he is given actual in-game reps during regular-season contests, whenever that day arrives.
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