Notable NFL Players Poised for a Rebound Season in 2017

Rebounding is an essential part of NFL life. If a struggling player doesn't do it, and fast, his NFL existence won't last long.

Rebounds come in different forms. There's the veteran who might be fading and is clinging to the twilight of his career. There's the young stud who was knocked from his perch and faces a climb back to the top. The most common need for a rebound is the injury recovery that's finally completed with one last hurdle to clear.

The fate of entire seasons can rely on successful rebounds. The New York Giants' season, for example, largely depends on Eli Manning to not descend further toward retirement. The Carolina Panthers won't go far unless Cam Newton returns to his MVP form.

Both Manning and Newton should successfully bounce back because of the talent assembled around them. They highlight this look at the most likely rebound seasons of 2017.

Honorable Mentions

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Eddie Lacy

Eddie Lacy, Seattle Seahawks running back

We've seen extended flashes of the Eddie Lacy who was named Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2013. In the second half of 2015 he strung together three games with 100-plus rushing yards for the Green Bay Packers and then averaged 6.3 yards per carry during the playoffs. Before landing on injured reserve in 2016, Lacy averaged 5.1 yards per carry.

Maybe he stays healthy this time around and the old Lacy returns for good. Or maybe he gets buried in a crowded Seahawks running back depth chart.

Adrian Peterson, New Orleans Saints running back

Like Lacy, Peterson could get lost in a crowded backfield and be used in only a situational role. That would seem fitting for a 32-year-old running back, an age when less is often more.

Or instead, a running back who ran for 1,485 yards in 2015 could deliver a few haymakers to the jaw of Father Time once again.

Eli Manning, New York Giants Quarterback

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Manning either has to rebound in 2017 or plummet toward a life of filming DirecTV commercials.

There's every reason to believe in a turnaround of his decline. Manning will have to put a special effort toward being awful given the supporting cast now assembled around him.

He's certainly capable of answering that challenge and flaming out. Remember, we're talking about a quarterback with three seasons of 20-plus interceptions in his career. But it'll be tough for even a 36-year-old Manning to sink an offense with so many weapons.

Any assessment of the Giants' offensive pass-catching arsenal has to start with wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. He's averaged 1,374 receiving yards per season over his three-year career. Then there's Sterling Shepard, the wide receiver who caught eight touchdown passes as a rookie in 2016 and should grow into an even larger role in his second season.

But the new additions should be what really toss a life ring in Manning's direction. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall is the ideal fit after being signed as a free agent following his release from the New York Jets. Marshall is a cozy and comfortable possession target who thrives in the red zone and has recorded six 100-plus-reception seasons.

The Giants bolstered the tight end position too when they selected Evan Engram in the first round of the 2017 draft. Engram ended his time at Ole Miss with 926 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 2016.

Finally, the Giants added running back Wayne Gallman during the draft to reinforce a sputtering backfield that averaged only 3.5 yards per carry in 2016. Gallman ran for 2,647 yards over his final two years at Clemson.

Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers Quarterback

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Much like Manning, Newton slid down a steep slope toward mediocrity in 2016. Also much like Manning, Newton is now in a position to rebound quickly because of the support inserted around him.

Much of Newton's problems in 2016 were of his own doing. His accuracy declined swiftly, as his completion percentage fell from 59.8 in 2015 to 52.9 in 2016. He also averaged a career-low 6.9 yards per pass attempt.

But it didn't help that he lacked a safety net in times of trouble beyond tight end Greg Olsen. Both Kelvin Benjamin and Ted Ginn, the Panthers' top two receivers in 2016, averaged less than 15 yards per reception. And Benjamin often wasn't sure-handed while catching only 53.4 percent of his targets.

A sense of relief surely washed over Newton after the 2017 draft.

The Panthers used their first two picks—both in the top 40—on versatile weapons in space for Newton to utilize. The first was running back Christian McCaffrey, the 2015 Heisman Trophy runner-up who piled up 4,577 yards from scrimmage over his final two seasons at Stanford. Then came running back and slot receiver Curtis Samuel, who recorded 1,636 total yards while scoring 15 times during his final year at Ohio State.

Both McCaffrey and Samuel can line up in the backfield and as receivers, easing the pressure on Newton and making the Panthers offense less predictable.

Tyler Eifert, Cincinnati Bengals Tight End

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I'll go ahead and scream this caveat from the top of every building in every major American city: If tight end Tyler Eifert can ever stay healthy, he's positioned to explode in the Cincinnati Bengals' new offense.

Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green should erupt too, and I'll elaborate on his outlook shortly. But Green doesn't have anywhere near the injury history of Eifert, who has missed a whopping 26 games over the past three seasons. His latest injury was a back problem that cut his 2016 season short.

His talent when healthy is still tantalizing, especially after the Bengals added speed merchant wide receiver John Ross in the draft to draw coverage deep. Eifert may have been healthy for only eight games in 2016, but that's all the time he needed to catch five touchdown passes.

His swift movement up the seam and leaping ability to win jump balls lead to consistent chunk yardage. Of Eifert's 29 receptions in 2016, six went for 20-plus yards, which included a 71-yard catch in Week 10. He's scored 20 career touchdowns over only 37 games, and as Rotoworld's Raymond Summerlin noted, Eifert converted 73 percent of his red-zone targets into touchdowns in 2015. The league average is only 24.7 percent over the last four seasons.

Eifert is only 26 years old, and his potential remains sky high if he's healthy for even most of 2017. Now he has to prove he can withstand the physical pounding of football, which is a difficult hurdle to clear at the NFL level for anyone who's constantly injured.

Muhammad Wilkerson, New York Jets Defensive End

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Prior to 2016, defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson was a thrashing people-tosser and moved blockers aside with ease. He was firmly in the top tier of the league's pass-rushers while anchoring the New York Jets' defensive front.

Then he vanished in 2016, recording just 4.5 sacks. He seemed to be gliding through the season, which led many, including George Willis of the New York Post, to call Wilkerson's recently signed $86 million contract a waste of precious money.

But maybe there was a more reasonable explanation: Wilkerson isn't superhuman, and bones take time to heal.

Wilkerson signed that mammoth contract not long after breaking his leg during Week 17 of the 2015 season. He recovered throughout the offseason and still played 15 games in 2016, even after starting training camp on the physically unable to perform list. But he was only physically present on the field and didn't have his usual overpowering strength.

At times the simple act of running was painful. But Wilkerson was still out there.

"That was my first major injury," he recently told Eric Allen of NewYorkJets.com. "I had never gotten injured like that playing football. I didn't have the get-off and change of direction. Just running, I was sometimes in pain in the game."

There was no history for Wilkerson to draw on both mentally and physically during his recovery. The result was a lost season and only 30 pressures, per Pro Football Focus, the lowest total since his rookie season.

Now Wilkerson is healthy after another offseason to let his ailing body recover. He should return to his pre-injury form and become the same pass-rusher who recorded 12 sacks in 2015.

Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams Running Back

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There are times when a fact of NFL life needs to be experienced, even if the concept seems simple enough. Here's one: Having any semblance of a rushing offense is nearly impossible if your running back is consistently getting whacked right after taking the handoff.

That's true no matter what running back we're talking about. In this case it's Todd Gurley, the Los Angeles Rams running back who had a standout rookie season in 2015 when he ran for 1,106 yards and 10 touchdowns, which earned him the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Then he went from averaging 4.8 yards per carry to 3.2 as the blocking in front of him crumbled.

Gurley averaged only one yard before contact in 2016, which was the sixth-lowest mark out of 53 running backs with at least 83 carries, per PFF. He didn't help himself either, as Gurley ranked 46th in yards after contact per attempt (2.18), and when holes did open up he often missed them.

Gurley received quality blocking on 36.3 percent of his carries, according to charting done by ESPN's K.C. Joyner (via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com). That's not great, but it was enough that Gurley should have finished with more than 885 rushing yards.

The simple passage of time should help Gurley going forward. He's still an NFL pup at 22 years old, and there are growing pains for even the most skilled runners. Gurley has had an offseason to learn from his mistakes while working with the offensive line.

Of course, the addition of left tackle Andrew Whitworth will help too. The Rams signed the 35-year-old as a free agent, and he should be able to seal off the edge for Gurley far more often.

A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver

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It's important to pause and process a simple A.J. Green fact: The Bengals receiver missed six games in 2016 due to a hamstring issue, and the 28-year-old still came just 36 receiving yards away from his sixth straight year with at least 1,000 yards.

He did that while averaging 96.4 yards per game. Even more incredibly, he ended up with 120-plus yards in four of the 10 games he played.

If he can do that in a little over half a season of play, imagine what Green is capable of now with Ross and running back Joe Mixon set to draw attention elsewhere.

The Bengals have struggled to find the proper complementary receiver to put across from Green. Now they have it in Ross, whose record-setting speed in the 40-yard dash (4.22 seconds) deserves respect and will stretch out secondaries. Then there's Mixon, a gifted pass-catcher who finished with 894 receiving yards over two seasons with the Oklahoma Sooners and will occupy coverage underneath.

Generally, awful things happen for defenses when Green can't be their main focus. After all, we're talking about a receiver who has averaged 83 receiving yards per game in his career, and now he's recovered from his first serious injury.

Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots Tight End

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New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has megastar wattage attached to his name. He's also part of a revamped offense that will make opposing defenses look away from him after the Patriots traded for wide receiver Brandin Cooks.

However, the difference between Gronkowski's bounce-back from injury and Green's recovery is that we've been here many times with Gronk. Perhaps too many times. Eventually, as the severe breaks, tears and strains add up, Gronkowski's body could wear down.

But that's what we all said heading into the 2014 season too. Back then there was even more reason for concern after Gronkowski missed five games in 2012 due to a broken forearm that eventually required four procedures. Then during the 2013 season, he tore his ACL and MCL.

At that point it seemed like Gronkowski didn't have a medical report, but rather a chapter sitting beside his operating table. So surely we saw a limited player in 2014 then? Nope.

Gronkowski played 15 games in both the 2014 and 2015 seasons, finishing with a combined 2,300 regular-season receiving yards and 23 touchdowns.

Of course, now Gronkowski has suffered even more damage to his football body, which is much older than the 28 years his birth certificate indicates. His 2016 season was cut short due to a back injury that required surgery. It was the third time he's gone under the knife for a back issue.

It's fine to be a little skeptical and think Gronkowski was assembled using human bones that could deteriorate. But he was a full participant during OTAs and minicamp, according to ESPN.com's Mike Reiss, putting him on track to squash that sort of thinking once again.

Justin Houston, Kansas City Chiefs Outside Linebacker

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Anyone assigned to block a healthy Justin Houston must wish they were absolutely anywhere else in the world.

The Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker has compiled 60 career sacks over only 75 games. Zooming in a little closer, that includes 11.5 sacks over his last 16 games. The problem is those most recent 16 games have been spread out over two seasons.

Houston missed significant time in 2015 and 2016 due to chronic knee issues. He tried to push through the discomfort in 2016, but that effort didn't last long. He appeared in just five games.

But the outlook for both Houston's knee and his 2017 season is much better.

"Last year, I couldn't even run at this time," he told reporters at minicamp. "It's a night-and-day difference. I feel great just to be able to get up and go without ever thinking about it."

If a severely hobbled Houston could log four sacks over only five games in 2016, imagine what he could do over a full year. That happened in 2014 when Houston challenged the single-season record with 22 sacks.