NFL Preseason: The 20 Biggest Losers of 2011 Preseason

It's always nice to acknowledge the success of someone who has really impressed you with their performance. For a lot of people, recognition is a big part of what make the job of playing in the NFL worthwhile.

Of course, it's much more fun to mock and ridicule those who fail to meet expectations.

That's what this article will be: an opportunity for me to call out the 20 biggest losers (teams, players and owners) this preseason.

Al Davis, Owner, Oakland Raiders

Little known fact: There has never been a list compiled of NFL losers without Al Davis on it.

What did he do this time? Let's see...

He gave a third-round pick for a player who is all flash and no substance—Demarcus Van Dyke. Then he used next year's third-round pick on an even riskier player in Terrelle Pryor.

Almost every player who got the chance to leave the Raiders this year left, and his team is 0-3 this preseason, even playing against the Cardinals and the 49ers.

Preseason doesn't really matter in terms of regular season success, but without Darren McFadden or a legitimate WR threat, don't expect much out of these cellar dwellers.

Terrance Knighton, DT, Jaguars

Normally, Terrance Knighton is a humongous guy. At his playing weight, he weighs 335 pounds. This offseason, he reported to camp at 25 pounds overweight. Yup, he weighed 360 pounds.

And seriously, people, Terrance Knighton was sooo fat.

(How fat was he?)

Terrance Knighton was so fat that when the coaches asked him to "eat up blockers," Knighton tried to take a bite of the center's hand. (rimshot)

Oh, wait wait, I got one more. He also has a huge butt.

(How big is it?)

Terrance Knighton's butt was so big, his hamstrings...looked like baked hams.

All joking aside, Knighton has struggled with weight issues for his whole career. When he reported to camp this preseason overweight, it took two weeks of separate weight loss coaching to get him down to a manageable weight. That lost time will hurt him this year.

Eagles Offensive Line

Shame on you, Eagles offensive line. You have one of the most mobile quarterbacks in NFL history on your team, and he still has to run around like a lunatic because you are allowing pressure.

Yes, you scored enough points this week that you still won the game, but come on.

If Mike Vick can't keep his jersey clean against the Browns, this team is in for some struggles.

Michael Vick, QB, Eagles

Speaking of struggles, here are Vick's numbers for the preseason: 19-36, one TD, three interceptions and two fumbles. Yikes.

Things aren't at the point of freaking out yet, but the Philadelphia Eagles have not been as dominant as some predicted them to be when the team signed Nnamdi Asomugha.

That whole "dream team" comment from Vince Young was ridiculous...

Vince Young, QB, Eagles

VY is on this list of losers not for his play, but for the reason I just finished discussing in the previous slide: Young's "dream team" comments.

This is a practical lesson for all of us: When you are signed as a backup quarterback following your high-profile firing from the team that drafted you in the top 10, keep your mouth shut in the preseason.

Do not come up with a sound bite so pretentious and obnoxious that even your own fans are annoyed by the hubris (pride) of it.

Calling the Eagles a "dream team" instantly made half of the country resent the team and all because Vince Young didn't know how to handle the media. Get it together, ya bum, and keep your mouth shut from now on.

Alex Smith, QB, San Francisco

Alex Smith is one of the biggest losers of this preseason after going 2-of-6 for 16 yards in the 49ers' latest loss.

Smith really should never have been hired back by the 49ers, but he was, and he gets one more year as a starter while the team waits on Colin Kaepernick to develop.

Kaepernick was 6-of-16 with 52 yards and an interception, but he statistically had the better performance. How sad is it when 6-of-16 for 52 yards and a pick are the better quarterback's statistics?

Even against a Texans defense that has been playing in the 3-4 for a grand total of six weeks, the 49ers quarterback was not effective at all in moving San Francisco's offense.

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers just cannot catch a break this preseason, it seems.

There were rumors floating around that the 49ers are hearing offers for Frank Gore. Gore is looking for a new contract, but has had some issues getting on the field in the last couple of seasons.

I have no idea why they would even consider trading Gore when he's the heart of their offense, and nothing serious has materialized since the announcement.

Gore also hasn't exactly materialized. He has yet to see the field this preseason. He's hoping to get a new deal before the regular season starts. The team is 1-2, but those two losses were both pretty nasty.

If the team's early performance is any indication, they really need to get Gore back out on the field. Otherwise, they could wind up the sad sacks of the NFL and not just some preseason losers.

The Giants' Secondary

The Giants had high hopes coming into this preseason. However, after an injury to Prince Amukamara and a year-ending injury to Terrell Thomas, those hopes might be dashed.

The Giants will hope that their defensive line can pick up the slack and help out in disrupting the pass, but enough to compensate for losing two starting-quality corners? Who knows.

Odds are, the Giants secondary will suffer because of these injuries.

Osi Umenyiora, DE, Giants

Osi Umenyiora just can't catch a break this preseason.

He started out asking for either a new contract or a trade. The team couldn't work out a trade for him, and with the recent performance of several other players on the Giants D-line, they don't really need to worry about Osi leaving.

Seriously, since Jason Pierre-Paul has had a nice preseason, whatever rush there was to make Osi happy basically went out the window.

One way or another, Osi loses this offseason.

Jaguars Quarterbacks: David Garrard and Blaine Gabbert

David Garrard was named the starter for the Jaguars despite the drafting of Blaine Gabbert. However, he hasn't had the best preseason. Fortunately for Garrard, neither has Gabbert.

Garrard went down early in the preseason with a back injury, so he missed the first game. In that game, Gabbert struggled heavily with a Jaguars offense playing without star running back Maurice Jones-Drew. Neither QB has looked good.

Gabbert has not had time to prepare for the season, so his performance has been shaky. Garrard didn't do much better in the second game of the preseason, and through two games, neither QB led a drive with the first team offense that scored a touchdown.

Garrard did finally manage a touchdown with the first team this weekend, and Gabbert threw a touchdown with the second teamers as well. All I know is, one of these quarterbacks needs to step it up big time.

Jaguars Pass Defense

Tyson Alualu, Aaron Kampman, Clint Session, Jeremy Mincey, Derek Cox. No, I'm not just naming starting defenders for the Jaguars, I'm naming starting defenders who have missed significant time in this preseason.

That doesn't even include the offensive names missing time, like Maurice Jones-Drew and starting right tackle Eben Britton.

That list includes three starting defensive linemen, a starting linebacker and a starting corner. Ouch. As a result, the Jaguars have looked really bad against the pass, especially rushing the passer. Honestly, without their starters, the team from Jacksonville really lacks depth.

Of course, that's not an excuse as much as an explanation for why the Jaguars have played so badly this preseason.

Bryant McKinney, LT, Vikings

Bryant McKinney likes to play at around 335 pounds as a left tackle. He reported to camp at around 370. Yikes.

Needless to say, McKinney will not be starting for the Vikings any more. The long-time starter was dropped early on in the preseason for being as out of shape as he was.

It's a shame, because the Vikings offensive line is not that strong. Still, McKinney was part of what kept the Vikings from having a good year in 2010.

He was just too old and too slow to stop premiere pass-rushers, and when you can't protect your QBs blind spot, trouble ensues.

Colin Kaepernick, QB, San Francisco

Colin Kaepernick is a very talented player, he just hasn't played like it.

In fact, Kaepernick has played like the exact opposite. Of all players with enough passes to qualify for a quarterback rating, Kaepernick ranks dead last in the NFL this preseason.

He has a strong arm and ran as well as he passed in college, but so far, he's been a huge disappointment for a team that really only needs decent quarterback play to compete for a division title.

Darren McFadden, RB, Raiders

Darren McFadden hit a patch of bad luck this preseason. He caught a pretty bad injury and will be out with a broken orbital bone.

For those who don't know, a "broken orbital bone" basically means he broke his face. After having a strong year last year, McFadden was poised to lead the Raiders to a potential division title.

Now, he'll be watching from the sidelines for a while.

It's too bad because I've come to really respect what McFadden is capable of on the field.

Jimmy Clausen, QB, Panthers

Who knows if Jimmy Clausen is on this list by his own merit or not, but he has definitely not been a winner this preseason.

After the first game of the preseason, Clausen was replaced by a quarterback who has played in as many college games as Clausen has played professionally.

Obviously, somewhere down the line, Clausen showed his coaches that he couldn't make all of the throws and lead his team to W's.

If Clausen is replaced permanently, which it certainly seems like he will be, what a waste of a high second-round pick that would be.

Indianapolis Colts

A friend told me this about the Colts: "All they're missing is Peyton Manning." Is that so? Because they've played pretty darn badly prior to this third week of the preseason.

For the Colts, the difference between a 12-4 year and a 4-12 year is a healthy Peyton Manning, and Peyton has been hinting that he might not be healthy in time to make an appearance by the time the regular season starts.

If Peyton isn't back by September 11th, the Colts will be hurting big time.

Jamaal Charles, RB, Chiefs

Jamaal Charles has enough talent that he should be the clear No. 1 running back in Kansas City.

For some odd reason, he wasn't given that role last year. Despite outperforming Thomas Jones at almost every turn, Charles didn't earn the starting position until well into the season.

So far this year, Charles has looked decent but has only rushed the ball nine times. Hopefully, this means that Kansas City is trying to keep him healthy for the regular season, otherwise his millions of fantasy owners might have to get worried.

Of course, there are better reasons to be worried about the Chiefs...

The Entire Chiefs Offense

Many teams have terrible preseasons. Often it doesn't mean much, but for the Chiefs, who are trying to hold on to their division crown against steep competition, you don't want to start out with too many losses.

Unfortunately, the Chiefs have three through their first three games. Why? They have the 32nd ranked total offense.

This came as a surprise to me this preseason, because on paper, this team has a lot of weapons: Jamaal Charles, Dexter McCluster, Dwayne Bowe and Steve Breaston, to name a few.

How, with all of that talent, can you rank last in points scored and total yards?

The Chiefs offense have been big losers this preseason.

Cardinals Ownership

A lot of people praised the move by the Arizona Cardinals to trade Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round pick for Kevin Kolb.

Me? I'm not one of them.

So far in the preseason, the Cardinals have scored 75 points, which is certainly good. Except, they've allowed 80 points to their opponents.

However you slice it, allowing the third-most points on defense of any team in the league does not spell good things for an NFL team.

Having a player like DRC in the secondary would make playing defense a lot easier for a team that, as it stands right now, could use some defensive help.

Tim Tebow, QB, Broncos

Tim Tebow was on track to have a great preseason. The Broncos were about to trade away Kyle Orton and make Tebow their starting quarterback. Now, Tebow is the third-string QB behind Brady Quinn.

My, how things change.

Tebow has to be the biggest loser of anyone this offseason. His playing skill has been torn apart by Merril Hoge and Boomer Esiason publicly.

He's had a lot of trouble throwing the ball as well. Based on what they're saying, Tebow should focus less on his public image and selling T-shirts and more on becoming a better passer.

His name draws viewers like flies to honey, but he will see the field rarely if ever this season. That's a long way to fall in one short preseason stint.