10 Players Who Had Worst Debuts in New Uniforms

This year’s offseason was the most contentious, confusing, and controversial in NFL history. But everything was ultimately settled, and as a result, we also had the wildest offseason in terms of transactions and roster movement since the implementation of free agency in 1993. 

Plenty of those players who changed teams had big days in Week 1. Darren Sproles was fantastic for the Saints on Thursday night. Kevin Kolb had a big day in the Cardinals win over Carolina. And Plaxico Burress’ touchdown against the Cowboys helped propel the Jets to a great comeback.

But there were also plenty of players whose debut didn’t go quite as smoothly.

Here are some players who will spend the few months trying to atone for Week 1 and prove to their fans, teammates and ownership that they were worth bringing in this summer. 

No. 10: Chad Ochocinco, WR, New England Patriots

When the Patriots decided to acquire the troubled, aging, but talented high-profile receiver out of a losing situation, naturally people looked towards the acquisition of Randy Moss four years ago and expected history to repeat itself. 

And it very well might, but Ochocinco has a long climb uphill if he wants to put up numbers anywhere close to those of Moss’ historic 2007 season.

Ochocinco had just one catch for 14 yards.

Now normally that type of stat line wouldn’t be enough to earn a spot on this list. But considering the type of day Tom Brady had on Monday night (517 yards, four touchdowns) for Ochocinco to be so completely left out of the torching of Miami’s defense, it has to be a major letdown.

No. 9: Derrick Mason, WR, New York Jets

Mason actually put up better numbers than Ochocinco, and his quarterback didn’t light up the opposition anywhere near the way Tom Brady did.

Still, he and Jets fans had to be disappointed with the output.

Mason only had one catch that produced anything substantial—a 13-yard grab in the fourth quarter that helped the Jets cross midfield.

But given his track record, he was projected to have a much bigger impact…or at least a bigger impact than Plaxico Burress, who missed the last two seasons. More to the point, Dallas’ secondary is pretty mediocre right now, so given the six times Mark Sanchez targeted Mason more was expected. 

No. 8: Vonnie Holiday, DE, Arizona Cardinals

At 35 years-old, Holliday didn’t come to Arizona to be the next Reggie White or Julius Peppers. But given how poor the Cardinals pass rush was last year, he was looked at to have at least some impact.

He didn’t in Week 1.

Holliday may not have been the starter, but he did play a handful of snaps. And since Cam Newton lit up the Cardinals defense for 422 yards, that’s got to sting.

The Cardinals may have made significant upgrades on the offensive line, at the quarterback spot, and in the secondary, but without a better pass rush, they will continue to stay in the cellar. 

No. 7: David Baas, C, New York Giants

Offensive lines work as a unit, so putting Baas on this list might seem a bit unfair. But the Giants line was so bad on Sunday at Washington, that even one-fifth of the blame is significant.

The Redskins defense sacked Eli Manning four times, put an additional seven hits on the quarterback, and forced that critical interception via a batted pass that changed the direction of the game.

But none of that is as embarrassing as the pair of short-yardage plays that the Giants failed miserably on a third-and-one, where Ahmad Bradshaw was stuffed and later a fourth-and-one with the same result. Penetration through the middle—according to yesterday’s Newark Star-Ledger, Baas really blew his assignment on the 4th-and-1 debacle—giving Bradshaw absolutely no shot of making the first down either time. 

No. 6: Steve Breaston, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

Just about everything went wrong for the Chiefs this weekend. They were blown out at home by the Bills and now have lost arguably their best defensive player, as Eric Berry tore his ACL on the first series and is out for the season.

But Breaston’s output on Sunday hardly softened the blow. Yes, he led the team with 26 receiving yards, but since they came on two catches, both of which came when the Chiefs were already down by three scores.

And it’s not like the Bills secondary is overloaded with pro bowl talent like the Jets or Eagles. 

No. 5: Brad Smith, QB/WR/KR, Buffalo Bills

If there was one less-than bright spot of the Bills' stunning defeat of the Chiefs, it was probably the play of their most high profile acquisition this offseason, Brad Smith.

Smith had just one kickoff return, which he took from six yards deep in the endzone and failed to make it to the 20 yards line.

Worse yet, he contributed basically nothing on the offensive side of the ball, which was one of the reasons he left the Jets and one of the reasons the Bills gave him a four-year, $15 million contract.

Oh, and throwing an interception on your first ever pass in a new uniform (via the wild cat) is never a good start. 

No. 4: Mike Sims-Walker, WR, St. Louis Rams

I really hope that providing Sam Bradford with a great wide receiver doesn’t become a decade-long struggle like it was for the Broncos to provide John Elway with a running game or the Dolphins to do the same for Dan Marino. 

But the addition of Sims-Walker—and his first appearance with the Rams—feels like it might.

The former Jaguar definitely has physical talents and great size, but that hardly showed on Sunday against the Eagles, when he had one catch for five yards.

And yes, you can say “but he was being covered by Nnamdi Asomugha,” but still those numbers are paltry, and they need to get something more out of him to warrant that $4 million deal. 

No. 3: Ronnie Brown, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

From the day he signed in Philadelphia, Brown knew he was going to be a low priority in terms of touches, especially carries since LeSean McCoy is the starter and the Eagles have the most dangerous running quarterback in NFL history under center.

But four carries for seven yards? That’s not much to write home about. Neither is this stat: of those four carries, two went for negative plays.

Brown wasn’t brought in to be a 20-carry-per-game contender for the rushing title. And they didn’t pay him like one either. But he is only 29 years old and was a centerpiece of the offense in Miami just a year ago. Besides, they wouldn’t have had him on the field enough for four carries if they didn’t think he could provide much more. 

No. 2 : Ray Edwards, DE, Atlanta Falcons

The knee surgery that limited Edwards throughout virtually the entire preseason is partially the reason why he didn’t produce very much on Sunday, but for him to be out there and starting means it was good enough.

So the stat line (one tackle, no pressures) was pretty disappointing in its own right. But it was a lot more disappointing considering how bad the Chicago Bears offensive line was last year (league worst 56 sacks allowed) and how it still isn’t very good: They did allow four sacks and put six additional hits on Jay Cutler.

And since Kroy Biermann—the player Edwards was brought in as an upgrade over—recorded one of those sacks in limited time and returned an interception for a touchdown in the Falcons brutal defeat, the debut wasn’t exactly stunning. 

No. 1: Donovan McNabb, QB, Minnesota Vikings

I’m not sure how much worse the debut in Minnesota could have went for McNabb.

First there were rumors swirling around—enough for Jim Nantz to mention it during the Steelers-Ravens broadcast—that McNabb would be inactive, thrusting rookie Christian Ponder into the start.

But things only got worse once McNabb took the field. His first pass was intercepted giving the Chargers great field position inside Minnesota’s 10: the very definition of an inauspicious start.

From there, McNabb completed just half of his passes—none of which went longer than 12 yards—and racked up a grand total of 39 yards. And McNabb’s lone touchdown pass was set up by a 46-yard scamper by Adrian Peterson that put the Vikings right near the goal line.

And the worst stat:The Vikings recorded only three first downs through the air, none in the second half.