The Toughest Rookie Situations in the NFL

The problem with being drafted in the NFL, is that you have absolutely no say in what team takes you, what they expect you to be able to do from day one, and how high they have raised the level of expectations on your overall game.

Then you go through the NFL contract negotiations, the loss of mini-camps, limited training camps and even less work with pads in practice, and you realize that all rookies this year were walking into tough situations. They will eventually become better and stronger for having survived this year, but don't be surprised if a number of rookies from the 2011 class take a big jump in production next year when they have a full off-season and training camp to gain additional coaching and fine tuning.

Today we are going to isolate 10 rookies from the class of 2011 that we think had the toughest situations to overcome. It could be because of expectations, who they had to beat out, or trying to turn around a losing culture.

Julio Jones

When the Atlanta Falcons traded away five draft picks to the Cleveland Browns to acquire Julio Jones, a very high level of expectations was placed on the rookie wide receiver. Right or wrong, that was just part of the the baggage that he will have linked to his career. Was he worth the cost?

Jones currently ranks fourth on the team in receptions (30), trailing Roddy White (64), Tony Gonzalez (59), and Harry Douglas (31). Jones caught the longest pass play this year for the Falcons, covering 80 yards. His average yardage per catch (16.6) leads the team. He only has two touchdowns on the season, which is a little surprising, but you have to recall that he has been dealing with some injury issues.

All of his numbers aren't lost on Falcons' offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey. In a report by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Mularkey is pleased with the way that Jones blocks downfield on running plays, and how he clears out areas of the field with his pass patterns, which is opening things up for teammates.

While it is possible that Jones could still explode any week, there is no doubt that he was brought into a very tough situation in Atlanta. Jones is making the best of it and trying to improve every week. 

Cam Newton

When your team goes 2-14 the previous year, and you are the No. 1 overall draft pick, there is nothing easy about your situation. For his teammates with the Carolina Panthers, they all knew that the talent level was low, and the confidence level had to be at an all-time low. Welcome to the NFL Cam.

You are the new face of the franchise. All of the publicity, all of the fans, and all of the buzz from the media about how you are the greatest thing since sliced bread adds to an unbelievable amount of pressure.

But through all of the adversity that Newton faced, from his passing mechanical issues, to the over-sized ego that would surely get him in trouble when he turned pro, to the entertainer image, all of those notions Newton has been able to cast aside, and prove that he is serious about being a NFL quarterback.

For starters, the Panthers have already improved on their record from last year, as they are sitting at 3-8 preparing for Week 13. Steve Smith was ready to bolt from the Panthers, but is glad now that he remained with the team and is reaping the benefits of being the No. 1 option for Cam Newton's passes.

Newton also had to prove to everyone that he was better than Jimmy Clausen in training camp. Newton got the team excited and they have been more competitive this year. They just need to surround Newton with some more weapons in the future for this team to take the next step.

As for Newton, he has already surpassed 3,000 passing yards on the year. His ratio of touchdowns to interceptions (12:14) needs to improve, but he is completing 61 percent of his passes which is encouraging. Newton has held up well under the scrutiny and glare of his rookie year, and has performed well under very tough circumstances.

Marcell Dareus

The Buffalo Bills defense was pitiful in 2010. They wound up dead last in the NFL against the run, as they were allowing 169.6 yards per game. The Bills pass rush was anemic, as they only registered 27 sacks for the year, good for No. 27 ranking in the NFL. The word around the AFC East was that the Bills were too small and weak at the line of scrimmage and could get pushed around.

Enter Marcell Dareus, the 6'3" and 343 pound All-America defensive lineman from Alabama. The Bills made Dareus the third overall draft pick, right behind Cam Newton and Von Miller. The plan for the Bills was that the defense would be immensely better with All-Pro Kyle Williams at nose tackle, and lining up Dareus next to him, with ex-All-Pro linebacker Shawne Merriman rushing in from the other side.

The thought process was that if offensive lines doubled-teamed Williams, that would allow Dareus to have a field day in the backfield. Or, if offenses chose to limit what Dareus could do, then Williams could go nuts. The best laid plans....

Those plans went south very quickly. Williams hurt his Achilles' early in the year, and things got so bad they had to put him on to I.R. Williams never played again after the Week 5 game. Interestingly enough, Shawne Merriman also hurt his Achilles' and had surgery on that injury. He also went on I.R. after Week 5, leaving Dareus to fend on his own.

The Bills have managed to go from giving up 169 yards on the ground to just 123 yards per game this year. The pass rush still needs work, but with so many key guys out of the lineup that is understandable. The Bills defense is now stronger at the line of scrimmage and that is thanks to Dareus. He walked into an unenviable situation and is doing much more than holding his own.

James Carpenter

When the Seattle Seahawks ended their improbable playoff run in 2010, they were faced with a number of questions on how to improve the No. 28 overall offense in the league. The rushing offense was the worst aspect, ranked No. 31, and was only averaging 89 yards per game. They scored only 19.4 points a game, so they were going to lose most games against explosive offenses.

Not only was their offense not very productive, the team had no idea if they would be able to sign free agent quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to come back to the team or not. The thought of losing their starting quarterback without a great fall-back option, was very disconcerting to most Seahawks fans.

So when the Seahawks took their turn at the draft table, they shocked everybody by drafting tackle James Carpenter from Alabama. The pick was viewed as a huge reach, since most people had him rated as either a second-round or a third-round type of pick. Not only that, but the move failed to address the glaring need at quarterback.

The Seahawks also drafted another lineman John Moffitt, so the thought was that if they could improve their weak offensive line, it would be a better situation to attract a free agent quarterback. The Seahawks did land Tarvaris Jackson, but the offensive line has still struggled nonetheless. Carpenter struggled in pass protection, and the Seahawks offense has actually dropped from No. 28 to No. 30 this year. Their rush offense in No. 31 in the league, averaging just 89 yards per game.

To make matters worse both Carpenter and Moffitt were placed on I.R. just before Thanksgiving, so the Seahawks offense will continue to struggle. Carpenter was placed in a difficult situation because he was over-valued at the draft by Seahawks management.

Andy Dalton

Another rookie that was placed in a less-than-enviable position was Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton. The biggest question mark was what would happen with Carson Palmer and his holdout. Would he change his mind and come back to the team, or would it be Dalton's team to run?

The months wound down, and Dalton took over the pre-camp workouts to organize the offense and start running some plays. The Bengals didn't even know what quarterbacks they could possibly sign once the labor lockout was lifted, meaning that Dalton really didn't know what his status was for sure for most of the calendar year of 2011. 

As training camp finally emerged, there was still the chance that Palmer could return to camp and tell everybody he was sorry and wanted to return to the team. That door appeared to close and never opened back up. It wasn't until the injury to Jason Campbell that Raiders head coach Hue Jackson was able to convince Bengals owner Mike Brown to trade Palmer to the Raiders. That move solidified Dalton as not only the Bengals quarterback for the short-term, but for the long-term as well.

Congratulations to Dalton for weathering the storm and continuing to put his best foot forward through it all.

Mark Ingram

Place yourself in Mark Ingram's shoes. The New Orleans Saints drafted the former-Heisman Trophy winner in the first round and are asking him to share carries with a running back committee that includes Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory and the newly signed free agent Darren Sproles.

It is bad enough that the Saints offense is run by the great Drew Brees, who is extremely effective at distributing passes 41 plays per game on the average, which leaves only 23 rushing attempts for the Saints team in 2010. How would this kind of running back committee and unbalanced attack allow Ingram to really contribute to the team as a rookie?

The Saints were returning incumbent team rushing leader Chris Ivory, and signing a dynamic third down specialist in Sproles would surely cut into the number of touches that Ingram could see.

Well, now that we are 11 games into the 2011 season, we have a better idea. Sure enough, Brees is still averaging exactly 41 passes per game, just like he did last year. No reason to fix it, if it isn't broken. But somehow, the Saints have been able to run the ball more this year, upping their rushing totals from 23 attempts per game to 26. Some of that success has to be attributed to the abilities of Ingram.

How well has Ingram done? As of this writing, he leads the Saints in rush attempts, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns and first downs via the rush. It looks like Ingram has emerged from a tough situation to prove that he was worth the high selection.

Christian Ponder

It is one thing to be drafted with the expectation that you are going to be asked to fill the shoes of Brett Favre. It is another thing to think that you are going to be the starting quarterback, only to see your team sign veteran free agent Donovan McNabb and take your job right away from you.

That was the situation that Christian Ponder found himself in during his long ordeal as a rookie in the NFL. First of all, many thought it was a reach to draft Ponder as high as the Vikings did in the first round (12th overall pick). On top of that, the Vikings team had gotten old and just weren't as good a team as they were a brief two years when they appeared in the NFC Championship game.

Ponder probably went through a series of highs and lows while watching things play out in Minnesota until he got his turn. The team won only one game under Donovan McNabb, and Ponder saw his first action when he went in to relieve McNabb against the Chicago Bears, only to get his first start against the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. Welcome to the NFC North Christian.

Ponder has led the Vikings to one win as well. He has a touchdown to interception ratio of 6:6 and I am sure he would tell you that he needs to complete a higher percentage of his passes, 54.4 percent. But Ponder has made some plays with his feet and shows good mobility in general.

He has weathered the storm and will be running the Vikings offense for conceivably many years to come.

Danny Watkins

You are a kid from Canada that grew up playing hockey, worked as a firefighter and was late to learning the game of football. Then you get drafted to play in one of the toughest cities to please, talking about the fans of the Philadelphia Eagles, and then you learn that you are now suddenly part of the "Dream Team" with as many diverse and unique personalities as you could hope to find.

Then you are handed your first NFL playbook, and you discover that you are absolutely overwhelmed by it. If all of that wasn't enough, you ask him to learn a complicated blocking scheme under coach Howard Mudd.

To make matters worse, the Eagles decided to keep Watkins inactive for the first four games so that he could learn the plays better and get his feet wet.

Since then, Watkins has been a weekly starter in the Eagles high-flying offense. They continue to rack up a large amount of offense every week, but sadly the playoff hopes of the team seem like are a distant memory.

Watkins has turned his rookie season around, as there were some serious doubters about his abilities in the pre-season, but he has regained some of his appeal with better play.

Mark Herzlich

You are an All-American linebacker in college. Then you learn that you have a rare form of bone cancer and have to sit out your senior year. You have one year of eligibility remaining, so you return by playing with a steel rod in your leg.

After all of that you find out that not one NFL team has decided to draft you. You then get drafted by the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League, and have to decide between taking their offer to play, or holding out to see if and when the labor lockout will end to see if any NFL team will sign you to a free agent contract.

The team that you sign for, the New York Giants, happens to be deep at the position you play, linebacker, and in the preseason, your play is less than inspiring and many think you won't even make the roster. You then eventually make the roster, and wind up making your initial contributions on special teams.

Eventually, you work your way into the starting lineup, and then on November 20th, New York Giants linebacker Mark Herzlich made his first career NFL start against the Philadelphia Eagles.

It has been a long three years for Mark Herzlich, but for all of those that could use a little inspiration, or feel that you are in a tough situation, we suggest you check out the battles that Mark Herzlich has needed to overcome and you will realize how lucky you are.

Blaine Gabbert

When quarterback Blaine Gabbert was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round, he thought he was walking into a pretty good situation. Head coach Jack Del Rio was one of the longest-tenured head coaches in the league and incumbent starting quarterback David Garrard should prove to be a solid mentor until the Jaguars were ready to turn the reigns over to Gabbert somewhere down the road.

Well, so much for that rosy scenario. Del Rio decides to part ways with Garrard by releasing him the week before the season starts. Suddenly the veteran leadership and the guy that made the Jaguars offense tick was removed from the team.

An offense that was ranked No. 15 overall in 2010, quickly evolved into the worst offense in the NFL. The Jaguars are only averaging 250 yards of offense per game. Brady and Brees throw for 300 by halftime. The Jaguars pass offense is ranked dead last, as they only average 131 yards per game. The offense is only averaging 12.5 points per game, also ranking them dead last.

Thankfully, the Jaguars still have Maurice Jones-Drew or Gabbert would have no chance to survive every week. As it is, there is very little talent on the Jaguars roster, and it is not that big a surprise that Del Rio was fired this week. For Gabbert, he has to consider this rookie year more of a nightmare than anything else, and can only hope that things will be looking up from here.