Sophomore Break-out or Busts

A sarcastic and annoyingly ridiculous look at which players are going to break out in their sophomore year in the NFL, and which ones might flame out...

Every year, drafted and undrafted rookies achieve or overachieve. Duh. Call it a blanket statement or a cliche, but it needs to be said to give this post some sort of premise. Sometimes first year players pull a Cam Newton and just absolutely kill it in year one. Other times they pull a Jake Locker and hardly see the field despite being drafted in the top ten.
Here are five second-year players ready to break out in their second year after a disappointing rookie campaign, and five who are going to disappoint yet again, potentially moving them to bust status.

READY TO BREAK OUT

DT Nick Fairley, Detroit Lions
Round 1, Pick 13
There is little doubt that Fairley can improve on his premiere season which was riddled with injuries. He's a fairly good pass-rusher, a fairly good run-stopper, and a fairly explosive force in the middle of the line...when he's fairly healthy; and by "fairly" I mean he's damn good...when fairly healthy. Kill Nick Fairley's last name in an analytical blog post? Check! If the former Auburn Tiger can avoid Jahvid Best syndrome, he could become one of the best more effective linemen for defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham.

LT Nate Solder, New England Patriots
Round 1, Pick 17
Current Pats left tackle Matt Light is on the verge of retiring. In fact, he could be retired right now but the media wouldn't know about if The Hoodie has anything to say about the matter. Solder is a physical behemoth. He's 6-foot-8, a former tight end at Colorado, and spent a year behind a staple on the NFL All-Pro team. Solder clearly has the durability and football know-how to hang with the best in the NFL. Given the Bills' new toy on defense (All-Pro defensive end Mario Williams), Solder is going to have to put his big boy pants on at least twice this year when the Pats play Buffalo.


CB Prince Amukamara, New Jersey New York Giants
Round 1, Pick 19
The Prince's season was shortened due to injury. With the loss of Aaron Ross to the Jacksonville Jaguars, it is becoming more and more likely that the nineteenth overall pick of last year's draft will have an important role in keeping balls out of the hands of receivers (that's what she said) from 2012 onward until his rookie deal is over.

WR Randall Cobb, Green Bay Packers
Round 2, Pick 64
Donald Driver's retirement has thrust Mr. Cobb into Driver's old position as the man opposite Greg Jennings on the Packers' default offensive set. Some analysts experts anonymous bloggers people slated Cobb as a late first round pick out of Kentucky to these very Packers, but he wound up in Gang Green a short while thereafter after all. Look for Cobb to have a year similar to Nate Burleson, however don't look for Cobb to say ridiculous Burleson-esque things like "I'm the black Wes Welker."

LB Kelvin Sheppard, Buffalo Bills
Round 3, Pick 68
I alluded to a new toy in Buffalo in the form of Mario Williams (HOLY SHIT $H!T!!! Mario...Mario Brothers...video games..."toy"...I'm a freakin' bored college kid swami!). Having Mario Williams on one end, former third overall draft pick Marcell Dareus in the middle, and Dwan Edwards on the other end, Sheppard has the capacity to pull his best Jon Beason impression and get 150 tackles this year. I only say this because I don't see the Bills doing much on offense to give them the ball for more than 25 minutes a game. Sheppard will have to be a tremendous tackler given how often the Bills "D" will see the field.



READY TO BUST CAP (space)

QB Blaine Gabbert, Jacksonville Jaguars
Round 1, Pick 10
I'll give you three reasons why Blaine Gabbert will not make it in the NFL:
1. He plays for Jacksonville.
2. He plays for Jacksonville and he's not MJD.
3. He plays for Jacksonville and...well, he plays for Jacksonville..

CB Jimmy Smith, Baltimore Ravens
Round 1, Pick 27
If you paid any attention to Jimmy Smith's career in Colorado, or even read anything about him in the pre-draft process last year, you'd know that Smith has a history of drug-related off-the-field issues. Though this has nothing to do with the fact that Smith was picked on last year as a rookie in the secondary with Baltimore a year ago, I may or may not be still bitter about him picking Tom Brady in the AFC Championship last year. With that said, Smith needs to become a consistent staple in the Ravens secondary in order to earn a full-time spot on the field. Two interceptions in one season is not going to cut it for a first-round corner.


RB Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints
Round 1, Pick 28
The Saints are cleary in a world of hurt. Head coach Sean Payton is gone for the year to suspension. Drew Brees is unhappy with his contract. And more Mark Ingram related, Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas offer more versatility than the former Heisman Trophy winner. The age of Terrell Davis running backs is over. Ingram will settle nicely into the third spot in the Saints' depth chart.

QB Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers
Round 2, Pick 36
It's always tough to be drafted as a quarterback in the first two rounds given the expectations young arms are burdened with in the first few years of their careers in the modern NFL era. It didn't help that Alex Smith had a year worthy of the Comeback Player of the Year award. It also didn't help Kaepernick's case that the man picked right before him (Andy Dalton, Bengals) started Week 1, led his team to the playoffs, and went to a Pro Bowl. Kaepernick needs Alex Smith to blow out his knee (or worse) in Training Camp to get any shot at playing this year.

DE Da'Quan Bowers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Round 2, Pick 51
What a fall Bowers had from the NCAA regular season in 2010 to being considered as a number one overall pick, then having to have surgery because of a gay porn bone-on-bone condition in his knee. Bowers is considered the Sergio Kindle of the 2011 NFL Draft (Kindle was a consensus top fifteen pick in the 2010 Draft but dropped to the second round due to imminent microfracture surgery). I can't see Bowers getting healthy enough with 80-year old knees on a 22-year old body.

Exeunt