Just two weeks remain in an NFL season that will probably go down as the craziest I have ever witnessed during my lifetime as a football fan. There’s been a number of players to come out of nowhere and establish themselves among the elite at their position in the league, including running back Thomas Rawls, wide receiver Doug Baldwin and tight end Gary Barnidge. On the defensive side of the ball, cornerback Josh Norman and safety Kurt Coleman have surprisingly turned in monster seasons.
But for every player like Rawls or Coleman, who emerged from the bottom of the depth chart to become a bona-fide star, there’s a preseason MVP or Rookie of the Year or Defensive Player of the Year candidate who fell flat on his face this season. Below I will highlight the 10 biggest examples through the first 15 weeks of this season, ranked from 10 (best of the worst) to 1 (worst of the worst). More emphasis was placed on a player with higher expectations, such as Andrew Luck, than a player with lower expectations, like Brandon Browner.
10. Brandon Browner, CB, New Orleans Saints
A key contributor on back-to-back Super Bowl champions, Brandon Browner reached agreement in free agency with the New Orleans Saints. His three-year deal, worth $15 million, included more than half guaranteed, a moderate contract but a risky move for a 31-year-old player at a position where very few experienced any sort of success past age 30.
On a play-by-play basis, it’s not an exaggeration to call Browner the worst player in the NFL this season. He’s been repeatedly torched by opposing quarterbacks, allowing four touchdown passes and a 105.9 passer rating, while serving as the symbol of the Saints’ defensive frustrations. His 23 penalties, through 15 games, are the most by any player in the NFL since at least 2007, per Pro Football Focus. He’s also the site’s worst-graded cornerback, easily, and his contract is likely the only reason why the Saints haven’t benched him.
With a dead cap hit of $5.35 million if he’s released this offseason, it’ll be fascinating to see what the Saints do with one of the offseason’s biggest free-agent busts.
9. Joe Haden, CB, Cleveland Browns
One of the top NFL cornerbacks since he was drafted in the first round in 2010, Joe Haden was essentially a complete disaster in his second season of a five-year, $67.5 million deal. He played just five games before suffering a severe concussion that would eventually end his season. In those games, he allowed the following stat line: 24 of 31 for 387 yards and 4 touchdowns. That’s a 158.2 passer rating, just 0.1 points below a perfect passer rating. It was a stunning fall from grace for a player the Browns desperately need to rebound in 2016 if they want any chance of eventually turning around their franchise.
8. Kiko Alonso, LB, Philadelphia Eagles
Player-for-player trades rarely happen in the NFL. A shocking one happened in early March, when the Eagles unloaded their all-time leading rusher, LeSean McCoy, for outside linebacker Kiko Alonso, who had been a star as a rookie in 2013 but missed all of 2014 with a torn ACL. Alonso, who had played under Chip Kelly at Oregon, was supposed to give the Eagles one of the top inside linebacker tandems in the league. But other than a miraculous one-handed interception in the end zone against Atlanta in Week 1, Alonso failed to even adequately produce on the field. A Week 2 knee injury against the Dallas Cowboys looked like a season-ending injury, but he returned in the rematch against the Cowboys in Week 9. He’s collected just 17 solo tackles in nine games, including just eight in his last five games. He doesn’t have a sack, forced fumble, recovered fumble, interception, pass defensed or quarterback since Week 1. He’s visibly shied away from contact, especially at the goal line. Essentially, he’s looked like a shell of his former self. While there’s no doubt that Alonso isn’t 100 percent healthy after his early-season injury, it’s a major red flag just how inept he has been. A free agent after 2016, Alonso will get one more season in Philly to show that he can return to anything close to the level he displayed in 2013.
7. Melvin Gordon, RB, San Diego Chargers
Leading up to the 2015 draft, the general consensus was that there would be two running backs taken in the first round of the draft: Todd Gurley and Melvin Gordon. Most agreed that Gurley, who had a torn ACL, had higher upside, but Gordon, who was completely healthy, was expected to be the bigger contributor in 2015. Yet it’s been Gurley who took the NFL by storm, with more than 1000 rushing yards and almost five yards per carry despite missing the first two games of the season. Meanwhile Gordon has been one of the most consistent backs in the league – but not in a good way. In 14 games, he’s carried 184 times for 641 yards, a pedestrian 3.5 yards per carry. He’s fumbled six times and incredibly he hasn’t scored a single touchdown. After trading a fourth and a fifth-round pick to move up two spots in the draft to select Gordon, it’s safe to say the disappointing rookie will undoubtedly be slated as the 2016 starter. But 14 consecutive mediocre performances will make him a major question mark moving forward, and yet another example of why it’s probably best not to draft a running back in the first round.
6. Greg Robinson, OT, St. Louis Rams
The identity of the Rams heading into 2015 was clear. Under first-round pick Todd Gurley and fringe starter Nick Foles, they were to become a power-running team. Heading the rushing attack was supposed to be Greg Robinson, the number 2 overall pick in the 2014 draft who struggled as a rookie but was expected to turn the next corner in his sophomore season. With two games left in the 2015 season, Robinson has made it clear that he wasn’t ready to turn the corner. In fact, he took a major step back. Pro Football Focus rates Robinson as the second-worst offensive tackle this season. He’s committed 15 penalties, three more than any other offensive lineman in the NFL. His 19 quarterback hits allowed are five more than any other lineman. He’s essentially been a complete disaster for a team that has been struggling to get from 7-9 into a legitimate playoff team throughout the entire Jeff Fisher era.
5. Green Bay Packers WRs
Packers Nation let out a collective gasp when Jordy Nelson was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Then all eyes turned to slot receiver Randall Cobb and 2014 second-round pick Davante Adams, the two players many expected to replace Nelson’s production on the field in 2015. That didn’t happen… at all. It’s become a lost season for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay offense, even as the team is the favorite to head into the postseason as NFC North champions. It’s hard to see Green Bay competing for a Super Bowl title, and the disappointing play of Cobb and Adams is one of the biggest reasons why. Cobb has caught just 70 passes for 777 yards and six touchdowns, and he’s been completely exposed as a number one receiving threat. Adams has been even more of a disappointment, catching 43 passes for 387 yards (9.0 yards per catch) and just one touchdown through the season’s first 11 games. He’s also dropped nine balls and over the last five games, he’s been practically invisible in the Packers’ offense. It’s been an eye-opening lack of production by a set of Packers receivers that many expected to each top 1000 yards and 10 touchdowns.
4. Rookie first-round WRs
The 2014 season will forever be known as the year of the rookie wide receiver. From first-round pick Odell Beckham to third-round pick John Brown to undrafted free agent Allen Hurns, there’s never been a season where rookie pass-catchers dominated as thoroughly as they did last year. That led expectations to be very high for the talented rookie class of 2015, which featured six players selected in the first round. Only Amari Cooper, with 70 catches for 1050 yards and six scores, has met expectations. The other five have all been a major disappointment. Kevin White, picked seventh overall, and Breshad Perriman, selected 26th, have each missed the entire season with nagging injuries. DeVante Parker has also struggled with injuries and has just 295 yards and 2 touchdowns. Nelson Agholor missed three games with a high-ankle sprain and has caught just 19 passes despite earning significant playing time due to Philly’s weak receiver corps. And Phillip Dorsett, the final first-round pick, has just 12 catches for 168 yards and a touchdown. There’s still plenty of time for each player to fulfill expectations and eventually establish himself worthy of a high draft pick, but it’s impossible to deny that five of the six has been a major disappointment.
3. DeMarco Murray, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
A crazy month of March for the Philadelphia Eagles saw : 1) LeSean McCoy traded to Buffalo, 2) Frank Gore signed as a free agent, 3) Frank Gore backing out of his free-agent deal to sign in Indianapolis, 4) Ryan Mathews signed as a free agent and 5) DeMarco Murray signed as a free agent. The final move, when the Eagles netted Murray to a five-year deal worth $40 million, including $21 million guaranteed, is the real head-scratcher. Murray carried the ball 392 times during the 2014 regular season, and including playoffs, recorded 497 touches. That’s the sixth-highest single-season total in NFL history, and combined with the dreaded Curse of 370, should have been enough reason for the Eagles to avoid signing the 2014 Offensive Player of the Year. Murray has predictably struggled during 2015, although even the most pessimistic fan likely didn’t expect to see such a significant decline from last year’s rushing champion. Murray has carried 176 times for just 606 yards and four touchdowns. That’s 3.4 yards per carry, easily the lowest total of his career. The Eagles’ weak offensive line certainly hasn’t helped Murray, but it’s worth noting that he’s been outplayed by both Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles in almost every game this season. Things have gotten so bad that Murray has been demoted to the third running back and there’s widespread speculation that the Eagles could part ways with him this offseason, despite a $13 million cap hit to release the two-time Pro Bowler.
2. Andrew Luck, QB, Indianapolis Colts
The number one overall pick in the 2012 draft, Andrew Luck turned in his best season in 2014, leading the NFL with 40 touchdown passes while taking the Colts to the AFC championship game. A free agent after the 2015 season, Luck appeared well on his way to earning the largest contract by any player in NFL history. His Colts, winners of at least 11 regular season games for each of the previous three seasons, were a trendy Super Bowl pick this offseason, and Luck was one of the top three preseason picks as the regular season MVP. Everything pretty much went wrong for Luck and the Colts from Week 1. They started 0-2 and have won just two of seven starts under Luck, who has missed time twice with injuries. He missed Weeks 3 and 4 with a shoulder injury, and he’s missed the last six games – and counting – with a lacerated kidney and partially torn abdominal muscle. There’s still an outside chance of Luck returning if the Colts somehow limp into the playoffs, but all signs point to Luck not returning to the field until 2016. Just four months ago, Luck would have been the consensus number one pick for the question: Which young quarterback do you want to build your franchise around? Now Luck would still probably win, but an extremely disappointing 2015 campaign and the emergence of young signal-callers like Jameis Winston and Derek Carr have dropped Luck in the eyes of many experts. Hopefully this is just a lost season for Luck, who is still 26 and will have an entire offseason to dwell on his shortcomings this season.
1. Peyton Manning, QB, Denver Broncos
Oh, the awkardness of having arguably the greatest player in NFL history at the top of this list. It’s accurate though. There were excuses, plenty of them, for Peyton Manning, when he collapsed down the stretch in 2014 and suffered a ninth one-and-done in the playoffs. There aren’t any more excuses for Manning, who still leads the NFL with 17 interceptions despite missing the final five games. Whether he gets his job back remains to be seen. And there’s no doubt that a severe case of plantar fasciitis drastically affected his on-the-field performance. But injuries are to be expected for a quarterback who is closer to 40 than 39, and the truth of the matter is that Manning has thrown 19 touchdowns against 25 interceptions during his last 16 regular season stats. He’s just not good enough anymore and the best-case scenario is the five-time NFL MVP quietly retiring this offseason instead of forcing a 19th season out of his middling right arm.
