Tennessee football hasn’t been its usual self lately. But still, the Vols have a significant presence in the NFL. Give or take, about 30 VFLs played on NFL rosters this year, and five of those made it to NFL’s Grand Finale, the Super Bowl, which will be played a week from this Sunday.
But before we get there, let’s take a two-part look at how some of those Vols fared statistically in 2013. Offensive players are first with the defense coming in the next couple days.
OFFENSE
Peyton Manning QB Denver Broncos
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It’s only appropriate that any list of any kind that has anything to do with Vols in the NFL starts with the Golden Son, our Pride and Joy, Peyton Manning. Just two years removed from major neck surgery, Manning led the Broncos this season with laser-guided precision. The four-time (fiddin’ to be five-time) NFL MVP Omaha’d his way to some gaudy, garish and damn-near just flat-out rude numbers this season.
Manning, 37, completed nearly 69 percent of his passes for 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns, while tossing just 10 interceptions. The yards and touchdowns were not only both career-highs for Manning but also NFL single-season records. He eclipsed the 400-yard mark five times this season and threw four or more touchdowns nine times, including a 462-yard, seven-touchdown effort in week one against the Ravens. In his seventeenth NFL season, Manning quarterbacked the Broncos to their second-straight 13-3 regular season record, and now looks to cement his legacy as the greatest quarterback in NFL history by winning his second Super Bowl.
Da’Rick Rogers WR Indianapolis Colts
The former embattled Volunteer didn’t always make things easy on himself, but it looks like he finally found a spot in the NFL.
Despite posting number-one receiver type measureables at the 2013 NFL Draft combine, Rogers went undrafted due to concerns with his attitude and propensity to make poor off-the-field decisions. Rogers signed a free agent deal with the Buffalo Bills but inconsistent performance led the Bills to cut Rogers before the regular season began.
The Colts signed Rogers to their practice squad one week later but Rogers didn’t join the active roster until November. David Ricky burst onto the scene in week 14, hauling in six passes for 107 yards and two scores. On one of those scores, Rogers turned a 5-yard slant into a 69-yard score by making two defenders miss and outrunning everybody else. In just four games, Rogers finished the season with 14 catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Yeah, the talent is there. No doubt. But can Rogers hone his talent and consistently channel his natural ability? We’ll see.
Denarius Moore WR Oakland Raiders
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The 2011 fifth-round pick was poised for a big year coming off a strong 2012 campaign in which he pulled in 51 catches for nearly 750 yards and seven touchdowns. But even with the departure of former No. 1 overall pick Darrius Heyward-Bey from Oakland, Moore saw his numbers drop slightly in 2013. He was targeted nearly 30 less times in 2013 than in 2012, which resulted in fewer catches (46), yards (695) and touchdowns (five, still led the team).
In Moore’s defense, the ever-unsettled quarterback position in Oakland did not help his cause. Three different guys took snaps for the Raiders this year, and not one of the three (Terrelle Pryor, Matt McGloin and Matt Flynn) threw for more than 300 yards in a single game this season. Until the situation under center is resolved, Moore’s production may be at its peak.
Arian Foster RB Houston Texans
Namaste, Arian.
Foster has been one of the most productive backs in the NFL since his breakout year in 2010. The former undrafted free agent led the NFL in touches in 2010 (393) and 2012 (391) and finished third in 2011 (331), while averaging more than 1,400 yards per season.
But the grind carrying the ball more than 950 times (led the NFL with 351 carries last season) in three years caught up to him in 2013. Foster appeared in just eight games in 2013 — 121 carries, 542 yards — as he battled hamstring problems in addition to the bulging disc in his back for which he underwent surgery on in November. Hammy and back injuries tend to linger, so it remains to be seen if Foster can bounce back to his All-Pro form.
Cordarrelle Patterson WR Minnesota Vikings
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Oh, Cordarrelle. (Pronounced CORE-DARRELL, btw. Get it right. Sheesh.)
You, sir, are filthy. NFL fans and people across the country finally got a taste of what Tennessee fans were treated to in his one and only, but oh-so-glorious, season in Orange. The first round pick ran, caught and returned a total of nine touchdowns in his rookie year (six in December), leaving behind him a wake of hapless defenders grasping nothing but air and an essence.
And while Patterson is still learning the ropes as a receiver in the NFL, his natural yet unnatural ability in the open field was on full display on special teams. Patterson was named to the NFL Pro-Bowl as a kick returner as he led the league with a 32.4 yard average and two return touchdowns (one for 105 yards against Cincinnati, and the other for an unbreakable-NFL record 109 yards). Here’s the 109-yard kick return, and some other highlights, for your unadulterated viewing pleasure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFodwDIVmWU
Unfortunately, Patterson is in the same situation as Denarius Moore with consistently inconsistent quarterback play, but CP’s skills are so uncanny and ridiculous that he’s going to get his touches no matter whom the QB is.
Jason Witten TE Dallas Cowboys
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Witten’s been a regular Iron Man through his NFL career, playing in all sixteen games every season except his rookie year in 2003. The Elizabethton, Tenn., native set a career-high with 110 catches last season (an NFL single-season record for a tight end) but, with the increase in production from Dez Bryant, followed it up with 73 grabs this year. Witten also hauled in eight touchdown grabs this season, just one off his career high.
Witten currently sits at 879 receptions, a mark that ranks second in NFL history among tight ends for career catches. It also sits alone top the Dallas Cowboys career receptions list with one hundred more than the next guy, of whom you may have heard, Michael Irvin.
Justin Hunter WR Tennessee Titans
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Hunter had a disappointing year for a second-round selection if you just look at the numbers. But that’s not what we do here. No, no. We don’t just look at numbers. We look into them.
The native of Virginia Beach, Va., snagged just 18 catches in 14 games for in his first season with the Tennessee Titans. Yeah, fairly “meh.” But after recording three catches through the first six games of the season, he tallied 15 grabs through the next six games, including 100-plus-yard and one-touchdown efforts against Oakland and Denver in weeks 10 and 13, respectively.
Hunter’s 19.7 yard per-catch average was second among rookie receivers behind the Saints Kenny Stills, and — despite seeing just 42 targets — his four touchdowns ranked second on the Titans behind Delanie Walker. It looks like Hunter, too, will battle uncertainty from the quarterback position until the Titans decide whether or not Jake Locker is the franchise’s guy moving forward.
Robert Meachem WR New Orleans Saints
Bobby Meach returned to New Orleans last season after a failed, one-year experiment in San Diego. Following three-straight productive seasons of 40 or more catches and 600-plus yards with the Saints, the former first-round pick signed a 4-year, $14 million deal with San Diego but never lived up to expectations. His return to the Saints in 2013 was just as unremarkable as his short tenure with the Chargers.
Meachem saw just 30 targets on the season and turned that into a meager 16 catches for 324 yards. Though the once deep-threat specialist led the Saints with 20.3 yards per catch, there have been reports that multiple procedures to his knees, ankle and toe have robbed him of his once game-breaking speed. Meachem, 30, signed a 1-year deal with New Orleans, so his 2014 remains an uncertainty.
Mychal Rivera TE Oakland Raiders
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Rivera rounds out the triumvirate of Tennessee pass catchers taken in the 2013 NFL draft. He was the last of the three selected, taken in the sixth round, but the late selection didn’t inhibit his production.
He’s listed as a backup on the official depth chart, but he tallied more snaps (557) than did starter Jeron Mastrud (517). Rivera played in all 16 games and caught 38 passes on his 60 looks, which according to math means he converted 63 percent of his targets into catches. Those 38 catches ranked Rivera third in the NFL for rookie tight ends, while his four touchdowns was second on the Raiders and tied for seventeenth among all tight ends in the league.
I didn’t hit on any of the offensive lineman since stats for the big uglies aren’t as explicitly defined and are more difficult to track down. All position groups on defense will be covered in the next installment.
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