With the labor strife taking up most of the off-season, it feels like years since the NFL stars last took the field. To catch you up on the most memorable news and notes of the 2010 season, here’s a look at the top 10 storylines from last year:
10) Rising signal-callers: Matt Cassel and Josh Freeman
While all of the preseason fantasy attention was focused on young gunslingers Kevin Kolb and Matthew Stafford, the two quarterbacks who improved the most were the Chiefs’ Matt Cassel and Buccaneers’ Josh Freeman.
Cassel finished the season with 27 touchdowns compared to just seven interceptions. Those numbers are astonishing when you consider the lack of targets in the receiving game, as Dwayne Bowe was the only wide receiver with more than 220 yards on the team.
Josh Freeman was surrounded by young playmakers, and yet he was nearly flawless with 25 touchdowns compared to just six interceptions. Freeman was also surprisingly nimble with the ball in his hands, rushing for a career-high 364 yards.
Both quarterbacks return with improving targets making them both fine fantasy sleepers in 2011.
9. Journeyman Brandon Lloyd finds a home
Brandon Lloyd spent his first seven seasons in the NFL playing for four different franchises without ever racking up as many as 750 receiving yards in a season. Then out of nowhere, Lloyd broke out last season at the age of 29 years old.
In total, Lloyd hauled in 77 receptions for 1,448 yards (nearly double his previous high). Lloyd made an impact right from the start with 100-plus yards in four of his first five games last season.
In total, Lloyd scored 11 touchdowns and managed to post big numbers with both Kyle Orton and then Tim Tebow running the offense. This bodes well for this season with the Broncos quarterback position in flux.
8. A star is Born: Peyton Hillis leads Browns
There aren’t that many 6’2″, 250 lbs. every-down backs but Peyton Hillis is the exception as he led the Browns to respectability last season with 1,177 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.
Hillis did tail off a bit down the stretch, but in total he racked up five games with 100-plus yards plus an additional 477 receiving yards.
Originally, Montario Hardesty was expected to be the leading running back for the Browns, but with the rookie’s injury, a star was born.
7. Pair of rookies lead Bucs: Blount and Williams
The Bucs were expected to be a cellar dweller in a season of rebuilding, but two rookies would have none of it.
LeGarrette Blount had a bad wrap from his days at Oregon and it didn’t help when he got into a fight with a teammate in the Tennessee Titans training camp prior to the season. Released by the Titans, Blount landed with the Bucs. When Cadillac Williams failed to deliver, he earned the promotion.
Despite barely playing the first six games of the season, Blount surpassed 1,000 rushing yards with six touchdowns. While Blount can stand to improve his receiving, he is one of the most promising young backs in the NFL.
For the passing game, second-round pick Arrelious Benn was expected to step up into the playmaker’s role. While Benn did show some flashes of promise, the impact player turned out to be fourth-round pick Mike Williams. The Syracuse alumnus came just 36 yards shy of 1,000 on the season and scored 11 touchdowns.
Blount and Williams offer a solid foundation for the Bucs for the years ahead.
6. Darren McFadden finally lives up to hype
It took a little longer than some expected, but Darren McFadden finally showed his worth on the football field last season. McFadden has yet to shed the injury-prone label but we did get a sense of his potential as he averaged 5.2 yards per carry while racking up 1,157 yards with seven rushing touchdowns. McFadden also added 507 yards and three touchdowns via receptions.
The Raiders found that mixing Michael Bush in on occasion to offer a breather for McFadden kept both players fresh and effective. McFadden has been drafted in the late first round to early second round in most fantasy drafts.
4) Rookie busts: Ryan Mathews and CJ Spiller
Two rookies expected to carry the load in their team’s respective backfields were the Chargers Ryan Mathews and Bills C.J. Spiller.
It turned out that Mathews was ill-equipped for the task at hand. He missed a quarter of the season due to injuries and eventually gave way to Mike Tolbert as the team’s lead rushing threat.
The Bills invested the ninth-overall pick in Spiller but his early struggles in the backfield relegated him to special teams. Fred Jackson soon ran away with the gig as the superior option.
Entering the 2011 season, both rookies are bound to get more touches. However, don’t underestimate the will of Tolbert and Jackson. They have proven that they are up for the job and may not defer very easily.
4. Arian Foster breaks out
Nobody saw it coming. Arian Foster had too much competition entering training camp. Steve Slaton had past success and Ben Tate was drafted to contribute. As fate would have it, Tate got injured and Foster re-wrote franchise history.
The undrafted talent out of Tennessee led the NFL with 1,616 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. Foster also contributed with 66 receptions for 606 yards with another two scores.
Though he has been dealing with some hamstring soreness, Foster is expected to return to the field next week. He is a solid top-three pick in fantasy football drafts this season.
3. Everyone hates Jay Cutler
Wrigley Fields may be the friendly confines, but Solider Field was the eye of a bloodbath for Bears quarterback Jay Cutler last season. The veteran quarterback was forced out of a playoff game due to a knee injury and the football world took to Twitter to lend its opinion.
While Cutler’s toughness was questioned, no one seemed to bring up the fact that he somehow withstood the toll of an astonishing 52 sacks on the season. Even with all of the pressure as a result of a weak offensive line, Cutler displayed marked improvement on the grid-iron, throwing for 23 touchdowns while rushing for a career-high 232 yards.
Due to all of the negative attention, Cutler is actually a fantasy sleeper entering this season.
2. Michael Vick flies like an Eagle
The Eagles entered the 2010 season thinking that they had signed Kevin Kolb to be the franchise quarterback for the long-term. It turned out that he was just an expensive backup, while Vick returned to his Pro Bowl form.
The unlikely scenario occurred because Kolb got injured early, and Vick dominated. Despite missing a quarter of the season, Vick established career-highs in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and rushing touchdowns.
Vick’s success has made him a hot target in the first rounds of many fantasy drafts, which may be a mistake. As a mobile quarterback often on the move, Vick is a serious injury risk that requires drafting a solid second quarterback as insurance.
1. Goodbye Favre!
He was like a houseguest that refused to leave. It wasn’t all that bad for the first few years since that guest paid rent, but finally last year Brett Favre’s credit defaulted.
Favre went from having his finest professional season to what was definitely his worst. He endured hard hits, tossed eight more interceptions than touchdowns, and the Vikings fell out of contention just weeks into the season.
Favre is a Hall of Famer who earned the adulation of sports fans across the globe, but the last image in most of our minds is a veteran quarterback who held onto the game a season too long.