Bill Polian's (1 Viewer)

[King of the Jungle]

Pretty good list. Any debates or additions?

LINK

Below are Polian’s 10 most pivotal NFL players in 2012:

1. New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin

3. Detroit Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairley

4. Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub

5. Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith

6. Buffalo Bills tackle Chris Hairston

7. Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones

8. San Diego Chargers running back Ryan Mathews

9. Pittsburgh Steelers defensive ends Ziggy Hood and Cameron Heyward

10. San Francisco 49ers’ entire receiver corps

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

Hairston's not even expected to start at this point. Odd selection.

 

[mr roboto]

Don't know how Peyton Manning isnt on the list. Talk about pivotal for Denver. Old Peyton = legit shot at championship game. Bad neck Peyton = ugly fan backlash and lots of wasted money.

To me that's the biggest ? in the NFL. Even more than Sanchez.

 

[Ilov80s]

Fairley is important to the Lions, but they made the playoffs without him last year. It seems really high- especially when you consider the Lions have good depth at DT.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

Just looks like a list of a bunch of random players to me.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Just looks like a list of a bunch of random players to me.

Yep, was going to post something similar.

 

[King of the Jungle]

I like the Manning call. Agree with Sanchez, Torrey Smith, Ryan Mathews. Would probably throw in McFadden, Sam Bradford, Pitts Oline, Josh Freeman. I need more knowledge of non-skill position players apparently.

 

[Truman]

Mario Williams? Trent Richardson? Ted Ginn jr?

 

[Snotbubbles]

Michael Vick for Philly.

 

[houndirish]

If I was going Ravens offense I'd have listed Flacco before Torrey Smith.

 

[cheese]

Ya, I don't get the Pitts or Buff choices. I don't feel like either will have a dramatic impact on their own team, let alone a big impact on the whole league. TB needs either Blount or Martin to produce, but either could work.

The Lions have gotten basically nothing from Fairley and it hasn't mattered yet.

I like some of your calls in this thread more. Manning and Vick for sure will have a huge impact on whether those teams are SB contenders or garbage.

I'm biased, but will Andy Dalton be in for harsh sophmore slump or keep emerging as a rising All-Pro? That's pivotal for me.

 

[King of the Jungle]

You really could point at a number of QB's and how their performance is directly related to the success of their squad.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Hairston's not even expected to start at this point. Odd selection.

Not expected by who? Most of the stuff I've read indicates that Hairston will most likely start out the season at LT, but they would like Glenn to beat him out. But at this point, the job is Hairston's to lose. But I don't think his placement on the list makes sense for another reason: Buffalo's offense is styled to help the LT as much as possible in the passing game. They use quick drops, quick developing routes, and quick throws. The LT doesn't need to be elite to be effective and for the offense to run well. Ryan Fitzpatrick is the Bill that should be on the list. Is he really as good as he looked early last year? Did the rib injury really cause his problems in the second half of the season? If he's as good as he looked early in the season, then Buffalo looks playoff bound. If he's really just a mediocre journeyman QB that will be erratic, then Buffalo will have a hard time making the playoffs and be looking for a new QB next year.

 

[houndirish]

Matt Flynn would seem to be a good candidate for this list.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

Hairston's not even expected to start at this point. Odd selection.

Not expected by who? Most of the stuff I've read indicates that Hairston will most likely start out the season at LT, but they would like Glenn to beat him out. But at this point, the job is Hairston's to lose. But I don't think his placement on the list makes sense for another reason: Buffalo's offense is styled to help the LT as much as possible in the passing game. They use quick drops, quick developing routes, and quick throws. The LT doesn't need to be elite to be effective and for the offense to run well. Ryan Fitzpatrick is the Bill that should be on the list. Is he really as good as he looked early last year? Did the rib injury really cause his problems in the second half of the season? If he's as good as he looked early in the season, then Buffalo looks playoff bound. If he's really just a mediocre journeyman QB that will be erratic, then Buffalo will have a hard time making the playoffs and be looking for a new QB next year.

Every report indicates that Glenn was drafted to be the team's Left Tackle so I'm not sure how Hairston is such a critical player. If Hairston was so great, they wouldn't have gone into the draft with LT as one of the team's biggest needs. It's probably only a matter of time until Glenn takes over, unless he doesn't work out there and they move him to RT or guard.Either way, we both know the LT position is not nearly as important in Buffalo as it might be on another team.It's definitely Fitz for the Bills. He was great in the first half of 2011 and terrible in the second half after signing his contract extension. The team will not win if he plays like he did late last year. If he plays like he did early last year and the defense improves as expected, this should be a playoff team.

 

[Sweet Love]

List is kind of silly...someone pointed out the fact at how QBs can swing a team's fortune, and I agree. Beyond that, each team has a player or two that will determine their fortunes, so I am not sure how you grade just 10 of them, let alone leave off 22 of the teams.

I am a Jets fan, but if Jake Long were to go down in week one for the Phins, the fat lady would already be announcing pick #1 in 2013...how is a guy like him not the most pivotal player???