Every week, we try to highlight some overlooked winners who benefited — either directly or indirectly — from the events this past weekend. I’m listing my own, but please write in with yours as well. All season, you guys have mentioned some under-the-radar studs who helped bring attention to their nice weeks. Let’s all do the same again to help people get a better feel for the entire league.
DT Kenny Clark, Green Bay
Kenny Clark came up big for the Packers this weekend.
The Green Bay Packers are desperately trying to tread water and stay afloat until Aaron Rodgers returns in Week 15, and somehow they’re managing to do that despite a QB in Brett Hundley who passed for a grand total of 86 yards this week.
The defense played a huge role in their win over Tampa Bay, mostly by generating 7 sacks on Jameis Winston. LB Clay Matthews had 2.5 of those sacks, but his far less famous teammate Kenny Clark had 2 more. In fact, those are the first sacks of Clark’s young career. But don’t mistake that with him being an underachiever: PFF has graded Clark well (88.8) all season long as an active defender up front. The former UCLA product is a key cog for the Packers’ defense, and at only 22 years old, has a lot of upside left in the tank.
DB Eric Weddle, Baltimore
We turn from a young bull to a sage old wizard in veteran safety Eric Weddle. A former star in San Diego, Weddle hasn’t played up to his usual standards this season. And it’s hard to blame the bearded one: he’s turning 33 soon after all.
However, Weddle turned back the clock this weekend with arguably his best game of the season. He collected 1 sack and ran an interception back for a touchdown. Weddle’s playmaking instincts and veteran experience have been a nice addition to this Baltimore defense, which once again has returned to its beastly roots.
Kris Richard, DC, Seattle
Baltimore’s defensive coordinator post used to be a springboard for head coaches; lately, that’s been Seattle’s forte. The last two Seahawks defensive coordinators (Gus Bradley and Dan Quinn) parlayed the job into a head coaching gig shortly afterward. The initial expectation is that it would happen for young Kris Richard as well, but that didn’t come to fruition so far. Now in his third full season at the helm, Richard may have seen his buzz slowly dying down.
However, the Seahawks strong performance (24-10 win over the powerhouse Philadelphia Eagles) minus some signature stars like Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor may have helped jumpstart the bandwagon again. Furthermore, teams across the league who utilize what you’d call a “Seattle style” defense are having success (Jacksonville, L.A. Chargers, Atlanta), leading you to believe that Pete Carroll’s concepts do travel after all. Those factors may combine for the 38-year-old Richard to land a few more head coaching interviews this offseason.
Adam Gase, head coach, Miami
If Kris Richard may be getting impatient about landing his first head coaching job, he can vent to Adam Gase about it. Clearly, Gase still has some hard feelings about his own experience.
As a superstar rising star offensive coordinator in Denver, Gase didn’t get the chance to stick around and inherit the job from John Fox. Although John Elway‘s pick and BFF Gary Kubiak won the Super Bowl there, you can argue that Gase (then in his mid-30s) would have been a better fit for the long term. Similarly, you can make the argument that Chicago (Gase’s next OC stint) should have made the same move and promoted him over John Fox rather than allow him to move on to Miami.
While the Bears (and maybe even Broncos) prep for another coaching search, Gase has solid footing with the Dolphins right now. While it’s been a bumpy road this season, there have been highlights here and there, including a 35-9 beatdown over Elway’s Broncos this weekend that featured Gase rubbing it in with an onside kick. Gase’s Dolphins need a lot of work on the roster, but it still feels safe to say Gase is a much better coach than the 5-7 record shows.
Fresh legs
Speaking of Gary Kubiak and the Denver Broncos, they’re part of the reason a stereotype developed about running backs. With Mike Shanahan as the head coach (and Kubiak as the OC) in the 90s, the Broncos churned out star runner after star runner. There were legitimate studs like Terrell Davis and Clinton Portis, but also a conveyer belt of “wait, who the fuck is this dude??” fantasy monsters like Mike Anderson, Orlandis Gary, Reuben Droughns, etc. It felt like any running back could succeed in the Denver system. They were the marquee argument in a movement that devalued running backs across the league; suddenly, it became absurd to think you should even draft one in the top 10 picks. Running backs, after all, were all interchangeable.
It may be time to amend that belief system slightly. Rather than think that “any running back is fine,” we may have to start valuing fresh running backs. We see that in young rookie runners like Kareem Hunt and Alvin Kamara enter the league like they’re shot out of cannons, but also in random running backs like Kerwynn Williams (ARI) and Mike Davis (SEA) who break out from week to week. Williams and Davis haven’t been taking a pounding all year long, so when they finally get their opportunity, they have more juice in their legs than most people on the field.
Going forward, teams may need to reevaluate how they use running backs at all. The idea of just using them up and spitting them out after their rookie contracts has become en vogue, but perhaps extra rest may be important as well.
