The start of the 2016 NFL season is still five months away, but players are already working hard in order to improve on or fix what happened in 2015. Here are five who have a particularly large burden this spring and summer.
Eddie Lacy, Green Bay Packers: The running back saw his numbers drop for the second consecutive season as his conditioning (or lack thereof) appeared to take a toll in 2015, but Lacy has been working hard all offseason to get back into shape and he’s looking a little more svelte entering his fourth year:
Eddie Lacy weight update:
(Via @TMZ)#Packers pic.twitter.com/cF5ycvBiKT— Arrick Upton (@ArrickUptonGB) April 11, 2016
Demaryius Thomas, Denver Broncos: Yeah, the wide receiver won the Super Bowl with Denver, but he was an inconsistent drop machine for much of the year. He certainly wasn’t worth $14 million. If he can’t recover in 2016, he’ll take considerably more heat.
Mario Williams, Miami Dolphins: The defensive end had just five sacks (tied for his lowest total since 2007, which was his second season in the league) despite starting 15 games. For the first time in his career, he forced zero fumbles. And he averaged just one tackle per game. Was that season an aberration because Williams was disgruntled in Buffalo? We’ll soon find out if it’s that or if the 31-year-old has simply run out of gas.
Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts: The 2012 No. 1 overall pick followed up a Pro Bowl third season with an injury-plagued disaster of the 2015 campaign, finishing the year with the league’s lowest qualified completion percentage (55.3), while starting just seven games. If he doesn’t bounce back in 2016 (especially if he signs a new contract) he’ll feel major pressure. You might even hear the B word.
Jimmy Graham, Seattle Seahawks: Expectations were sky high when the Pro Bowl tight end was acquired by Seattle in the offseason, but Graham struggled for 12 weeks (scoring just two touchdowns and registering 85 yards just once) before suffering a season-ending patellar tendon injury. Marshawn Lynch is gone and the offensive line is a bit of a mess, so there’s a lot of pressure on the 29-year-old Graham to live up to that $10 million salary in 2016.
