In less than 24 hours, the month of July will be here. Which means we are only a few more weeks away from NFL training camps beginning across the country. Training camp is a time for veteran guys to get their work in, rookies to get established to the NFL and other players to step up and make a name for themselves. The 2015 season in the NFL was fun as we saw rookies and two-year players come of age playing prominent roles on their respective teams.
With that being said, can those players who showed up last season become household names in 2016? Here are five players that will be household names this season:
1. Arizona Cardinals RB David Johnson: Johnson burst onto the scene as a third round pick out of Northern Iowa, giving the Cardinals a true three-headed monster at running back with Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington. Head coach Bruce Arians knew for the Cardinals to be successful they had to have a formidable rushing attack.
Johnson gave them just that as he made an impact in the Cardinals’ regular season opener against the New Orleans Saints, where he only had one reception, but made it count as he took it 55 yards for a touchdown. That was a sign of things to come as the next week against the Chicago Bears, Johnson had 108-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
Johnson would finish the season with 13 total touchdowns, 581 rushing and 457 receiving yards. He is a perfect fit for the Cardinals’ offense and expect more NFL fans to get know about the speedy back from UNI.
2. Chicago Bears RB Jeremy Langford: Langford was another rookie running back in 2015, just like Johnson, who had a coming out party of sorts. In last year’s draft, the Bears drafted Langford in the fourth round to be the backup to Matt Forte. Last season, Forte had a couple of nagging injuries, which meant it was time for Langford to step up.
If anybody knows John Fox, they know his offenses go by running back by committee and if someone goes down, it’s the next man up mentality. Langford did just that in his first ever start against the San Diego Chargers on Monday Night Football in Week 8. Langford carried the ball 18 times for 72 rushing yards and a touchdown and had three receptions for 70 receiving yards.
Langford provided the Bears’ offense what they would’ve received from Forte. Then in the following week against the St. Louis Rams, Langford had two total touchdowns, 73 rushing yards and 109 receiving yards. He finished the 2015 season with seven total touchdowns, 537 rushing yards and 279 receiving yards.
This offseason, the Bears released Matt Forte and will head into this season with a three-headed monster of Langford, Jordan Howard and Ka’Deem Carey. While everybody will be talking about Adrian Peterson and Eddie Lacy in the NFC North, don’t forget about Langford.
3. New Orleans Saints WR Willie Snead: Staying on the offensive side of the ball, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Willie Snead came out of nowhere in 2015, after being an undrafted free agent in 2014 out of Ball State. Before last season, when you took a look at the Saints’ receiving core, all the attention would’ve been on Brandin Cooks and Marques Colston.
Surprisingly, that was not the case as Snead had a better year than Colston. Snead was second on the team in receiving yards (984) behind Cooks (1,138). He would also have 69 receptions and three touchdowns.
If look back at his stats from last season, Snead had six games of six or more receptions. Expect Snead to average those type of numbers in 2016 as he will most likely be the number two wide receiver next to Cooks, with no more Colston. Snead is a fun player to watch and if you aren’t on the bandwagon yet, you are missing out.
4. Buffalo Bills CB Ronald Darby: Darby had a solid season as a rookie for the Bills playing on the opposite side of Stephon Gilmore. Darby, the second round pick out of Florida State finished with a team-leading 21 pass deflections, 61 tackles and two interceptions. He also started in 15 games last season, which was the most when it came to the Bills’ cornerbacks and played 914 defensive snaps (second most snaps played among Bills’ defensive backs).
While everybody remembers Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters’ rookie season, don’t forget about Darby, who will take his game to another level under Rex Ryan in year two.
5. San Diego Chargers LB Manti Te’o: Te’o rounds out our list and unlike these youngsters, he will be going into his fourth season with the Chargers. Everyone remembers Te’o’s play at Notre Dame, but no one is talking about him in the NFL. 2016 is the perfect time for him to become a household name because it’s also a contract year for him.
In 2017, Te’o will be an unrestricted free agent, so he needs to perform well for the Chargers to keep him around. In 2015, Te’o started in 12 games and had a career-high 83 combined tackles, two pass deflections, a forced fumble and an interception. While those numbers are good, he needs to use them as a launching pad for this upcoming season.
The way the Chargers’ defense is set up, all eyes will be on Melvin Ingram, who had 10.5 sacks last year, first round pick defensive end Joey Bosa and linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu. With opposing offenses game planning for those three players, Te’o should be able to have a breakout season, which will help the Chargers’ defense in 2016.
