NFL's sudden impacts
CHICAGO – Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson flushed Brett Favre down the line, and the next thing Mark Anderson knew, he was driving a future Hall of Famer into the dirt.
"It felt good to have it happen right away like that," said Anderson, recalling his first career sack in a 26-0 season-opening win over the Green Bay Packers. "It was a little overwhelming, to be honest."
That's been a mutual feeling. In a sense, Anderson has overwhelmed a league that only a few months ago passed him off as too small, too stiff and not strong enough to be an impact defensive end. Oh, and for good measure, teams thought he didn't really have the skill set to be a linebacker, either.
But after five games, the rookie from Alabama smiles at those proclamations, knowing that – so far – he's the biggest defensive steal of the 2006 draft.
"Personally, I thought I was one of those top-five defensive ends," Anderson said. "I was even rated in the top five after the combine in some places. But it didn't work out that way at the draft. It worked out this way, and that's OK."
Despite being used mostly to spell Chicago's starting defensive end tandem of Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye, Anderson is a half sack off the NFL lead with 5½. Thanks to that production, he's been a key platoon player for the league's best and most aggressive defense, and the dividends have come in bunches.
After the Favre sack, Anderson opened eyes nationally when he schooled All-Pro left tackle Walter Jones for a pair of sacks in a 37-6 blowout of the Seattle Seahawks. He followed that performance last week with two more sacks against mobile Buffalo Bills quarterback J.P. Losman.
That kind of brilliance caught the eye of the Bears before the draft, when Anderson notched a sack against golden boy offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson at the Senior Bowl, where he spent a week looking polished in practices. Some thought Anderson was a player who would land in the draft's first three rounds. Instead, he fell to Chicago in the fifth round, where the Bears took him with the 159th overall selection.
The pick gave pause to those who were waiting for Chicago to take offensive players. The common question: Why select a defensive end when your depth at that spot already includes former No. 1 pick Michael Haynes?
For the Bears, the reason was simple: to give Haynes some additional competition. In the end, it turned out to be more than Haynes bargained for, and the 14th overall pick from the 2003 draft got cut in the preseason. The move meant Anderson had earned his spot in the rotation – and a chance to prove he could be an impact player at defensive end despite being labeled too small at 260 pounds.
"A lot of people thought he didn't fit at defensive end or linebacker going into the draft," Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera said after watching Anderson notch his pair of sacks against the Seahawks. "We definitely thought he could play end for us. We thought he fit perfect for what we wanted to do, which was get him in there behind Alex and (Adewale) and let him go to work with his speed."
It's been a flawless plan. Typically, Anderson rotates in when the Bears feel like an offensive tackle is getting worn down and becoming vulnerable to an edge rush. With him in the game, offenses typically shift their protection to the interior duo of Tommie Harris and Johnson and the defensive end opposite Anderson.
"I definitely benefit from playing next to those guys," Anderson said. "You should see them get off the ball. I might be the lightest one, but I swear, I feel like I'm the last one off the ball. That's crazy. I'm the lighter, faster one, and they're getting off faster. … Sometimes I feel like I'm a second late. But I guess I'm still fast enough."
At this point, the rest of the league would tend to agree.
Anderson isn't the only player drafted outside the first round to make a big splash this season. Here are some others who have already become difference-makers.
Marques Colston (seventh-round pick, 252nd overall) – Through five games, the New Orleans Saints wide receiver is easily the offensive steal of the draft. He's big and fast, makes the catch in traffic and presents teams with a matchup problem similar to what Antonio Gates does in San Diego. Colston showed so much promise in the preseason that the Saints didn't think twice about dealing Donte' Stallworth to the Philadelphia Eagles. Colston is seventh in the league in receiving yardage and has been the Saints' big play threat, with six receptions of 20-plus yards and an 86-yard touchdown against the Carolina Panthers. Defenses will start rolling toward him now that he's showcased his skill, so his numbers could cool a bit. But as long as he's healthy, Colston should be the centerpiece of the passing game for the rest of the season.
Jerious Norwood (third-round pick, 79th overall) – Another player who wowed his team enough in the preseason to force a veteran (T.J. Duckett) out of the franchise, Norwood looks like the future at running back for the Atlanta Falcons. Norwood could even begin to eat into the carries of Warrick Dunn as the season progresses, but he's still unlikely to get more than six-to-10 touches a game. That won't necessarily prevent him from having an impact, as evidenced by his six-carry, 106-yard game against the Arizona Cardinals (numbers that were boosted by a 78-yard touchdown run). In the long term, Norwood still looks like he'll need to bulk up some to carry the load, but his speed and one-cut-and-go ability have meshed perfectly with Atlanta's blocking scheme.
Maurice Jones-Drew (second-round pick, 60th overall) – The pick that didn't seem to make much sense during the draft suddenly looks like a stroke of genius. Greg Jones' season-ending injury opened the door for Jones-Drew and he's taken advantage, factoring into the Jacksonville Jaguars' rushing or receiving game in each of the last three games. A short running back with an extremely powerful lower body, Jones-Drew burst onto the scene with 103 yards rushing in a 21-14 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. A perfect change of pace option from Fred Taylor, he has gained a combined 250 rushing and receiving yards and scored four total touchdowns the last three games. Jones-Drew is expected to remain an important part of Jacksonville's offense the rest of the season.
DeMeco Ryans (second-round pick, 33rd overall) – Harangued at various points before the draft for both his speed and size, the linebacker has more than justified the Houston Texans' decision to make him the first selection of the second round. From day one, Ryans has been the team's best linebacker and a significant part of Houston's modest improvement against the run this season. He earned the starting middle linebacker spot in training camp and leads all rookies in tackles (38 in four games) despite the Texans' Week 5 bye.
Dawan Landry (fifth-round pick, 146th overall) – Landry has created some buzz among personnel people who have seen him in person. He stepped into the Baltimore Ravens' strong safety spot and has been a good match with Ed Reed. Despite playing on a defense that does nothing but churn out highlight hits, Landry has caught the attention of his teammates with his aggressive play. He has more than held his own in coverage and made a huge but mostly unheralded play against the Cleveland Browns in a 15-14 win when he stopped Kellen Winslow Jr. at the Baltimore 4-yard line on what would have been a game-sealing touchdown. Two plays later, Browns quarterback Charlie Frye was intercepted in the end zone and the Ravens went on to kick a game-winning field goal.
Marcus McNeill (second-round pick, 50th overall) – Viewed by some as the next best tackle after D'Brickashaw Ferguson in the draft, McNeill has had the last laugh after dropping into the second round. He's started every game and played very well at left tackle for the San Diego Chargers, helping them establish the league's second-best running game. That shouldn't have been a surprise considering McNeill blocked for two 2005 first-round picks in Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams while at Auburn. McNeill was named AFC offensive player of the month after not allowing a single sack in September while helping protect first-year starter Philip Rivers.
Greg Jennings (second-round pick, 52nd overall) – The wide receiver was billed as the guy who would replace the explosive plays of Javon Walker – a claim that many (including yours truly) scoffed at. But he's been arguably Green Bay's biggest playmaker so far, jumping over Robert Ferguson on the depth chart early in the season, then leading all rookie wideouts with an 18.2 yards-per-catch average through five games. He had some eye-opening moments in the preseason, but he'll be immortalized in the Hall of Fame for being the wideout who caught Brett Favre's 400th touchdown pass – a 75-yarder against the Detroit Lions. Jennings already has eight catches for 20 or more yards and two receptions for 40-plus.
Bruce Gradkowski (sixth-round pick, 194th overall) – If you spent any time at all with Jon Gruden in training camp, you saw this guy coming. Gruden absolutely gushed about the quarterback when we visited the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in August, sneering "he's got more than a little something." Gradkowski was elevated to backup status in camp, and that seemed surprising at the time with veteran Tim Rattay on the roster. But he looked remarkably sharp in practice, then showed in the offseason that he was capable of moving an offense up and down the field with his arm. Gradkowski's coming out party against Arizona (245 yards passing, two touchdowns and no interceptions) was impressive and probably a little deceiving. He is bound to struggle plenty the rest of the season, but he looks like he boasts both arm strength and the ability to make any throw.
