Sophomore slump candidates for the 2019 NFL season

These second-year NFL players enjoyed fantastic rookie seasons and could be on the path to stardom, but I can’t help but get the sophomore slump feeling.

Every year there are several NFL superstar rookies who end up regressing for various reasons in their follow-up campaign. Last season, we saw second-year players like Marshon Lattimore and Leonard Fournette take a step back from what we saw from them in their rookie seasons. You can be sure to see a few in 2019 as well.

There are times where we set their standards so high that anything short of fantastic isn’t enough. Sometimes their team brought in more competition via the NFL draft or free agency, or maybe they have to deal with health or off-field problems. Honestly, the sophomore slump could happen to anybody.

With those factors in mind, here are three sophomore slump candidates for the 2019 NFL season.

Fred Warner, LB, San Francisco 49ers

Fred Warner’s 2018 season did not get discussed enough amongst other impact rookies. After being thrust in as a starter amid injury and off-field issues with Rueben Foster, the third round pick out of BYU ended up finishing 12th in the entire league in tackles with 124. He also led all first-year linebackers in run stops with 35 and had 7 starts in which he tallied 9+ tackles.

Those numbers could take a hit in 2019, however, as the San Francisco 49ers spent their offseason adding more talent on that defense, which could mean less opportunity to make plays for Warner. They drafted defensive end Nick Bosa with the second overall pick to join their young, talented line and gave Kwon Alexander a huge deal to man the middle of that linebacker unit.

There simply may not be enough tackles to go around next season for the second year stud to match his 2018 output, so it should come as no surprise to San Francisco fans if Warner doesn’t produce the same numbers in his sophomore year.