NFL predictions: Unlikely stars for all 32 teams entering 2019
New England Patriots: Jarrett Stidham, QB
Don’t look now but the Patriots have another promising young quarterback that could eventually be groomed as the heir to Tom Brady.
Jarrett Stidham earned rave reviews for his play through camp and looked great in the preseason. He completed 68 percent of his passes on 90 attempts, with four touchdowns and is also second on the team in rushing with 88 yards.
Stidham has looked poised in the pocket, has shown a welcomed mobility and has been smart with the football through three preseason games.
While it is always exciting to see a young QB show potential, we have been fooled before when thinking the Patriots have found their future Brady replacement.
Time will tell if Stidham can continue to impress but it sounds like he is well on his way to becoming the next promising young player to get traded away after Brady signs a deal to play into his 50’s.
Miami Dolphins: Sam Eguavoen, LB
Sam Eguavoen played the last three years in the CFL after going undrafted out of Texas Tech back in 2015. He finally was signed by the Dolphins back in January and has quickly shown that he belongs.
After putting together a head-turning camp, he had a mini-breakout performance in his second preseason appearance against the Bucs, where he totaled 7 tackles, 2 being for a loss and had a forced fumble.
All together he leads the team with tackles with 16 and has displayed instincts and aggression that you really want to see in a hungry young player trying to earn his spot.
The Dolphins were home to one of the more notable CFL to NFL transitions in the league’s history with Cameron Wake and now Eguavoen will look to make the Dolphins a CFL pipeline of sorts if he ends up making a sliver of the impact that Wake did during his time with the team.
Buffalo Bills: Christian Wade, RB
To the casual NFL fan, Buffalo Bills running back Christian Wade may not ring any bells, but he has quietly been one of the more exciting players of the entire preseason thus far.
If you haven’t heard, Wade is a former rugby player from England who took advantage of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program to earn his shot in the NFL.
Wade was an accomplished rugby star and was even a member of England’s national team, so his athleticism and ball carrying skills are a natural transition, but I don’t think anybody expected him to be this electric so soon.
Wade hasn’t gotten a ton of touches in the preseason but has made the most of then. He took his first-ever NFL carry 65 yards to the house and came back the very next game to take his first catch 48 yards and put the Bills in scoring position.
While it is tough to see how Wade could possibly fit on the Bills deep running back committee, he has certainly been a smashing good time to watch and could end up on the practice squad where he can continue to develop.
New York Jets: Greg Dortch, WR
Greg Dortch was one of the more surprising players that went undrafted in 2019 but is already proving teams wrong for allowing that to happen.
The New York Jets signed him as an UDFA and it hasn’t taken him long to show the spark that he displayed so often while at Wake Forrest.
He’s been the team’s primary punt returner during the preseason and has been one of the more exciting new pieces the Jets have, with returns of 32 and 27 yards on just 9 returns.
Dortch has also made an impact in the slot as well, catching 8 balls and taking one of those in for a touchdown.
While I don’t expect Dortch to make much of an impact as a receiver in 2019, it looks like he will go into the season as the team’s starting punt returner and could end up being a difference-maker in year one.