Who Has Been The Most Surprising Player On Your NFL Team So Far?

We’re about midway through the season and some teams are very surprising in a good way (the 49ers) and others not so much (the Vikings).

But for each team, who is the most surprising player so far this season? My picks for each team are below.

Feel free to call me an idiot in the comment section. But if you’re going to do that, you have to tell me who surprised you more.

AFC East

Jets
Joe McKnight – he barely managed to find his way on the roster, and now he is one of the most dynamic special teams player in 2011. So far this season he has run the ball 25 times, caught the ball 16 times, blitzed as a CB, blocked a punt that was returned for a TD, returned a 107-yard kickoff  return for a TD and averages 40 yards per kickoff return with 13 returns.

Bills
Ryan Fitzpatrick – When Fitz left the Bengals we figured that was the end of his career. The Bills signed him in 2009 and they were one of the worst teams in football. Then the Bills hired Chan Gailey and we laughed. No one expected Fitzpatrick to be signed up ever again after 2008, let alone tear up defenses like he has at the beginning of this season. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it up for an entire season.

Patriots
Wes Welker – Welker has been really good since he came over to New England from Miami, but he has been basically the best WR in the NFL not named Calvin Johnson. Not too many people saw that coming. He is 24 yards short of his total from last year (824/848).

Dolphins
Daniel Thomas – Honestly, finding a silver lining from this disaster of a season is a bit challenging. Even though Thomas was a 2nd Round draft pick, he has been solid (still no TDs though) and that has to be a nice surprise for Phins fans. Just ask Reggie Bush how the season’s going.

AFC North

Browns
Joe Haden – as we’ve already covered, Joe Haden could be the best CB in the NFL. It’s one of the lone highlights for a team that has a very hard time getting the ball in the end zone. is anyone else having a hard time staying awake while watching Browns games?

Steelers
Ike Taylor – Ike Taylor used to suck really bad. The Steelers signed him a couple years ago, hoping he would be a #1 CB. He ended up getting 1-2 stupid pass interference penalties seemingly every game. They almost cut his sorry ass, that’s how bad it got. For some reason, he doesn’t suck anymore. He has been shutting them down all season.

Bengals
AJ Green/Andy Dalton – This is obvious, but we can’t pick just one. The 1st and 2nd round picks for the Bengals this year could not be performing any better. Who the hell thought the Bengals would be 5-2 at this point? Definitely not Carson Palmer.

Ravens
Lardarius Webb – The guy who many Ravens fans blame for last season’s playoff loss has returned in 2011 to carry the banged-up Ravens secondary.

AFC SOUTH

Colts
Pat Angerer – In just his 2nd NFL season he has already nearly matched his tackle total from last year. In fact, he leads the NFL in tackles right now with 90. NaVorro Bowman ranks 2nd with 68. Bet you didn’t know that.

Texans
Antonio Smith – With Mario Williams out with an injury, Texans DE Antonio Smith has had to pick up the slack, with 4.5 sacks. In a season where a friend of his drowned in a swimming pool at his house, he has done a good job at keeping the distractions from negatively effecting his play on the field.

Titans
Matt Hasselbeck – OK so Hasselbeck hasn’t been a stiff his whole career, but after watching the Seahawks just basically give up on him, pretty much everyone else did too. At 36 years old and with a brand new team in a brand new system, he has been surprising. So far he has thrown for over 1,700 yards, with an 11/6 ratio. That’s an 89.2 rating. He probably has more rushing yards than Chris Johnson, too.

Jaguars
Jason Hill – Even though he doesn’t have many receptions (19), when he does catch it he takes it to the house. A team leading THREE of those 19 catches have gone for TDs. The most TDs he’s ever gotten in a season prior to this one was 2.

AFC West

Raiders
Darrius Heyward-Bey – Considering he almost got the JaMarcus treatment, it’s kind of hard to believe DHB is finally panning out. He is probably the most consistent receiver the Raiders have right now.

Chargers
Eric Weddle – Five interceptions so far this year ties him for the league lead with Charles Woodson. His previous season high was two. Hey Chargers fans, how overpaid is he now?

Chiefs
Jackie Battle – Jackie who? With Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones banged up, the 3rd/4th stringer finally got his chance a few weeks ago and hasn’t disappointed. Even though he got his first TD last week, he is averaging a solid 4.7 YPC.

Broncos
Von Miller – OK so it’s hard to say the 2nd overall pick is surprising, but any rookie that starts his career off with 6 sacks in 7 games still deserves a nod. He’s doing a little better than one of their other 1st round draft picks…

NFC East

Giants
Victor Cruz – In what is basically his first season, he is tearing up the league. Definitely the Giants’ best offensive weapon at this point.

Eagles
Shady McCoy – After a solid 2010 season, many of us wondered if he could possibly duplicate it in 2011. He is blowing away last year’s effort. At this rate he’ll have over 1,500 yards rushing and 16 TDs by year’s end.

Cowboys
Sean Lee – I don’t watch the Cowboys much because I f**king hate them. My friends who are Cowboys fans say he has been a badass. I wouldn’t know.

Redskins
Ryan Kerrigan – The Redskins season is turning into a nightmare of epic proportions. Kerrigan is pretty much the only bright spot on this team at this point. The college DE turned LB is adapting well, and he even scored a TD in his first NFL game after not having scored his entire college career.

NFC North

Bears
Matt Forte – I know what you’re thinking: “But Matt Forte has always been good!” I don’t think anyone thought he’d be this good. He has 672 yards rushing and 419 yards passing so far this season. He is playing the Marshall Faulk role in the Mike Martz offense perfectly.

Vikings
Jared Allen – I was going to go with Christian Ponder, but he’s only played in 2 games, so he still has plenty of time to suck. Jared Allen though, has TWELVE AND A HALF FUCKING SACKS. He also has a pick, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. We knew he was good, but this is some video game s**t right here.

Packers
Jordy Nelson – The former 4th stringer is now the Packers’ second best option at WR. James Jones and Donald Driver are wondering what the hell happened too.

Lions
Chris Houston – The biggest weakness on the Lions roster this year appeared to be the secondary. Chris Houston has four picks, two pick-sixes and is a league leader in pass deflections as well.

NFC South

Saints
Jimmy Graham – The 2nd year player out of Miami wasn’t expected to do a whole lot. Did you know he has more receptions this year than Calvin Johnson? He is on pace for over 1,500 yards receiving this year. If Drew Brees wants him to, he will.

49ers
Alex Smith – Maybe he started showing signs of efficiency late last year, but rarely does that mean anything. Everyone wondered who would play QB in SF this year, and when Harbaugh chose Smith everyone wrote the 49ers off. After what feels like a decade in the league, he is finally not sucking. Who says giving someone a 6th, 7th and even 8th chance isn’t ever going to pay off?

Cardinals
Beanie Wells – Yes, he was a first round pick. Yes, coming out of tOSU he was a beast. I watched every carry in Wells’ college career and while he was good (and sometimes great), I never thought he would make it through a game in the NFL. He was (and still kind of is) the very definition of brittle.  He averages 4.5 YPC and has 7 TDs. That sounds pretty good right about now.

Panthers
Cam Newton – Believe it or not, picking Newton wasn’t as easy as it sounds. Who would’ve thought it would’ve taken a rookie QB to resurrect Steve Smith’s career? We all thought he was very close to done. But I had to go with Newton, because even though he was the #1 overall pick last year, I think EVERYONE thought he would need more time to become a real threat in the NFL. Boy were we all wrong.

NFC West

Seahawks
Doug Baldwin – This undrafted rookie free agent is quietly becoming the next Marques Colston, leading the Hawks in receptions. Except he has Tarvaris Jackson, not Drew Brees, throwing to him.

Falcons
Corey Peters – Ever since that dumbass offsides penalty he earned against Tampa, Peters has been rock solid. Plus he’s got some decent hands for a DE (or was that just a s**tty pass?).

Bucs
Preston Parker – After catching just four passes last season, the Buccaneers were really counting on Parker to step it up this season. He has responded by becoming one of Josh Freeman’s favorite targets.

Rams
Chris Long – The son of Radio Shack spokesperson Howie Long came into the league with huge expectations. You could really say he hasn’t had a breakout season in his career yet, although he did pretty well last year. He’s already got 6 sacks, but god damn the Rams suck something fierce.

= = = = =

Those are my mid-season NFL surprises. What are yours?