Biggest winners and losers from 2015 NFL preseason action

The 2015 NFL preseason produced some major winners and some big-time losers.

Throughout the past month, we have witnessed heated quarterback battles, rookies aiming to impress, multiple injuries and personal victories. Here are some of the good, the bad and just plain ugly that went down this preseason.

Winner: Chip Kelly and his quarterback madness

Everyone thought Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly was completely nuts when he made some shocking moves this offseason. However, his plotting paid off during the preseason, especially as it concerns quarterback Sam Bradford.

Bradford had a wonderful preseason in his limited opportunities as the team’s starter. He completed 86.7 percent of his passes, which included a perfect performance in preseason Week 2 when he nailed 10 of 10 passes for 121 yards and three touchdowns.

As for Tim Tebow time in Philly, the quarterback has survived so far. The Eagles wound up trading second-season quarterback Matt Barkley to the Arizona Cardinals after Tebow out-performed him where it counted most in the final preseason game. Tebow completed 11 of 17 passes for 189 yards, two touchdowns and one pick.

Hopefully, his performance was strong enough to earn Kelly’s faith to secure a spot on the Eagles’ final 53-man roster.

Loser: The dysfunctional Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins preseason has been a ridiculous mess.

Alleged concussions, smack talk, discord in the front office and an anonymous teammate claiming that quarterback Robert Griffin III should play with the Eagles have all caused Washington to be labeled the most dysfunctional team in the NFL.

After Griffin sat out in Week 3 due to concussion symptoms, the team announced that backup quarterback Kirk Cousins would be the starter for the season.

Somehow among all the chaos surrounding RG3, the team managed to win three of their four preseason games. However, this is the preseason, and wins and losses really don’t amount to a hill of beans when third-and fourth-string players are involved.

We’ll see if Washington’s chaotic status improves when things get real with Cousins under center, soon enough.

Winner: Top-tier wide receivers get paid bank

Dallas Cowboys star wideout Dez Bryant, who threatened to miss the season opener if he didn’t get a new deal, was the first to get the ball rolling to prompt his class of receivers to get paid.

Bryant signed a five-year deal worth $70 million and $45 million guaranteed. Almost within minutes of Bryant’s new deal, Denver Broncos wideout Demaryius Thomas, who had skipped all of the Broncos offseason activities, inked nearly the same deal as Bryant except he received $43.5 million guaranteed.

These signings prompted Indianapolis Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton to secure a five-year extension worth $65 million including $28 million guaranteed. The last of the elite class of wide receivers thus far to get a new deal was Atlanta Falcons stud receiver Julio Jones, whose patience paid off. Jones recently signed a five-year $71.26 million deal that guarantees him $47 million.

Cincinnati Bengals lead wide receiver A.J. Green, who is due a contract extension as well, sits the odd man out. If he doesn’t get a new contract soon he’ll be a free agent in 2016, and it will be fascinating to see if he stays in Cincinnati.

Loser: Seattle Seahawks’ bumbling first-team offense 

The Seattle Seahawks took until their fourth preseason game to finally score an offensive touchdown, which was rather disturbing.

Prior to this, their offense had been a mess, so much so that head coach Pete Carroll expressed his frustration last week.

During the preseason, we watched Wilson struggle to connect with his receivers, and in particular, he failed to develop chemistry with tight end Jimmy Graham. He overthrew twice to his monster target near the red zone, botching what could have been two touchdowns against the San Diego Chargers in preseason Week 3.

The Seahawks’ offense finished the preseason ranked as the 30th-worst in the NFL. And, while this sounds pretty awful on paper, the Seahawks are bound to get it together once the regular season kicks off – hopefully.

Winner: Detroit Lions undrafted rookie Zach Zenner

Zenner is making a case to be the rookie running back in Detroit that everyone is excited about.

He comes undrafted from the Football Conference Subdivision. He played for the South Dakota State Jackrabbits where he totaled 6,548 yards and 61 touchdowns. Zenner also had three straight seasons where he rushed for at least 2,000 yards.

In the Lions’ four preseason games, Zenner totaled 183 yards and averaged 5.2 yards per carry with one rushing touchdown. He also tallied 66 receiving yards on eight catches, scoring one receiving touchdown.

Zenner’s skills haven’t gone unnoticed by quarterback Matthew Stafford, who noted this of the rookie (via the Detroit Free Press):

“But he’s a smart guy, he understands where he needs to be in protection and that kind of thing, which is big. And then when he’s gotten his chance with the football in his hands, he’s done a good job.”

Currently, Zenner, who is working under small $5,000 signing bonus, looks to be a lock to secure one of the Lions’ final roster spots. In fact, he led the NFL in preseason rushing yards. If this doesn’t state Zenner’s case, we’re not sure what would.

Loser: Trent Richardson’s dying career 

Preseason Week 3 was the end of the line for embattled running back Trent Richardson, whom the Oakland Raiders cut after a lackluster training camp.

All Richardson could accomplish in his preseason games was a lousy 2.8 yards per carry. For this, Richardson was recently labeled the “worst running back of all time” by former NFL safety, Ryan Clark.

The former first-round draft pick from 2012, who showed so much talent in his rookie season, is likely done in the NFL at the young age of 25. But hey, at least Richardson walks away with the $600,000 the Raiders guaranteed him when he was signed.

Not all is bad in this scenario.

Winner: Jarryd Hayne, the Rugby star from down under 

Hayne came from the Rugby League in Australia to join the San Francisco 49ers during the preseason with hopes of landing a final roster spot.

And, boy did the Aussie dazzle. Speaking on Hayne’s innate instinct for beating tackles in the preseason is one of the best returners in NFL history, Brian Mitchell, who shared this (via Comcast Mid-Atlantic):

“Some guys try to set you up and other guys just instinctively make guys miss. And (Hayne) just instinctively makes guys miss. He lowers his shoulder pads when he needs to and he even switches the ball up in his hands.”

Hayne made his defenders look silly this preseason, and he tallied the second-highest rushing yards in the league—175 with an average of seven yards per carry.

Perhaps poor T-Rich could take some pointers from Hayne, who has terrific shot at making the 49ers final roster.

Loser: Pittsburgh Steelers kicker jinx 

Kickers don’t get injured often, but two on the same team, back-to-back, is quite unusual.

In the Hall of Fame Game, the Pittsburgh Steelers lost kicker Shawn Suisham for the season after he attempted to make a tackle to open the second half of the game. Suisham sustained a torn ACL before even making contact with his target. That wasn’t exactly the brightest of moves on the his end.

After Suisham’s injury, the Steelers signed veteran kicker Garrett Hartley. Hartley in turn injured his hamstring in a first-half kickoff during the preseason game against the Detroit Lions. Head coach Mike Tomlin noted that the injury didn’t look good and that Hartley may not be ready for the season’s opener.

For now, the Steelers will have to rely upon Josh Scobee, whom the team traded a 2016 sixth-round draft pick to obtain from the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Winner: Alex Smith puts an end to his touchdown drought

Up until the preseason, Smith has gone over a year without passing a touchdown to a Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver.

That’s not exactly an NFL record one wants to own. Finally, Smith’s drought ended when he passed two touchdowns to new wide receiver Jeremy Maclin in the second and third preseason games.

Perhaps the Chiefs signed Maclin as a “quarterback whisperer” to bring Smith out of his funk. Whatever the case may be, news of Smith’s touchdowns to Maclin sparked up fantasy football talk for which the wide receiver went on an epic Twitter rant regarding the topic.

Hopefully, the Smith-to-Maclin touchdown trend will continue into the regular season. Fantasy football owners of Maclin would certainly be thrilled, despite his hatred of the sport.

Loser: Wide receivers and ACL tears 

Two NFL teams lost their best wide receivers for the season after they sustained ACL tears.

First, Carolina Panthers wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin tore his ACL in a non-contact play where he made an awkward fall to avoid a defender during a joint practice session with the Miami Dolphins. His injury is quite devastating to the Panthers offense, which is now forced to get rookie wide receiver Devin Funchess up to speed to cover Benjamin’s role.

https://twitter.com/MarcDopherWYFF/status/634127003713732608

Then, the Green Bay Packers lost star wideout Jordy Nelson in the second preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nelson took a tumble in a non-contact play where he first appeared to have injured his ankle. Further tests confirmed the worst – that Nelson had torn his ACL.

The Packers are at least in better hands than the Panthers with skilled, second-season wide receiver Devante Adams ready to assume the role as the No. 2 receiver playing opposite Randall Cobb.

Winner: New England Patriots 

Perhaps one of the biggest wins for the preseason was when U.S. District Judge Richard Berman ruled to completely vacate quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for his alleged role in “Deflategate.”

Brady will now be able to play in the team’s season opener that takes place Thursday, Sept. 10 when the Patriots host the Pittsburgh Steelers.

No one need wonder any more how the Patriots will get by the first four games with backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo under center. When the fabulous Brady news broke, social media went wild, Las Vegas odds-makers had to quickly readjust Patriots game odds, and fantasy football players who already drafted Brady rejoiced.

Somehow, Brady always finds a way to rise to the top.

Loser: Stupid training camp fights 

The boys-will-be-boys theme definitely applied during preseason training camps.

Numerous ridiculous camp fights broke out—some between members of the same team and some during joint-practice sessions. While coaches see value in the joint practices, they present the perfect breeding ground for players to become overly aggressive, which causes punches to be thrown.

The first notable fight during the preseason included a nasty brawl between Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant and cornerback Tyler Patmon.

Additionally, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and cornerback Josh Norman got into it, which is a major no-no for a franchise quarterback.

And, speaking of quarterbacks, New York Jets Geno Smith took a sucker punch in the jaw from former teammate IK Enemkpali in a locker-room spat over $600 bucks that Smith allegedly owed to Enemkpali. Smith is likely out his starting job once he returns to action in a three or four weeks.

A major brawl also broke out between the Dallas Cowboys and the St. Louis Rams in a joint practice. Fortunately, no players sustained any major injuries due to their immature behavior.

Winner: Minnesota Vikings 

The Vikings have a fresh outlook after posting four of five wins during the preseason, and second-season quarterback Teddy Bridgewater performed beautifully.

If it matters, the Vikings only lost their final preseason game in which all of the starters sat out.

Over the course of Bridgwater’s four games, he completed 82.9 percent of his passes, including a perfect outing against the Dallas Cowboys where Bridgewater nailed seven for seven passes totaling 76 yards. He threw one touchdown and was never intercepted all preseason long, finishing with a 111.3 overall quarterback rating.

The presence of running back Adrian Peterson should only enhance Bridgewater’s success this season. Additionally, wide receivers Mike Wallace, whom Bridgewater connected nicely on some deep passes, and second-season Charles Johnson look to be gems on the Vikings offense.

The Vikings are poised to give the other NFC north teams some legit competition this season.

Loser: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell 

A win for the New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady was in turn a major loss for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. He is walking around now with egg on his face after failing to make Brady’s four-game suspension for his alleged role in “Deflategate” stick.

The only thing that’s deflated now is Goodell’s ego after once again botching up another NFL punishment. Goodell of course plans to appeal U.S. District Judge Richard Berman’s ruling. However some NFL owners just wish that the Commish would let the whole “Deflategate” scandal die already.

Anything short of the commissioner being successful in his attempt to appeal a federal judgement should have his job in major jeopardy. Goodell just doesn’t seem to get the fact he messed with the most powerful quarterback in the NFL, and it backfired. It’s time to put “Deflategate” to rest.