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5 young NFL players set to explode in 2016

Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson is one of the top NFL players at any position
Courtesy of USA Today Images

Last season saw a ton of rookies impress. From Jameis Winston’s dazzling performance in Tampa Bay to Amari Cooper’s 1,000-yard season in Oakland, top picks strutted their stuff big time.

Heck, even some mid-round picks proved to be worth a higher slot than which they were drafted. We can look at Washington Redskins running back Matt Jones and Minnesota Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs as case studies there.

Now, heading into the 2016 campaign, here are five second-year players prepared to take the NFL by storm.

1. Marcus Mariota, quarterback, Tennessee Titans 

This former Heisman winner had himself a quietly good rookie season prior to going down to injury. He completed 62.2 percent of his passes with 2,800-plus yards and 19 touchdowns. Also important to note, Mariota only threw 10 interceptions in 12 starts.

He did this despite one of the league’s worst running games behind him. Antonio Andrews led the squad in rushing with just 520 yards while averaging a putrid 3.6 yards per attempt. Overall, Tennessee finished in the bottom quarter of the NFL in rushing.

This is definitely going to change in 2016. The Titans traded for former NFL Offensive Player of the Year DeMarco Murray before adding reigning Heisman winner Derrick Henry in the second round of the draft.

Through three preseason games, those two have combined for 300 rushing yards and are averaging 6.7 yards per attempt.

If Super Mario finds himself in position to take the field with a strong running game, he’s absolutely going to dominate in the AFC South. As of right now, it looks like that’s going to be the case.

2. David Johnson, running back, Arizona Cardinals

There’s absolutely no question about it. Johnson is the Cardinals starting running back heading into his sophomore campaign. And for good reason.

The former third-round pick was dazzling in part-time action as a rookie. He gained 1,038 total yards and 12 scores on just 161 touches. Yes, that’s an average of 6.5 yards per touch in the NFL. Think about that for a second.

One of the biggest issues for Johnson early in his rookie career was pass protection. It’s in this that head coach Bruce Arians just didn’t trust him enough to give him consistent action. Now that this area has improved, watch out.

Not only has Johnson been showing up his teammates during the summer, he’s continued this stellar performance on the field. The small-school back is averaging 5.3 yards in limited action during the preseason.

It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Johnson flirt with 2,000-plus total yards and 15-plus scores as a sophomore. That’s how good he’s going to be.

3. Dante Fowler Jr., EDGE, Jacksonville Jaguars

Dante Fowler Jr.

After missing his entire rookie season with a torn ACL, Fowler Jr. enters his unofficial first season with the Jaguars as an important figure for their defense.

With the ton of youngsters they have on that side of the ball, Gus Bradley and Co. need to find a consistent pass rush. All eyes are on this Florida product to do just that.

The good news here. Fowler Jr. looked absolutely dominating in camp. Considering he was going up against the first-team offensive line, that’s definitely a good sign.

“Fowler was the talk of the first few weeks of training camp, embarrassing Luke Joeckel, Jermey Parnell and any other offensive tackle put in front of him in drills,” SB Nation’s Big Cat Country reported earlier in August.

While the young EDGE rusher hasn’t done a whole bunch in limited preseason action, that shouldn’t be a concern. He’s getting reps at a time in his career when he needs those practice reps to learn the nuances and speed of the NFL.

Once Fowler Jr. gets this figured out, his production will follow suit. Based on the talent we saw at Florida and during the summer, that should be sooner rather than later.

4. Tyler Lockett, wide receiver, Seattle Seahawks

How good was Lockett as a rookie last season? He caught 74 percent of the 69 passes thrown in his direction. He did so while dropping a grand total of two passes. All said, the former third-round pick put up 664 yards and six touchdowns.

Now slated to be one of Seattle’s starting outside receivers this season, there’s absolutely no reason to believe Lockett won’t be able to continue this domination.

Giving him more playing time would only ensure this. After all, here’s a youngster that put up 30 receptions and a 75 percent catch rate in his final seven games last season. It’s not a coincidence that this came at the same exact time Seattle moved Doug Baldwin inside to the slot.

Now that Lockett has created a solid relationship with Russell Wilson, the sky seems to be the limit here. Add in an entire offseason of the two working together, and that’s magnified even further.

5. Vic Beasley, EDGE, Atlanta Falcons

Vic Beasley

Beasley may have racked up just four sacks as a rookie. This is a prime example of just how overrated sack totals can be. The former top-10 pick ranked 12th among 4-3 defensive ends with 33 quarterback hurries.

Now slated to play from a stand-up spot more often in Dan Quinn’s hybrid system, Beasley’s ability to beat blockers on the outside is going to be front and center as a sophomore.

That’s going to be the most-important thing here. Whenever you can move an athletic freak like Beasley around, you’re going to create a ton of mismatches.

Should he take advantage of that, there’s no reason to believe the Clemson product can’t put up 12-plus sacks as a sophomore.

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