5 NFL Players Facing Career-Defining Seasons in 2015

Every single year around the NFL there are a few players that must prove themselves in order to either retain their starting jobs or prove to other teams they are worth large deals when entering free agency. This year is no different.

From an often-maligned quarterback in San Francisco to an injury-plagued starter in Philadelphia, here are five NFL players facing career-defining seasons.

1. Colin Kaepernick, Quarterback, San Francisco 49ers

Kaepernick led the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance and a NFC Championship game in his first two seasons as San Francisco’s starter. At that point, the team figured he was worthy of a six-year, $114 million contract with $61 million “guaranteed.”

A little over a year later, and Kaepernick’s career is at a crossroads. Gone is Jim Harbaugh, who made the decision to replace Alex Smith with Kaepernick under center in 2012. He’s now faced with looking to contend in a difficult division without the likes of Frank Gore, Mike Iupati and Michael Crabtree on offense.

Despite this, the much-maligned signal caller does have the best supporting cast he’s seen since taking over for Smith back in 2012—a supporting cast that includes fresh young running back Carlos Hyde as well as veteran additions Reggie Bush and Torrey Smith. If Kaepernick can’t improve with this talent around him, San Francisco may make the decision to part ways following the 2015 season. After all, the team wouldn’t owe him a penny of guaranteed money.

2. Victor Cruz, Wide Receiver, New York Giants

The prior success Cruz saw in the NFL had almost everything to do with his speed off the line and what was A-plus athleticism. Unfortunately for the 27-year-old receiver, he’s coming off a horrendous knee injury he suffered just six games into the 2014 season. While there’s no need to show the injury here, it’s safe to say rebounding from such devastation is going to be incredibly hard moving forward.

Cruz’s specific injury—a torn right patellar tendon—is important to note because it will negatively impact the receiver’s short-area burst during the early stages of his return. Knowing that it’s going to take time for his lower body to readjust to football speed, the larger issue here is going to be how Cruz performs in the second half of the season, which will have been over a year since suffering the injury. If the tape shows regression in the aspects that made Cruz one of the most dynamic receivers in the NFL, it could spell doom for his career moving forward. Let’s sure hope not.

3. Greg Hardy, Defensive End, Dallas Cowboys

This isn’t all about Hardy keeping his nose clean off the field. We already know that the former Pro Bowler has what it takes to be a dominating pass-rush threat in the NFL. It’s now all about him proving to the Cowboys and other teams that he’s worth the character risk.

Normally a defensive end that has recorded 27 sacks in his previous 32 games would be looking at a rather big payday. This isn’t the case with Hardy, who is suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season due to an ugly domestic violence situation. This means that he’s going to have to perform at an even higher level and remain “clean” off the field, if there’s going to be a market for his services. Even then, there are some teams that simply aren’t going to bother taking the risk. All Hardy can do now is show up and perform well on the field while getting his act together off the field. If that happens, the situation should work itself out.

4. Michael Crabtree, Wide Receiver, Oakland Raiders

Crabtree entered March with the expectation that he would be able to earn a long-term contract on the free agent market. This despite the fact that he hasn’t been the same receiver since suffering an Achilles injury prior to the 2013 season. Unfortunately for this former top-10 pick, he had to settle on a one-year, $3.2 million contract. In what amounts to nothing short of a prove-it deal, Crabtree needs to find a way to show other teams that he can be a valuable resource moving forward.

The good news here is that Crabtree will likely start for a Raiders team that has a solid pocket passer in Derek Carr set to toss the rock. The bad news is that the former 49ers No. 1 receiver averaged just 6.5 yards per target and dropped 10 percent of the passes thrown in his direction last year. In reality, Crabtree simply needs to perform better if he’s going to be anything more than a No. 3 wide receiver on a good team. He has that opportunity in 2015.

5. Sam Bradford, Quarterback, Philadelphia Eagles

Two torn ACL’s in as many years. A previous inability to actually prove he can be a franchise quarterback in the NFL. These are two indicators that suggest the 2015 NFL season is going to be one that either makes or breaks Bradford’s career as a starter in the NFL. This is magnified by the fact that Bradford has apparently made the decision to play out his contract year without continuing to negotiate an extension with his new team. Talk about betting on yourself.

As it relates to the situation Bradford currently finds himself in, everything seems to be in place for him to have success. Philadelphia boasts one of the best running back tandems in the NFL in the form of DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews. It also has one of the best offensive lines in football and an offensive-minded head coach in Chip Kelly that utilizes a quarterback-friendly system. If Bradford can’t succeed with all these indicators heavily favored in his direction, he will never be a starter-caliber signal caller in the NFL.

Photo: USA Today Sports