Unsung Heroes

I wanted to highlight a few guys that have been huge to our success that don’t make many headlines / get talked about much.

Cameron Johnson P – it’s a punter I know. He flips the field- constantly. No one ever talks about how big it is making the other team start at or inside the 20, getting a 3 and out, and the other punter puts you on the 40. That’s a 20 yard play which sparks a scoring drive. The points scored based on starting position has a direct correlation. I don’t remember one bad punt or one mistake of his. He is a big reason why we have the best ST in the league.

Jerrod Johnson – I have personally been around him in different phases of his football career (I worked in scouting / recruiting / other positions for 9 seasons) and he’s a great guy and ultimately pro when he approaches his craft. He spoke very highly of CJ prior to the draft to our coaches / execs and he had success coaching him in a tournament prior to his NFL career. If you want to see how highly CJ thinks of Jerrod – watch every drive and who he moves over to and sits next to. He’s also a great role model that shares the same values as CJ. I hope we can keep him as long as possible and I’m sure Demeco and CJ feel the same.

Shaq Mason – he shows up, doesn’t make mistakes, and is an anchor on that interior. Hasn’t missed a snap. Rave reviews in NE, Brady wanted him in TB, Caserio made a modest trade and contract and we’ve gotten to benefit the best part of having good OL – you barely hear about them because they just show up and do their job.

Frank Ross – can’t remember a bad special teams play this season. We win the special teams phase just about every week. Great job on making sure this unit is always prepared and disciplined.

Chris Strauser – (he’s our OL coach for those who aren’t familiar). Chris built that colts OL that helped Jonathan Taylor have an historic season in Indy. He played musical chairs with our OL all season due to injuries and this last week completely dominated in the trenches against a top 5, maybe even top 3, defense.

DTs – Rankins, Collin’s mostly. We have the sixth best rush defense and a lot of it has to do with not being able to get gashed up the middle because of our DT play. Rankins also got the 2nd most sacks he has in his career while Collin’s added another 5 from the inside. Another way to see how well the DTs are playing is how they keep the linebackers freed up to make plays.

I’m sure there are others (and I made a point to avoid any player I’ve seen a thread on). Anyone else have any others or thoughts?