Biggest Surprise so far in 2024?

The increase of fans joining BGO, while the reason might be due to a certain place closing shop, glad to see all the new peeps and bringing the 🔥 in threads and chat. Football wise, I picked 6 wins at the start, we're ahead of the curve no matter how you look at it. Harris and Co blew the shit up with roster turnover and the future looks better than it has in, well, many many moons. Hail !!
 
I gotta give it to the man at the top who ultimately owns responsibility, GM Adam Peters. I was really concerned about who would drive the franchises future and I think the owners made a great decision...we will see.

 
If I remember correctly, Gano missed a couple of game winners, which led to the belief that he wasn't good under pressure/choker. Akers was a perennial pro bowler that Norvo cut prematurely after a couple of misses. Yeah, it was Suisham who went to Pitt, I think.
We had one rookie in there who set the record for the longest streak of made FGs to start a career. He played hurt the next year and missed a few, and eventually he got cut because his kickoffs weren't long enough. Was that Novak?
 
All the positives such as Adam Peters' decisions, the play of Luvu and the rookie QB etc are not really surprises to me. I mean I wasn't sure obviously but it's no real suprise they are having success. To me the DTs being perhaps the weakest group on the entire team is the biggest suprise. I thought Payne, Allen and Newton meant we were at least going to have strong DTs. Instead we have seen gaping holes up the middle and little interior pass rush from Game 1 and we didn't expect that. .
 
burgold said:
Bunch of blocked kicks as I recall. Gano had a really slow wind up as a rookie. Instead of coaching him up we cut him. The weird part was that I think he was a pretty high draft pick for us. Can't really remember though.

We seem to have cut a bunch of kickers who wound up being really good. Ironically, I think I was frustrated and okay with cuttng most of them at the time of the cut.
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We didn't draft him. He was an UDFA walk on for the Ravens but was cut. Played in the UFL and later got picked up by us to replace Shaun Suisham.
 
Being 8-5 with the unimpressive OT room
 
Ashburn Dave said:
My biggest surprise is how good JD is.

Second surprise is the OL and how well they have played.
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Credit goes to the OL but I don’t think the job Kliff has done putting the offense and specifically the OL in positions where they are not exposed can be understated.

He has been a magician, as long as he’s not dealing with a ton of injuries, he’s kept the team ahead of the sticks all season and protected the OL.

My 3 most surprising things:

1. Defensive improvements
2. Efficiency of the offense overall
3. 8-5.
 
Everyone has brought up fantastic surprises leaving good ones in short supply, so I got to thinking. And so for me the biggest surprise is just how damn good Adam Peters is at his job. He is batting an amazing % in numerous categories that has this franchise well well well ahead of schedule and becoming year over year contenders. I knew he was good but damn if we didnt hit the home run of all home runs with this guy in charge. Amazing work by Harris and the team for getting the most important piece in our turn around locked down from the get go.
 
I’m surprised we have a winning record and a capable team that is pushing for a playoff spot. If you told me that at the beginning of the year, I might have thought you lost it. I didn’t expect this kind of season until next year at the earliest. I thought we were so bereft of talent that we would not be competitive. Big props to the coaching and the leadership this team has.
 
The obvious answers have been stated and I agree that the biggest surprise is how well Daniels played. The previous few games, he still looked better than most rookies look, but we were all wondering what was wrong with him. That’s just because he had set expectations so high a little slump had us thinking the worst.

The second obvious one for me is how good Luvu is. This guy is all over the place and is already a difference maker on defense. He can only get better once they put more talent around him.

But an off the board surprise is how all the previous regime’s top picks were cut this season. I thought for sure that Davis and Forbes would improve with better coaching. But those guys just flat out can’t play football. Davis has been picked up by two teams, but has yet to see the field. We will see if anyone gives Forbes a shot. But I figured having coaches with a good defensive reputation would be able to get something out of those guys, even if it wasn’t first round value. But they just cut bait and moved on. So yeah, that has surprised me and I’m all for it.
 
I'll bet you Forbes ends up in Dallas - briefly. Jerry raved about him and he won't be able to resist the urge to prove that he can turn him into a contributor.
 
I wish Emmanuel well. By all accounts a nice young man and, of course, he never stole a freight train. I hope he has been wise with his contract money because I don’t think he can overcome his main physical limitation.
 
Chris said:
I don’t think he can overcome his main physical limitation.
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Yes, that is Forbes after leg-day being absolutely dwarfed by a high-school student.

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Drafting 167 pound players in Round 1 to play corner is one way to get your ticket punched as a GM in today’s game with the size and strength of NFL WRs you see around the league.

It was a surprise to me that Forbes lasted this long. If Lattimore was healthy after the trade Forbes would likely have been released 3 weeks ago.

My surprises to upside in 2024:

1. Daniels is ahead of any offseason schedule for the quarterback. Remember some talking heads pushing McCarthy as the second best quarterback in the draft?

2. Brian Robinson. When he is good to go and the line gives him a chance Brian is a top 10 back in the league. His combination of quickness and size causes fits for the defense. When he is on he’s the variable that makes the offense so hard to scheme for.

3. I don’t understand why Carolina gave up on Luvu and Burns. But a tip to the cap to the Panthers for giving us a playmaker in his prime.

4. Brandon Coleman. He needs to stay healthy but the guy I think has shown he is capable of playing LT in the NFL. To get a potential multi year starter at LT in Round 3 would be a major coup.

5. It’s really amazing how well Sainristil has performed as a rookie playing out of position to help out what started as an atrocious defense in September. Lattimore is going to make Mike a much better player when he gets on the field.

6. Wagner is ageless. 100 tackles by Week 13? I’ll take it.

7. Austin Seibert. He helped win some games for us after all the early failures with other kickers. I hope he can return to form when healthy.

Areas of concern or disappointment in 2024:

1. Performance of DTs. Our highest paid position group looked anything but for most of the season. Newton hasn’t made any discernible impact.

2. Sinnott and McCaffrey as #2 and #3 picks are barely noticeable on the roster. Given the lack of young, quality depth at TE and WR it’s concerning these guys in Week 13 produced 16 yards on offense on just 3 catches.

3. All of Ron’s picks. We couldn’t salvage any of the top selections and the team improved with their departures. Dotson, Davis, Forbes - don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
 
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