I would go with Neal, easily. Burnett got outplayed by a journeyman, Charlie Peprah, after he went down with an injury last year. Quarless was awful, and I sure am tired of hearing how the fact that Finley sucked as a rookie and then got good in his second year means that Quarless should do the same thing. Jordy Nelson is not a bad choice, but he has already kind of made his splash. Starks could also be good, but only if Grant gets hurt again or fails to completely recover from his injury.
Originally Posted by: Greg C.
I agree if he's healthy I think Neal will have a break out year, he looked like a best in limited action last year. Also if asked to focus on DE and maybe lose a little weight I wouldn't be surprised to see DL Green step it up as he (like Raji) has surprise pass rush for 335+ pounds... and maybe a little lighter he could move even better.
Burnett was playing out of position IMO. He's a FS/CB who didn't take attacking angles in the run game nor willing to get in there fast and hit the guy. Burnett was great at covering, but bad with the physical side of S. Peprah played better because it was his true position at SS.
Quarless could seriously move, though he couldn't catch to well. If he can fix that problem I think he could have a break out, though I'm guessing it's not going to be suddenly fixed. Unless they figure out he has bad eye sight or something and simple contacts fix the problem.
I've been waiting for Nelson to break out, and he kind of did at the end of the season, and some say possible broken the Super Bowl receiving yards record if he didn't drop all those passes.
But one I think most are over looking is ZOMBO... first year playing OLB does a good job starting and has the tools to improve. He has the bull rush which Coach Greene has said he likes to use to set up other moves (which Greene made a great career out of). Zombo doesn't yet seem to have the other pass rush moves down. But he does very good against the run in attacking and controlling his gaps. And doesn't do bad in coverage.