NFL

25 NFL Players Who Suffered Serious Sophomore Slumps

Darren - September 14, 2020
NFL

25 NFL Players Who Suffered Serious Sophomore Slumps

Darren - September 14, 2020

Mandatory Credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

3. Sam Bradford

Does it count as a slump if your rookie season was bad too? Well, in this case, we are going to say yes, because Bradford totally fell off of the wagon in his second NFL season. To be fair, the Rams were poor when he joined them with a shoulder injury from his time with the Oklahoma Sooners. But at least he showed some promise.

Mandatory Credit: Turf Show Times

Then he just went into total decline. It was like leaving a book outside in the rain. So much promise but you can never get to end because it turned into a wet pile of mush. His pass completion rate dropped by seven percent to 53 as he threw the same number of interceptions as touchdowns (6/6).

Mandatory Credit: Sports Illustrated

2. Mel Farr

The Detroit Lions thought that they had themselves a future Hall of Famer in Farr, but that turned out not to be the case. The running back had an outrageous rookie season but suffered one of the worst sophomore slumps on this list. The trouble was that this turned into a neverending career slump thanks to injuries.

Mandatory Credit: Sports Illustrated

Farr rushed for over 1,200 yards in 13 games, as the Lions’ offense compiled over 2,000 yards between them. But it took six seasons for him to add another 1,200 to his career total. He fell to under 600 yards in his second season with just three touchdowns, compared to six the previous year.

Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports

1. Baker Mayfield

One of the most high-profile sophomore slumps in recent years, Mayfield revived the Browns when he broke onto the scene as a rookie. They thought that they had themselves a franchise quarterback and his first season backed that up. He threw for a record 27 touchdowns as he inspired the Browns to seven wins after zero the previous year.

Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports

But Mayfield took a step backward in 2019. He threw 21 interceptions as Cleveland regressed. Furthermore, his confidence came off as arrogance and he struggled in big games. Only time will tell whether or not he’s a one-hit-wonder or an elite talent.

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