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Father Time remains undefeated. When it comes to professional sports, athletes can only stay at the pinnacle of their powers for so long. Some players are able to stiff-arm the clock for two, three or even 10 years longer than most, but it eventually comes for everyone.
Sometimes the decline is swift—like Peyton Manning's shocking regression in his final year. Sometimes, a player drifts slowly downward, like Manning's brother Eli. Regardless of what it looks like, the decline is going to come.
For some NFL stars, the decline has arrived in 2020, whether it's in the form of a nosedive or not. Those are the players we'll examine here. We'll specifically focus on longtime starters or players with Pro Bowl accolades on their resumes who are becoming NFL afterthoughts because of dwindling production, injuries or a combination of both.
Which players have hit the slide zone this season? Let's take a look.
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Ageless wonder Larry Fitzgerald is still kicking, but he's no longer the superstar receiver he once was. The 37-year-old hasn't had a 1,000-yard campaign since 2017, and he has largely been an afterthought in the Arizona Cardinals offense this year.
This is partially due to the offseason addition of DeAndre Hopkins, of course, which has pushed Fitzgerald into a vastly reduced role. However, the 11-time Pro Bowler has also seen a decline in his per-play production.
Fitzgerald is averaging 5.9 yards per target, the second-worst mark of his career, and will likely have a career low in receiving yards. He's missed two games on the reserve/COVID-19 list, and with four games remaining, he has just 336 receiving yards on the season.
Fitzgerald's current low is 734 yards, which came in 2018 with the tandem of Josh Rosen and Sam Bradford at quarterback.
Of course, Fitzgerald does have 43 receptions this season and could continue his career well beyond 2020. However, he may never again be a premier pass-catcher.
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Running back Todd Gurley joined the Atlanta Falcons in the offseason hoping to revitalize his career. After four years and three Pro Bowl seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, he fell off in 2019 in his last season in L.A., averaging just 3.8 yards per carry and failing to reach 900 rushing yards for just the second time in his career.
The Rams released Gurley, which led to him joining the Falcons. However, the resurgence Gurley had hoped for hasn't come.
While he did have a 121-yard game back in Week 5, Gurley has played like a shadow of his former self. He's averaging just 3.6 yards per carry and has seen his role reduced in recent weeks. Gurley missed Week 12 and then logged just eight carries each in his last two games, with the Falcons giving more opportunities to Brian Hill and Ito Smith.
Can Gurley still be a serviceable starter in the NFL? Sure. He's still just 26 years old and can batter opposing defenses with his physicality. However, Gurley's time as arguably the league's best running back has long since passed.
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Running back Mark Ingram II was the 28th overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft. He had two Pro Bowl campaigns with the New Orleans Saints and notched a third with the Baltimore Ravens last season. Ingram's 2019 Pro Bowl nod came largely due to his touchdown production (10 rushing touchdowns, 15 total) and his presence on a 14-2 NFL squad.
While Ingram averaged an impressive 5.0 yards per carry last season, he just barely topped 1,000 yards on the ground and had just 26 receptions.
Ingram has been even less of a factor this season. The Ravens have given more opportunities to Gus Edwards and rookie second-round pick J.K. Dobbins. Ingram, meanwhile, has seen just 63 carries for 260 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 4.1 yards per carry.
It's unlikely that the soon-to-be 31-year-old will ever again get the opportunity to rack up double-digit touchdowns as he did last year or to be the workhorse back he was in New Orleans. He can still be an important piece of a committee, but there are too many younger and cheaper backs out there for Ingram to be a centerpiece.
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To some degree, Josh Norman's best days have been behind him for some time. He was a first-team All-Pro with the Carolina Panthers in 2015, signed a big-money deal with the Washington Football Team the following offseason and fell out of favor during his four seasons in the nation's capital. He was pulled from the starting lineup altogether near the end of the 2019 season.
Norman joined the Buffalo Bills this past offseason and has largely been a role player since. He has made two starts and appeared in five games, but he is not a significant piece of the Buffalo defense.
In Week 12, Norman played just one defensive snap. He played a mere two special teams snaps in Week 13.
Norman will turn 33 years old later this month, and while there's nothing wrong with being a role player at that point in an NFL career, it's clear that he will never again be an All-Pro pass defender.
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Offensive tackle Russell Okung was a consistent starter for the Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers from 2010 to 2018, and he made two Pro Bowl appearances in that span. However, he was limited to just six games in 2019, and the Chargers subsequently traded him to the Carolina Panthers for guard Trai Turner.
In Carolina, Okung has been serviceable but not the high-end player he was earlier in his career. Injuries have again limited his opportunities—he's played just six games—and he's been inconsistent when on the field.
According to Pro Football Focus, Okung has been responsible for two penalties and two sacks allowed in just 363 offensive snaps.
While it's not uncommon for offensive linemen to play well into their 30s at a high level, the 32-year-old Okung is on the decline. He'll likely earn another opportunity in 2021 free agency, but he isn't going to warrant the sort of deal (four years, $53 million) that he got from L.A. back in 2017.
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It's hard to think of a stranger NFL career than that of quarterback Nick Foles. He was a Pro Bowler with the Philadelphia Eagles back in 2013, started for the then-St. Louis Rams and struggled in 2015, returned to the Eagles and won Super Bowl MVP in 2017 and is now is on his second team post-Philadelphia.
Foles joined the Jacksonville Jaguars last offseason and lost his starting job to then-rookie Gardner Minshew II. He was traded to the Chicago Bears this offseason and replaced Mitchell Trubisky for much of the year but then surrendered the starting job in Week 11.
At 31 years old (he'll be 32 in January), Foles is probably out of opportunities to establish himself as a franchise quarterback or even a permanent starter. Failing to keep Trubisky on the bench is certainly going to hurt his perceived value in Chicago, where he'll likely be for at least another year.
Foles will still have more than $14 million in dead money remaining on his deal after next season.
There was a time during which Foles appeared to be an up-and-coming quarterback in the NFL, but barring a surprise turnaround, he's probably going to be a backup or bridge starter at best moving forward.
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The Cincinnati Bengals gave A.J. Green the franchise tag this past offseason the ensure that rookie quarterback Joe Burrow would have an experienced No. 1 receiver at his disposal. The plan only worked halfway, though, as Green has been available but hasn't played anything like the No. 1 receiver he once was.
In 11 games, he has just 35 receptions for 357 yards and a touchdown. With Burrow out for the season, it's highly unlikely Green is going to explode down the stretch.
After he missed seven games in 2018, all of 2019 and is now playing at an underwhelming level in 2020, it's fair to wonder just how much the 32-year-old Green has left in the proverbial tank. Can he still be a serviceable wideout? Probably, but he's not going to be a dominant force on the perimeter.
After making the Pro Bowl in each of his first seven seasons, Green once seemed like a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame. That's no longer the case, barring a career resurgence that would likely come outside of Cincinnati.
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Though his Pro Bowl window wasn't as long as Green's, there was a time when Odell Beckham Jr. did look to have Hall of Fame potential. He made the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons and was widely considered one of the best young receivers in the NFL.
However, things eventually went south with the New York Giants, who ultimately traded Beckham to the Cleveland Browns.
"It just felt like I was coming to the end of a road and I was pushing for something that wasn't tangible. And that was where it all went haywire," Beckham said on the All Things Covered podcast earlier in December.
Beckham hasn't recaptured his early-career magic with the Browns and is out for the year with a torn ACL. He barely topped the 1,000-yard mark in 2019 and had just 319 receiving yards in seven games before the injury this year.
There's obviously a chance the 28-year-old Beckham can fully recover and be a quality starter for the Browns or another team if Cleveland decides to move him. However, it's unlikely that Beckham is ever again one of the best pass-catchers in the game.
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Linebacker Sean Lee had been a consistent starter for the Dallas Cowboys since his second season in 2011. He was a Pro Bowler in 2015 and 2016, was named first-team All-Pro in 2016 and has put up five seasons with at least 99 tackles.
However, Lee has struggled to remain healthy in recent years and has given way to younger linebackers like Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith in the Dallas game plan. So far this season, he's appeared in just five games due to an early groin injury with no starts and hasn't played more than 31 percent of the defensive snaps in a game.
At 34 years old and on a one-year deal, Lee may be in his last season as a Cowboy. If he does return in 2021, he probably won't be the defensive centerpiece that he was early in his career.
While he may be able to land a new starting job with a different franchise in the offseason, there's no guarantee he'll ever put up the prolific numbers he had in Dallas. In all likelihood, we've already seen the best of Lee's career.
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Denver Broncos pass-rusher Von Miller has a good shot at making the Hall of Fame. He was named to the Pro Bowl in eight of his first nine seasons, has been a first-team All-Pro three times and has racked up an impressive 106 career sacks.
However, Miller is also out for the year after undergoing ankle surgery, will be 32 at the start of the 2021 season and may be playing for a different franchise in the very near future. Denver has a club option for Miller in 2021 and can save $17.5 million in base salary by releasing him.
While Miller can still be a high-upside player, he probably won't be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate as he was earlier in his career. He had just 8.0 sacks in 2019, and he's hitting an age when many edge-rushers transition into more of a rotational role.
Depending on where Miller lands in free agency—if the Broncos release him—he may not even be the top pass-rusher on his own team. This isn't to suggest he cannot still be an impactful defender, but his days of total dominance are probably behind him.
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The Detroit Lions took steps to bolster their pass defense this offseason, bringing in the likes of 2020 third overall pick Jeff Okudah, safety Duron Harmon and veteran cornerback Desmond Trufant.
Trufant in particular appeared poised to make an immediate impact. He was a longtime starter with the Falcons and a Pro Bowler in 2015, and heading into 2020, he had 13 career interceptions, 79 passes defended and three forced fumbles.
In Detroit, though, Trufant has largely been a disappointment. He's only been available for six games—after missing seven in 2019—and has allowed an opposing passer rating of 111.3. He allowed opposing passer ratings of 100.2 in 2019 and 87.6 in 2018, which indicates a significant decline.
Injuries and inconsistent play have both had an impact on Trufant's career arc over the last couple of seasons, and there's little reason to believe the 30-year-old is going to reverse course in the near future. His time as a reliable starting corner is likely over.
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It's safe to say that Marcedes Lewis' best days are behind him based on age alone. The 36-year-old tight end first entered the NFL as a first-round draft pick in 2006. He was an 11-year starter for the Jacksonville Jaguars and a Pro Bowler in 2010, but Lewis has been much more of a role player since joining the Green Bay Packers in 2018.
Lewis is still a starter—he's started all 11 games in which he has appeared this season—but he is no longer his team's top receiving option at tight end. That role has been filled by Robert Tonyan, while Lewis has taken on more of a hybrid blocking role.
In his 11 appearances this season, Lewis has played more than 50 percent of the offensive snaps only once. He has just eight receptions for 92 yards, though he does have three touchdowns.
Lewis hasn't topped 200 receiving yards in a season since joining Green Bay, and it's clear that he's never again going to be the prolific pass-catcher that he was roughly a decade ago.
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Defensive tackle Corey Liuget entered the NFL as a first-round draft pick of the then-San Diego Chargers in 2011. He served as a starter for seven seasons with the Chargers before injuries and a PED suspension limited him to just six games in 2018.
Though he was never a Pro Bowler, Liuget had a couple of very strong seasons early in his career. In 2012, for example, he amassed 51 total tackles and seven sacks. Over the past couple of seasons, he has bounced between teams and has been much more of a bit player.
Last year, Liuget split his time between the Bills and the Las Vegas Raiders, though he didn't make a start or spend more than seven games with either team. This past September, he joined the Houston Texans' practice squad and has since appeared in four games.
While Liuget has shown that he can still be a quality role player—he has a sack and four tackles in limited action this season—he is not the reliable starter he was early on in his career.
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Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers may be playing his swan song this season. He's 39 years old, has stated that he only wants to play through 2021 at most and is battling a foot injury that will likely require offseason surgery.
"It's just a matter of managing it week to week at this point," Rivers said, per the Colts.
Right now, Rivers is serving as a high-end game manager, and he has Indianapolis eyeing a playoff berth at 8-4. However, Rivers has been far from the gunslinger he was earlier in his career. An eight-time Pro Bowler, he has thrown for 30 or more touchdowns six different times in his career. He's unlikely to hit that mark in 2020, as he currently sits at 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions on the season.
Rivers, who has never missed a game since taking over as the Chargers' starter in 2006, has accumulated the numbers to warrant Hall of Fame consideration. However, he hasn't played at a Hall of Fame level in his first, and perhaps only, season with Indianapolis.
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Early in his career, Tyler Eifert appeared poised to be one of the NFL's next great tight ends. A first-round pick of the Bengals in 2013, he made the Pro Bowl after catching 13 touchdown passes and amassing 615 yards in his third pro season.
However, injuries have been an issue for Eifert through much of his career. While he's been healthy since the 2019 season, he hasn't recaptured the magic he had in that 2015 Pro Bowl campaign.
Last year, Eifert appeared in all 16 games and caught 43 passes for 436 yards and three touchdowns. In 11 games with the Jaguars this year, he has just 28 receptions for 249 yards and two scores. He's been a solid player in Jacksonville, but he hasn't been a particularly productive one.
There's a good chance the 30-year-old Eifert never again plays at a Pro Bowl level. At this point in his career, he is likely destined to maintain a complementary role.
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Wide receiver Sammy Watkins was the fourth overall pick in the 2014 draft, and while he has never been named to the Pro Bowl, he did show enough potential early in his career to justify his lofty draft status.
In his first two seasons with the Bills, he caught 125 passes for 2,029 yards and 15 touchdowns. Unfortunately, Watkins' NFL career peaked with that two-year stretch, and he has failed to be as productive since.
Watkins spent the 2017 season with the Los Angeles Rams and has been with the Kansas City Chiefs for the past three. His best campaign during that stretch came in 2019, when he caught 52 passes for 673 yards and three touchdowns.
This year, Watkins has been limited to seven appearances because of a hamstring injury, and he hasn't been a vital part of the offense even when he's been healthy. For the season, Watkins has just 29 receptions for 295 yards and two touchdowns.
While Watkins will be just 28 years old at the start of the 2021 season, it doesn't feel like he'll ever again produce the numbers he did in his first two years in the league.
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Tight end Jason Witten will wind up in the Hall of Fame. There's little question about that. He's an 11-time Pro Bowler, two-time first-team All-Pro and has more than 13,000 receiving yards on his career resume.
However, Witten's glory days are very clearly behind him. He left for the broadcasting booth in 2018, and while he was productive last year following his return (63 catches, 529 yards, four touchdowns), he's been an afterthought this year for the Las Vegas Raiders.
In 12 games this year, Witten has just 11 receptions for 57 yards and two touchdowns. He has only played in 50 percent or more of the offensive snaps four times, and he hasn't had more than two receptions in a single game.
While the presence of Darren Waller has limited the need for Witten as a pass-catcher, it's unlikely that the 38-year-old would be playing at a Pro Bowl level elsewhere.
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Los Angeles Chargers edge-rusher Melvin Ingram was once one of the most feared defenders in the game. From 2015 to 2019, he tallied no fewer than seven sacks for a total of 43. He made the Pro Bowl three times and missed only three regular-season games in that span.
However, Ingram has largely been a non-factor as a pass-rusher this year. He has been limited to just seven games because of injury and is now done for the season after aggravating the knee injury that landed him on injured reserve earlier in the year.
Ingram started all seven of those games but logged just 10 tackles, 12 quarterback pressures and zero sacks. He had two games without a tackle.
At 31 years old and in the final year of his recently renegotiated contract, Ingram may have played his last down for the Chargers. He may also have seen the end of his time as a consistent edge-rusher. He'll be 32 at the start of next season and four years removed from his last double-digit-sack campaign.
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We have to be fair to Los Angeles Rams offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth. The soon-to-be 39-year-old was quite effective as the Rams' left tackle before suffering a serious knee injury in Week 10. Through 600 snaps, he was responsible for five penalties and no sacks, according to Pro Football Focus.
Whitworth could return for the postseason, and he may be an effective starter if and when he does. However, the longtime Bengals and Rams stalwart is still nearing the end of his playing career. Should he return in 2021, he'll turn 40 before the end of that season.
It's been three years since Whitworth made his last Pro Bowl appearance—he made his fourth career Pro Bowl in 2017—and a combination of age and the knee injury could cause him to consider retirement following the postseason, though Whitworth does plan to try making it back for a run.
"Now I get an opportunity to lead in a different way while also rehabbing myself back ready to ride with my teammates!" Whitworth said on Instagram after the injury.
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It's difficult to find a viable candidate for this list on the Miami Dolphins roster because it's one of the youngest in the league. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick best fits because of his age (38), but it's worth noting he's been quite effective as a starter when given the opportunity this year.
Fitzpatrick's passer rating of 93.1 is the third-highest of his career.
Still, Fitzpatrick's time as an NFL starter is likely nearing its end. Miami brought in the Harvard product on a two-year deal to help the team transition through its teardown and rebuild. While a franchise could find itself in a similar situation in the offseason, it may not be interested in a guy who will turn 39 during the 2021 season.
Starting opportunities will be limited for Fitzpatrick, if they're there at all, and there's no guarantee he'll be able to replicate his 2020 success. It's worth noting he's been playing under offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, a coach he started two seasons for in Buffalo. The odds of him landing with a new team that runs a system with which he's equally familiar are extremely low.
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Though never a Pro Bowler, George Iloka was a high-end starter for five seasons with the Bengals. He joined former Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer with the Minnesota Vikings and has been a role player ever since.
He played with the Vikings in 2018, was signed and released by the Cowboys the following season and returned to Minnesota this past September.
Iloka was expected to help offset Minnesota's secondary purge—Mackensie Alexander, Trae Waynes and Xavier Rhodes all departed in the offseason—but he hasn't exactly been a key contributor. He appeared in just four games before being placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL.
In his four appearances, Iloka played just 45 total defensive snaps, with 43 of them coming in a single game. At 30 years old, his time as an NFL starter appears over.
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Quarterback Cam Newton has been a serviceable starter for the New England Patriots. He has even shown glimpses of the special player he was before injuries ravaged his 2018 and 2019 campaigns. However, he hasn't been anything close to the MVP-caliber signal-caller he was a few short seasons ago.
In 2015, Newton was named NFL MVP, a first-team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler for the third time. Newton threw for 3,837 yards and 35 touchdowns that season, also rushing for 636 yards and 10 more scores as he led the Panthers to a 15-1 record and a Super Bowl appearance. He's no longer that guy, though.
Newton has been best utilized as a running quarterback in 2020. He does have a pair of 300-yard games on the season, and his lack of passing is partially due to a lack of receiving talent. However, he has thrown for fewer than 100 yards three times and has just five total passing touchdowns.
Perhaps more alarming is the fact that Newton hasn't been quite as effective as a runner as he has in the past, either. He does have 11 rushing touchdowns, but he's also averaging just 4.1 yards per carry—the second-lowest of his career (discounting his two-game run in 2019).
Newton is still a starter in the league, and he may even prove to be a long-term answer for New England. However, his time as the NFL's preeminent dual-threat quarterback is over.
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Have we seen the last of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees? Probably not. While he's out with multiple fractured ribs—and the Saints have continued winning with Taysom Hill under center—it's hard to imagine New Orleans wouldn't turn back to Brees before or during the postseason.
Still, this feels like the last ride for the 41-year-old. He's now missed significant time for the second straight season. His yards per pass attempt has also dipped for the second consecutive year, as has his completion percentage—though it's still an NFL-high 73.5 percent.
The reality, though, is that Brees is likely approaching the final few games of his career. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported in late November, when Hill was first named the interim starter, that Brees is "still likely" to retire at the end of 2020.
While Brees hasn't completely fallen off the proverbial cliff, he hasn't stretched the field as easily as he did in years past, and injuries are starting to become an issue. If the first-ballot Hall of Famer does come back for 2021, he's not going to be the same prolific passer he was for the better part of two decades.
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Not too long ago, Devonta Freeman was considered one of the best all-purpose backs in the NFL.
During the 2015 and 2016 seasons, he topped 1,000 rushing yards with 11 rushing touchdowns in each campaign, had more than 1,000 combined receiving yards and made the Pro Bowl each year. Unfortunately, he played just 16 games over the next two seasons and has all but disappeared from the NFL landscape since.
Freeman did have 1,066 scrimmage yards with the Atlanta Falcons in 2019, but he averaged a mere 3.6 yards per carry. He's been even more irrelevant with the New York Giants this season, averaging 3.2 yards per rush and appearing in only five games.
We haven't seen Freeman since he was placed on injured reserve in mid-November with an ankle injury. He recently landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list but hasn't appeared in a game since Week 7. Though he did make four starts in his five appearances, he never topped 4.0 yards per carry in a single contest.
Will another team give Freeman an opportunity next season? Possibly, especially if he's the cheapest option for a reserve role. However, he'll be 29 years old at the start of the 2021 season and will be five years removed from his last standout campaign.
Freeman can be a backfield contributor, but his days as an NFL star are firmly in the rearview.
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New York Jets running back Frank Gore continues to be a starter and a stat-compiler, which is remarkable given that he's still trucking at 37 years old. Gore, who suffered a concussion in Week 13, has rushed for 523 yards and a touchdown this season.
While Gore is still a starting-caliber back, he isn't the hard runner he was just a few short years ago. Gore had the ninth 1,000-yard season of his career with the Colts in 2016, and he had 961 yards the following year.
However, Gore finished with just 722 yards in 2018, 599 yards last season and is on pace for 697 yards if he doesn't miss time with the concussion. He hasn't reached 4.0 yards per carry in either of the past two years, and he hasn't averaged 12 or more carries per game since 2017.
Given Gore's seemingly unstoppable will to keep running, he'll probably be back again in 2021. The five-time Pro Bowler just isn't going to be the same workhorse back he once was.
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Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jason Peters is a nine-time Pro Bowler, a two-time first-team All-Pro and has 203 NFL starts under his belt. His decision to return to Philadelphia in the wake of Brandon Brooks' injury was seen as an important one. However, Peters hasn't been the same anchor on the Eagles line.
Peters has spent time at both guard and left tackle this season, and it's become clear that his days as a premier blindside blocker have passed.
"There’s no rational explanation for continuing to play Peters over Jordan Mailata, especially if right guard is going to remain such an issue," The Athletic's Bo Wulf wrote.
In 509 offensive snaps, Peters has been responsible for a whopping eight sacks, according to Pro Football Focus, which is the most allowed at the tackle position. He's a far cry from the player he once was, and it's reasonable to believe that the soon-to-be 39-year-old will call it a career at season's end.
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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has made a strong recovery from last year's elbow surgery. He's a viable candidate for Comeback Player of the Year, and he may have a shot at his seventh career Pro Bowl appearance. However, Big Ben hasn't stretched the field as he did early in his career.
Roethlisberger has been efficient and has a solid passer rating of 97.2, but his 6.4 yards per attempt is a career low if we're not counting his two-game run in 2019. It's more than a half-yard lower than his previous career low of 7.0 in 2008. He is on pace for his lowest 16-game yardage total since 2008—and it is limiting the Steelers offense.
"I know getting rid of the ball quickly has helped him avoid getting hit," Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote. "I know that these higher-percentage throws means fewer interceptions and mistakes. But it has also meant more tipped and batted-down passes and, somehow, more dropped passes."
Make no mistake, Roethlisberger is still a quality starter and Pittsburgh's best option under center. However, the 38-year-old is nearing the end of the line and isn't threatening defenses deep as he did in his youth.
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With the San Francisco 49ers, Richard Sherman hasn't been the same shutdown corner he was with the Seattle Seahawks. He did make his fifth Pro Bowl last season, though, and has been a quality starter when healthy.
Unfortunately, Sherman hasn't been healthy for much of 2020 and has appeared in just three games thus far. In those three games, he has surrendered 131 yards and two touchdowns in coverage with an opposing passer rating of 112.6.
For a cornerback who was once considered arguably the best in the game, this is indicative of a notable drop-off. The 32-year-old doesn't believe he will be back with San Francisco next season, either.
"I've enjoyed this team. I have brothers on this team, and I think we still have work to do. But I don't know that the circumstances will allow it," he said, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Sherman, who has three first-team All-Pro nods on his resume, will likely make the Hall of Fame. However, he's no longer the sort of shutdown corner that opposing offensive coordinators scheme to avoid.
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Seahawks tight end Greg Olsen is on injured reserve with a ruptured plantar fascia in his left foot, but the 35-year-old isn't quite ready to call it a career.
"I refuse to allow this to be my final moment. I will find a way to finish on my feet," he said on Twitter after suffering the injury.
Olsen is expected to be ready to return in time for the postseason, and he can provide the Seahawks with a boost if he does. He had 23 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown in 10 games before the injury. However, Olsen isn't the same player that he once was.
After entering the NFL with Chicago in 2007, Olsen really burst onto the scene with the Panthers. From 2012 to 2016, he had five straight seasons of at least 800 receiving yards. He had 27 touchdowns during that span and made the Pro Bowl three times.
Olsen used to be one of the most prolific tight ends in football. While he's a valuable role player, he's still just a role player now.
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One could argue that 43-year-old quarterback Tom Brady deserves a place on this list. However, TB12 is still playing near a Pro Bowl level and may help lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back to the postseason in 2020.
The player who has truly fallen off in Tampa is running back LeSean McCoy.
Once arguably the most explosive back in football, McCoy topped the 1,000-yard mark six times, made the Pro Bowl six times and made two first-team All-Pro appearances between 2010 and 2017. McCoy played a role in helping the Chiefs reach Super Bowl LIV, though he was inactive for the game itself.
McCoy has been a complete non-factor in the Tampa offense this season, though. He has carried the ball all of six times for negative-one yard and has just 61 yards on 10 receptions.
After struggling with the Bills in 2018 (3.2 yards per carry), being a bit player with the Chiefs in 2019 and being a virtual ghost in 2020, McCoy is beyond the back nine of his career—he's approaching the final hole.
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It's not entirely fair to say that Jadeveon Clowney's hit on Michigan running back Vincent Smith in the Outback Bowl earned him the No. 1 selection in the 2014 draft. However, that hit placed Clowney firmly in the national spotlight and led to some lofty NFL expectations.
For a time, Clowney appeared poised to meet those expectations. He amassed 24.5 sacks from 2016 to 2018 and made the Pro Bowl in all three seasons. Since then, injuries have limited Clowney at various points in his career, and he has failed to establish himself as a consistent sack artist.
Last season with the Seahawks, Clowney produced just 3.0 sacks, and he has been even less impactful with the Titans this year. In eight games, Clowney has produced just 11 quarterback pressures with zero sacks.
Clowney is now out for the year after opting to undergo knee surgery. While he'll be just 28 years old at the start of the 2021 season, Clowney is unlikely to generate the sort of free-agency interest he briefly enjoyed this past offseason. He simply isn't the dominant pass-rusher he was for that three-year Pro Bowl stretch, and Clowney probably never will be again.
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There was a time when Thomas Davis Sr. was considered one of the best linebackers in the game. A longtime starter in Carolina, the former Georgia star made his NFL debut in 2005 but didn't appear in his first Pro Bowl until 2015—a year in which he was also a first-team All-Pro selection.
Davis has two more Pro Bowl appearances on his resume and has been a full-time starter in just about every other year of his career—injuries limited him to just nine games between 2009 and 2011—until this season, that is.
Davis Joined the Football Team in the offseason, and while he has provided a valuable veteran presence in the locker room, he hasn't been a regular contributor on the field. He has appeared in just six games, hasn't made a start and hasn't played more than 49 percent of the defensive snaps in a single contest.
At 37 years old, Davis may still have a little left in the tank, but he's unlikely to ever again be considered one of the game's best.
Advanced statistics from Pro Football Reference unless otherwise noted. Contract information via Spotrac.
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