I don’t think we really need all of these people to break out. We just need them all to stay healthy. If all (or most) of our starters were healthy last year our season would have been much better. Not saying we would have been in the SB or anything but probably something closer to the .500 seasons of the past few years. I don’t expect Benson to “break out”. I think with a good line, he will be a decent starter but nothing that will blow us away. Judging by his contract, MB and ML are estimating the same. Henry and Caldwell don’t need to break out per say either. With Ocho and Coles both starting, they just need to pull their weight as upper tier 3 and 4 receivers. Rivers, Joseph and Nduke have all shown what they can do on the field so if they just stay healthy, we will be looking great on D. I think Palmer will play with some fire after missing all last year and I can only hope the team stays healthy for a good run. Who Dey.

Are we expecting too many players to find their role? or contibute? or reach their potential?

Hey FP, I liked your post.

To answer your question, no, I don’t think we are expecting too many players to have breakout seasons, because I don’t think that we need all of those players to bust out. Here’s who we do need though.

Cedric Benson – By “breakout” year here, I mean we need him to average 4+ yds/carry and have 1000 + total yards and 8 + TDs. We don’t need to put really high expectations on the guy, but without a decent run game, the offense becomes too one-dimensional to function.

The O-Line – Pretty self-explanatory. No line, no run, no Palmer and no offense.

Rivers – The guy set the bar pretty high before his injury last year, so in order to have a breakout year, he’s going to have to start hitting some people pretty hard. I want this guy to set a tone and really lay out some Steelers (or at least some Browns).

JJ – In the past our defense has lived on interceptions and creating havoc at the right times. Hopefully we won’t have to rely on that this year with a strengthened linebacker crew. However, we still need turnovers from Joseph if we expect to win football games.

As for all the other guys you listed, I think we can set the bar a little lower for them.

Henry and Caldwell – Henry is going to be a dangerous 3rd wideout, but if he doesn’t step up this year, then we know that there are talented WRs who are chomping at the bit to take his place. As for Caldwell, we need his as a decent kick returner (better than Chatman) and backup to Coles. The guy is blazing fast, so I expect that returning won’t be a problem.

I also want to frame your question a little bit differently, “Do we need this many guys to have breakout seasons to have a legit chance at a playoff birth?”

The key is that they all are on the same page, contributing as parts of a whole.

As Carsonorbust mentions, O-Line. My god, O-line has to produce or we won’t break 8-8. If you want a break-out spotlight, aim it right here, probably from the Center to RIght Guard to Right Tackle. That’s right, Andre the Giant, I’m talkin bout you. Time to put away the Star Wars Action Figures and put some hurt on. Move people out of your way like they are between you and that third stack of flap-jacks.

Rivers was a freshman last go around, an although injured, I didn’t see any fire from him. Rivers will be made much better with Sting Ray in the D huddle. That guy’s motor is huge and we’ll see a leader emerge on this side of the ball. If he gets everyone fired up and most importantly motivates by example, watch out!

I do believe that we will have 4 great WR’s at our disposal as targets for Palmer. While I think Henry and Caldwell (get ready for every NFL announcer saying “whos that kid?”).

If you want my hope for a breakout player, it has to be with Chase. Great thing is, he doesn’t have to be spectacular this year to make a different, just have crazy glue digits. Catch every 3rd and 5 that comes your way Coffman. Make a couple of key blocks here and there. Be that option for the dump off pass during a blitz. We all know AFC North this year means 6.5 (giving Cleveland one half of solid D before they crumble) games of D pressure. Having an end that acts like a big reciever is going to do what the Choir Boy could not.

Overall, this year it’s going to be break out for the team to play as a team. All contributions welcome!

How many times did we see Leon being burned by receivers while he was 1-on-1 with them? Too many. I expect him to play better 1-on-1, and I also expect the coaches to NOT put him 1-on-1 so much. I don’t think he has “elite” talent based on what I’ve seen. We need him to brake out as much as any other player on this team.

If Chad plays, he will want the ball.
I assume we didn’t give L Coles $7 mill to run decoy routes.

So i don’t see enough balls for C Henry and A Caldwell to “break out”.
Especially if they want to use the TE (Utech or Coffman) in the passing game, and throw to the FB (Fui?). Also, let’s not forget our over-drafted 2nd round pick Jerome Simpson who will look to outdo last year’s spectacular 1 catch performance. So i see the ball being spread out too much for Caldwell or Henry to have a chance to “break out”…..Unless we adopt the run and shoot, but skip the ‘run’ portion of it!!! :-)

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I think all the other guys will “break out” solely on the assumption that they actually stay healthy. If they do that they will have broken out because they’ll outperform their previous years on IR….! :-)