Weddle - from couch to starting SS playing 100% of snaps w/ major contributions. Shored up a very weak spot in our D. We really wouldn't have won the games we did without the Beard.
Kupp - unbelievable. no words for CK10. another Beard. 2a: OBJ. can't say enough about a guy who just joins a team & makes major contributions. plus.... Beard.
Stafford - takes off for a run to get a critical 3rd down. Battled all game. Got beat up all to heck. Tough, resilient, and in the biggest moments has risen to the occasion. No Beard, but tougher than nails.
Then, this isn't a game ball, but I've been beating this drum since last year's draft: the biggest, most glaring hole we had on this team was at CENTER. Allen has more than risen to the occasion, and I can't be happier that he has. Sure, I woulda liked to have the C that the Chiefs drafted instead of a small WR who's sitting on the bench, but so thankful we have a guy who stood in the gap & overperformed beyond expectations. Getting rid of Blythe was addition by subtraction - he was a huge liability last year. So many missed blocks.
That said, one of the major responsibilities of a Center is to call protections. With Stafford calling them, that's no longer a problem & our C can be more athletic & just focus on getting his blocks done. Maybe Allen can take over with more tutelage from Stafford, but I always thought Goff was better when we had Sullivan, who called them & could reduce the processing load on Goff. When he left, Goff's bandwidth just wasn't wide enough for him to do it all.
Anyway, IMHO we wouldn't be here without Allen stepping up & getting better & stronger during the offseason. Great job, kid.
