Less Heralded Players Have Shined in Preseason by T.O. Whenham

The preseason is, mercifully, almost over. There have been players that have had exceptional starts. We have heard all about them. I'm not going to write yet another article talking about how Carson Palmer tore up the field in his first game back from injury, how T.J. Houshmandzadeh has been catching everything anywhere near him, that Tom Brady showed Washington why he is Tom Brady and how Drew Bledsoe has been impressive in holding off a potential challenge from Tony Romo. I'm sick of hearing about those performances, especially when there have been other, less heralded players who have turned in impressive showings in the endless string of games that we have to endure before the real season starts.

Before we get too excited, we have to really look at how much the preseason really matters. The answer is: not that much. Some teams don't take the preseason very seriously and don't play their starters - the Steelers are so concerned about their 0-3 preseason record that Ben Roethlisberger and Willie Parker aren't even playing in the team's last game. Big Ben has only thrown 36 passes all preseason. On the other hand, Oakland is 4-0. If you think that the Raiders' record makes them the best team in the league, then you are going to have a rude awakening when the season starts. Where the preseason does matter, however, is that we get to see how young or marginal players react when they get some real playing time. With that in mind, here are some of the players that aren't making headlines that have been impressive in the preseason:

Michael Turner, RB, San Diego - LaDanian Tomlinson is supposed to be the Chargers running back that everyone is talking about, but apparently no one told this third year player from Northern Illinois that has just 439 yards rushing in his career. Turner had turned just 23 carries into 151 yards, for an eye-popping average of 6.6 yards per carry, and he has scored three times. Obviously he won't start during the season, but Chargers fans have to feel better about the prospects if something were to happen to their star back.