Your Teams Biggest "What If" Player

[Suicane75]

So I'm watching a random 1987 Jets/Dolphins game on Youtube last night, and near the end of the game there's a pretty serious knee injury to an O-Lineman named Dwight Stephenson. I look the guy up and apparently at the time he was considered on of the elite linemen in the league and only in his 5th year.

He never played another game. It got me thinking how much that may have impacted the Dolphins over the next 7-8 years in a way most casual fans never think of. Those Dolphins seems were routinely perennial 2nd tier playoff contenders that could never get over the hump. If that injury doesn't happen, are things better for them? Not just the loss of a stud player but the draft capital involved in trying to replace him, etc...

So do you have a guy like that for your favorite team? Someone who was a critical cog whose career got cut short and maybe affected the franchise in ways people don't think much about or affected what could have been a great career?

As an Eagles fan, Jerome Brown obviously comes to mind but also Mike Quick. There's a 5 year period to start his career where he's IMO on par with Jerry Rice but then the abominable Veteran Stadium turf fucks his knees up and he never reached the heights he was destined to.

[Lathum]

David Wright. He had a great career but if he stayed healthy he’s in the hall of fame.

[albionmoonlight]

Michael Thomas in part b/c of how weird it was.

End of a game and the teams are just running out the clock. And his ankle gets rolled up on, and it does not look bad at all.

And due to some horrible medical follow up (he says it was the team doctors; the team says that he was not working with them), it ended his career.

He was setting records before the injury. Then in the last minute of a blowout, it ended on the flukiest of fluke plays.

[JPhillips]

Greg Cook. Might have been a HoF QB, but blew out his shoulder as a rookie and only played one more game before retiring.

[QuikSand]

Big Dolphins fan back to when my coming-of-age as a football fan coincided them being the best team in the league, with the awesome logo/colors, and with players names Csonka and Griese and Mercury. Easy sell growing up near Cleveland where we had no professional sports teams.

Dwight Stephenson was a standout player at an unheralded position. I think it's PFF who still awards their annual "Dwight Stephenson award" to their highest rated player overall, regardless of position played. He got injured in his age 30 year, his eighth, so while he could have had 3-4 more strong seasons ahead, it's tough to say the team might have been hugely different with him, I think. Still a big fan.

In a different sense of the idea, the Dolphins were in one offseason really actively seeking a new QB via free agency, and clearly were dead set on getting one of the premiere free agents available. I think they balked at some injury worry with Drew Brees, and ended up signing Daunte Culpepper. Sigh. That was 2006, Daunte gave us a handful of starts, and the team hasn't won a playoff game since.

[Swaggs]

I had never heard about this until a few years ago, when I read an article about it from the Athletic (before it fell apart).

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a prospect named Alfredo Edmead. This article is worth reading for the entire story: https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/06/18/al...th-daily-cover

The short of it is that this kid was 17 years old in 1974 and was discovered and signed by long-time Pirates' scout Howie Haak (who had discovered Roberto Clemente, Tony Armas, and Manny Sanguillen, among others) and a 27-year old part-time player/part-time scout with the Pirates named Pablo Cruz. Edmead was studying in a prestigious academic school at the time and signed for $15,000 at a time when $100-$500 was more typical for Latin players. Haak called Edmead the best prospect that he had ever seen.

To help mentor Edmead, the Pirates sent Cruz with him to Class-A Salem (VA) despite Cruz being a AA/AAA over the past few years. Cruz had a good reputation with young Latin players and Edmead's family trusted him to watch over him as part of the negotiations during the signing.

Edmead was fantastic in that first year. He hit .314 with 7 home runs and 61 stolen bases with 64 BBs and 71 Ks and was seen as one of the best players in the league.

With 10 games left in the season, on August 22nd 1974, he was playing centerfield in a game against the Rocky Mount Phillies. He came in to catch a blooper and collided with Cruz, who was playing 2B that day, with his head hitting Cruz's knee. Cruz was reported wearing a knee brace that had metal bracing on the side and Edmead was knocked unconscious and died an hour later at the age of 18.

This one was well before my time, but it was so awful to hear about that it stuck with me enough to print out the Athletic article and show it to my father-in-law who is also a Pirates fan. He had never heard of him either.

Thinking about the question though, the Pirates won the World Series in 1979 but fell off pretty quickly into the 1980s and beyond with the drug scandals. Dave Parker left in shame over the drugs and Willie Stargell aged out of being a productive player, so the 80s may have played out the same regardless. But maybe another star player like Edmead would have led the Pirates to winning a couple of more division titles or allowed them to have better outcomes in the postseason. That could have affected the Big Red Machine 'dynasty' and/or displaced some of those really good Phillies' teams from the late 70s/early 80s.

[RainMaker]

Derrick Rose. Bulls beat the Heat that season if he doesn't blow out his ACL. Honorable mention to Jay Williams.

For baseball, Mark Prior. Not sure what happened with him but it seemed like injuries just permanently fucked him up at some point.

Not an injury "what if" but I do wonder what the fate of football would have been if the Bears took Mahomes instead of Trubisky.

[Atocep]

God it feels like the Mets own this.

Injuries: Matt Harvey, David Wright, all of generation K (Paul Wilson, Jason Isringhausen, Bill Pulsipher), Johan Santana, and Degrom.

Drugs: Straw and Gooden

Draft pick what ifs: Steve Chilcot over Reggie Jackson

Trade what ifs: Minaya rejecting a deal for Manny centered around Lastings Milledge. Trading Nolan Ryan. What if the Mets kept Jeff Kent rather than trade him for a washed up Carlos Baerga.

Ownership: What if Nelson Doubleday Jr. hadn't sold his share to the Wilpons.

Just straight busts: Greg Jeffries, Fernando Martinez (could be in the injury section too), Alex Ochoa, and Alex Escobar. Jeffries was one of the most hyped prospects of my lifetime and had a decent career, but people were ready to enshrine him after those '88 playoffs. F-Mart was insanely hyped but couldn't stay healthy and it killed his development. Ochoa was supposed to a 5 tool talent with elite defense and an all around hitter. Alex Escobar was Ochoa with more minor league production but, similar to F-Mart, couldn't stay healthy.

[RainMaker]

Degrom makes me the saddest out of all those you listed. Had potential to maybe be the greatest pitcher ever. Just some insane stretches at his peak when he was healthy.

I think it's his 2021 season where he was untouchable. He had a game where he struck out 9 guys in a row. Never seen anything like that in my life. Made major league hitters look like bums off the street.

[Kodos]

I wish Jimmy Johnson didn’t ruin O.J. McDuffie’s career.

[Danny]

The first thought that popped in my head is a football only healthy Bo Jackson

[Passacaglia]

Drew Henson senior year

[JonInMiddleGA]

The first name that came to mind was one that used to get mentioned with this stuff a lot: Brian Asselstine

1st round pick of the Braves in 1973, won the starting CF job in 1978 but broke his leg in May trying to rob (former Brave) Mike Lum of a homer. His cleat got caught in the low chainlink fence that was then in the outfield at Fulton County Stadium, a compound fracture that was often described as "grusome". Momentum gone, he was never really the same after that.

[Sweed]

Would have been interesting to see Todd Gurley stay healthy with McVay's Rams.

[flere-imsaho]

If you're in Boston it kind of has to be Len Bias, right?

[HerRealName]

I have two so I'm breaking the rules. Jaxon Smith-Njigba's injury in 2022. Hell, just give me the Peach Bowl.

Also, Greg Oden's wrist injury before all the knee injuries.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by HerRealName

I have two so I'm breaking the rules. Jaxon Smith-Njigba's injury in 2022. Hell, just give me the Peach Bowl.

Also, Greg Oden's wrist injury before all the knee injuries.

Oden, before the injuries just completely took him out, was incredibly good. I think some people have forgotten just how good he was in the brief time he was healthy in the NBA. Coming off of multiple knee injuries in '09-'10 he was grabbing 16% of their own misses, 28% of opponent misses, blocking 8% of opponent shots, making 61% of his field goals, and 78% of his free throws. Those numbers are better than prime Alonso Mourning and he was doing it with 2 bad knees. People would have been talking about who was better between Durant and Oden to this day.

[dubb93]

As a Colts fan I have quite a few what ifs like what if Peyton hadn’t gotten hurt and what if Andrew Luck hadn’t gotten hurt.

My favorite what is part injury part just what if. What if Steve Entman didn’t get all those injuries and what if Quentin Coryatt had lived up to his billing and the Colts had hit on 1.1 and 1.2 in the 1992 NFL draft.

[thealmighty]

Not a player but "What if" Jerry Jones quit instead of Jimmy Johnson?