Slumped sophomores: Slaton, Ryan, Forte, Royal slip

It has been months since NFL training camps ended, the hope and optimism of that time of the year probably feeling like years ago for Houston Texans running back Steve Slaton.

I remember talking to Slaton after a Texans training camp practice, and he was excited to show that his rookie season in 2008 was not a fluke. Slaton shocked a ton of people last season by leading the AFC in yards from scrimmage as a third-round pick, and in early August he talked of how he felt he could do even more in 2009.

Steve Slaton has struggled to find his rookie form. (Getty Images)

Slaton the star was coming. Slaton added weight, pounds he said he needed to become a tougher insider runner, but said he hadn't lost any quickness.

"I'm excited to show that I can be even better," Slaton said then.

After talking with him in the summer and watching him practice, I recommended Slaton as an early fantasy pick to anyone who asked.

Somewhere between then and now, Slaton has become a disappointment. At one point, he was even benched.

Sophomore slump? What else can it be?

"I think he's figuring out how tough this league is," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "He obviously had a great year as a rookie and got off to a slow start this year, put some balls on the ground, and has been trying to work through that. Obviously, it hasn't been as clean as it was last year for him, but I think he's played very well the last two weeks since we came off our bye.

"He's a young player that is finding out that it is very difficult in this league. Every year is difficult. There's nothing easy. He'll work through it. He's a good kid and he works very hard at what he does and we need him playing well to be successful."

In 2008, Slaton rushed for 1,282 yards on 268 carries for an average of 4.8 yards per carry. He also caught 50 passes for 377 yards. So far this season, he's rushed for 437 yards on 131 carries and has 44 catches for 417 yards.

Fumbling has been his biggest problem. He fumbled three times and lost two last season, but has coughed it up seven times and lost five this season. That earned him a benching a few weeks back for a game, although he is starting again.

"When you put the ball on the ground a few times, you can lose confidence," Kubiak said.

The Texans also lost both guards, which hurt their running game, and they've leaned more on the passing of Matt Schaub. But the 3.3-yards-per-rush average for Slaton shows he's not doing enough when he gets the football.

Slaton is not alone in his sophomore slump. Several of the rookie stars of 2008 have had not had the seasons many expected from them. Why is it? There are a variety of factors, but some coaches and personnel people I checked with came up with a few theories. Among them:

• They surprise as rookies, but then teams focus on them the next season. They scheme to take them away.

"When they don't know you that well, it's tough to prepare for them," said one personnel director. "But when you go back around, teams know what you can and can't do."

• Fat Cat Syndrome. As one NFC coach said, "Having success in their first season lulls them into a false sense of thinking they have arrived, That in combo with their bodies being worn down from a long season would possibly lead to not working as hard in the offseason."

• Changes in schemes. Like the Texans focusing more on the passing game for Slaton or the Bears throwing it more with Jay Cutler, rather than featuring running back Matt Forte.

Whatever the reasons, the sophomore slumps are there. In addition to Slaton, Forte, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and Denver Broncos receiver Eddie Royal are among those who are having rougher-than-expected times in their second seasons.

Poll Who has had the most disappointing second NFL season? 16% Steve Slaton   11% Matt Ryan   57% Matt Forte   16% Eddie Royal   Total Votes: 4161

"I don't believe in sophomore slumps," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "Matt has played just as well for us as he did last season. We're just giving him more. As we advance, we give the player more. The expectations are more. It's natural to put more on the quarterback in Year 2."

We expect more from all of the rookies in Year 2. But the reality is that many of the All-Rookie players from 2008 haven't had the seasons that were expected.

Of the 22 position players on the Pro Football Weekly All-Rookie team, 11 have played to their expectations or higher. That means half have not, for a variety of reasons, including injury (Kenny Phillips, Giants) and loss of jobs (Mike Pollak, Colts).

That doesn't mean all rookies from 2008 have flopped. Tennessee's Chris Johnson is even better and is on pace to rush for 2,000 yards. Philadelphia's DeSean Jackson has emerged as a go-to receiver, but even he suffered a concussion last week.

"I just think that guys who have great, great rookie years come back and realize just how difficult it is," Kubiak said. "I told Steve this year, 'You had a 1,200-yard rookie year; probably your next 1,200 will be your toughest yards, because your no secret anymore. And that's the way this thing works.' There's nothing easy about this league.'"

Here's a closer look at the sophomore slumps of some of the rookie stars of 2008.

Matt Ryan

As a rookie, Ryan started 16 games and led the Falcons to the playoffs. With his cool play, he lived up to his nickname of "Matty Ice." Many of Ryan's numbers are down this season, even though we expected them to go up. His passer rating has dropped from 87.7 as a rookie to 80.0 this season. His yards-per-attempt has fallen from 7.9 as a rookie to 6.6 this season.

He does have 16 touchdown passes, the same number he had in all of 2008, but he also has 12 interceptions, one more than he had all of last season. His completion percentage is also down.

What happened?

Early in the season, Ryan put up some big numbers. The Falcons, known as a power team in 2008, saw a lot of eight-man fronts to stop the run. That led to Ryan having big early games.

In the team's first five games, he threw nine touchdown passes and four interceptions and had a completion percentage of at least 64.7 and a passer rating of 95.6. He averaged 232 yards passing, while the team averaged 98.6 yards rushing.

When teams changed to stop Ryan, the running game averaged 146.4 rushing yards a game, but Ryan's numbers dipped. He threw seven touchdowns and eight interceptions in the next five games and his completion percentage dropped to 54.7 and passer rating was 67.1 in that span. He's had five games with passer ratings under 60.

"The way people tried to defend us was a big reason for the change," Smith said. "When they defended us to stop the run, we threw it well. When they defended us to stop the pass, we didn't throw it as well but we ran it better."

Last week, Ryan suffered a turf toe that forced him out in the first quarter against Tampa Bay and will keep him out of this week's game with Philadelphia. How long he sits remains to be seen. He's been in treatment all week and the team is trying to keep him off his feet.

Matt Forte

Matt Forte hasn't been helped by Jay Cutler or his offensive line. (Getty Images)

In his rookie season, Forte rushed for 1,238 yards, caught 63 passes and scored 12 touchdowns. This season, he has 543 rushing yards, 46 catches and three touchdowns.

Was he a rookie mirage or did things change?

For one, Cutler came to Chicago. That put more of an emphasis on the passing game. The Bears ran it 27.7 times a game in 2008 and have run it 21.1 times per game this season. Forte averaged 19.8 carries a game last season and only 15 in 2009.

But the biggest problem for both Cutler, who has also struggled, and Forte has been the offensive line. It isn't good. That has led to fewer holes and Cutler taking a beating.

Forte's production is down, and he hasn't been as decisive in his cuts, but it's not all his fault. He is on pace for 66 catches and he has 433 receiving yards already after having 477 all of last season.

Can Forte turn it around? If the Bears improve that offensive line he can. He would seem to be the perfect fit for an offense that features Cutler.

We'll give him a mulligan for this season and see what happens in 2010 when the Bears do what they have to do, which is improve that wretched offensive line.

Eddie Royal

As a rookie, Royal caught 91 passes for 980 yards and five touchdowns. This season, he has 31 catches for 282 yards and no touchdowns. He also had eight catches for 20-plus yards and two over 40 last season, but has one over 20 this season. That's it.

As a return man, he's been better this season with two for scores, one on a punt return and one on a kickoff after getting none last season -- both coming in the same game this season.

But the receiving numbers are what drag him down.

The reason for it is simple: The Broncos don't throw it down the field. I've watched them live in two games -- Baltimore and the Giants -- and they just don't challenge vertically with Kyle Orton playing quarterback.

Royal had 10 catches in an October victory over New England. That means in his other 10 games he has 21 catches, or 2.1 per game.

Royal tweaked a hamstring in the Thanksgiving night victory over the Giants, so his status bears watching this week.

Nobody wants to hear the phrase "sophomore slump," but the data is there to back it up for some in the 2008 NFL rookie class. Expectations have not been met.

Call it what you want, but it sure looks like a second-year slump.