The Biggest Disapointments of 2006: #4 - Jim Shaw

Penn State fans knew there were big shoes to fill on the defensive line when defensive ends Tamba Hali and Matthew Rice graduated last year. We knew Tim Shaw was going to anchor one defensive end spot, and he did admirably all season. The other defensive end spot was wide open in the spring, but rumors surfaced that Jim Shaw was a beast in practice and was poised to be a dominating defensive end.

This is what we thought we were getting

In the first game against Akron, Shaw went down with an ankle sprain. He played through it but really wasn't effective. After losing the starting job in the Ohio State game, he sat out the games against Northwestern, Minnesota, and Purdue. He finished the season with 9 tackles and assisted on a sack. He was never a factor. But he did have a huge play in the Outback Bowl getting great penetration and falling on Arian Foster's fumbled handoff to Robert Meachem setting up the offense in great field position.

Fortunately, Josh Gaines and Maurice Evans did a good job filling in for Shaw, otherwise he would have been higher on the list.

Previous 2006 Disappointments
#5 - Derrick Williams