Bottom line: One of the premier long-ball threats of any era, Stanley Morgan ranks 10th in yards per reception (19.2) and 39th in touchdown catches (72) on the all-time list. Giants: All-time underrated, overrated players Krieg was a career overachiever who survived 19 seasons on modest talent with defense-driven teams. Incredibly, McDole started 97 of the next 98 games. Most Underrated NFL Players of All Time | Stadium Talk Poor Louis Wright has a hard time even making the Broncos' overcrowded All-Snub Team. Young played for some great 49ers teams, including a Super Bowl-winning squad as a rookie in 1994. Twenty years ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars were one of the marquee organizations in professional sports, and Jimmy Smith was one of their brightest stars. Jones has also recorded at least 100 tackles every year since entering the league with the exception of 2018 when he played in only 6 games. Most Underrated Now that's underrated. Butler is all but guaranteed to get lost in the shuffle. In the nine seasons that Aaron Smith had double-digit starts, their D ranked among the top nine in yards allowed every time, but his consistent play went over the heads of many. most underrated players in football at Six All-Pro selections. most underrated player (Bonus point: Schlereth doesnt suck as a broadcaster on ESPN. 1. Fifteen years ago, similar receivers were gimmicky undersized role players. Bottom line: Warrick Dunn overcame the murder of his mother, bouts with depression and 5-foot-9 size to have a successful 12-year NFL career. Bottom line: The Greatest Show On Turf boasted so much star power you couldnt tell the other Rams without a program. Smith wasnt a no-show on third-and-long, either. The Most Underrated Spanish Player Of All Time? - YouTube On the final play a year later, he picked off a Roger Staubach pass in the end zone that put the Cowboys to rest. Ryan needed surgery and was in constant pain for the rest of his career. The correct answer is Player A (Ken Stabler), and if youre Player B (Brodie), you have to wonder if one Super Bowl should make that much difference. most underrated player of all time Sad to say, Morgan was woefully miscast in a run-first offense in a less pass-friendly time. Hadl played quarterback, halfback, defensive back and punter for the University of Kansas. But no one remembers the Greatest Show on Turf for its defense, and Fletcher spent the prime of his career playing for mediocre Bills teams. He had the speed to get to the edge and beat defenders down the sideline, the power to plow through tackles, the elusiveness to make things happen in the open field and receiving chops to rival contemporaries Roger Craig or Thurman Thomas. Bottom line: The 49ers of the 1980s are remembered most for Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, coach Bill Walsh and the West Coast offense. McLaurins route running continues to improve while routinely making contested catches look easy. Kenn is one of the NFL's all-time great players and leaders, and his impact ranges far beyond his playing career. Moton has also committed just 10 penalties in over 50 career starts, an average of less than one penalty every five games. And few were better at making opposing quarterbacks pay for mistakes. Dave Meggett -- RB, 1989-1994. Hmmm. Maybe he wasn't the best defender on the field for any one play, but he stayed on that field for an entire generation. Even pesky third-down backs and gritty fullbacks may seem underrated until you realize how many of them become local heroes. Bowman is coming off an Achilles tear in 2016. Ten of the most underrated footballers of all time It is absurd that Jones isnt talked about more with his ability to impact games. Brown did one thing terribly wrong in 18 NFL seasons, but for his teams to win as often as they did, he must have done an awful lot more right. He's rarely mentioned as an all-time great. He then went on to start at left tackle for the playoff-bound Cardinals and 2000 NFC champion Giants. He intercepted 34 passes for the Eagles and 54 in his career. Even so, Smith was pretty much a well-kept secret outside Pittsburgh despite meeting or approaching Pro Bowl standards for almost a decade. Time has been hard on both of them. Guys who played in Jacksonville repeatedly have been crapped on in Pro Bowl and Hall of Fame votes, none more so than Taylor during and after his 11 seasons there. But his Rams had a running back named Eric Dickerson and quarterbacks named Dieter Brock and Jeff Kemp. If Morgan had played in a pass-happy offense with a Pro Bowl quarterback and hands-off rules, you would find him in Canton right now. He was arrested four times after his abrupt retirement. 20 Most Underrated Footballers on the Planet - Bleacher Report Craters so big that you could drive a semi through them. But the former NFL Man of the Year award winner and two-time All-Pro should not have had to wait so long. Teams: New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, Pro Bowl appearances: Four (1979, 1980, 1986, 1987). So it takes a remarkable streak of hard luck for a running back to make this list. He played left tackle in 1972 and moved to right tackle in 1974. The 49ers are installing a new system and reshaping their roster. In an era when 50 percent completion rates and 20-interception seasons were common for Pro Bowl quarterbacks, Anderson's 64.9 percent completion rate and quarterback ratings above 90 look like temporal anomalies. He then became a staple of trivia questions and All-Time Worst Trades listicles, as the Lawrence Welk trade overshadowed an even more impressive moment in Hadl's transaction history. Off to a fast start in 2021, Sutton is quickly reminding opposing defenses of his talent. But the run-'n'-shoot took away more than it provided, and the early 1990s Lions kept getting obliterated by better defenses in the playoffs. He has started every game he has played in since 2014 (with four different franchises). FanDuel NFL 2021: Best lineup for Week 16, Jets HC Robert Saleh tests positive for COVID, could miss Jaguars game, LeVeon Bell fires back on Twitter at fans trolling him for signing with Buccaneers. Mike Williams is an elite deep threat at wide receiver and has maintained an average YPC of over 15 every year since 2018. He ran a Sonny Jurgensen pass back 59 yards in the fourth quarter to seal a Rams playoff win over the Redskins in 1974. Wright earned a second-team All-1970s nod from the Pro Football Hall of Fame, even though several of his signature years were in the 1980s. Lets hear some "un-der-ra-ted!" Web#shortsucl#bayernmunich #bayern #barcelona#football#footballedit#footballedits#footballshirts#soccer#socceredit#socceredits#soccershorts Fletcher followed Gregg Williams from coaching stop to coaching stop, serving as the sometimes controversial, always effective defensive mastermind's field marshal. Hence, the Campbell video. But Anderson was an extraordinary talent. Waller was a sixth-round draft pick at wide receiver by the Ravens in 2015 and struggled to find targets early in his career in spite of his 66 frame. According to Next Gen Stats, Johnson averaged 3.6 yards of separation for each target during his rookie season, the most of any receiver in football. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. While most Giants fans remember Meggett, he is still one of the most underrated players of all time. His 23 fourth-quarter comebacks (20th overall) are more than Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly, Sonny Jurgensen and Bart Starr, to name a few Hall of Famers at the position. "When I was there, the thing we were missing was that explosive type of offense, and the new coach brought that in.". While Stafford's game is Hall of Fame worthy, an 0-3 career record in the playoffs on some flawed Lions teams has done little to elevate his name into the conversation of top QBs. Bates has still developed into a leader in the Bengals secondary and arguably their best player on defense. 10. 100-91). Here are ten of the most underrated college football players of all time. Naturally, it also guarantees that some of the best players in the country get overshadowed and forgotten in the sport's warp-speed news cycle. He played the run with authority (721 career solo tackles). Evans is still playing at a high level; the Packers hope that he can do for Aaron Rodgers what he did for Brees. Let's take a look at the the five most underrated footballers of all time. MOST UNDERRATED PLAYERS OF ALL TIME And Jackson spent a generation as a pre- and postgame show staple, which puts him in a whole different category. There are no official sack statistics before 1982, but the Minnesota Vikings credit Jim Marshall with 127 career sacks. If he started his career a decade earlier or a decade later, Young would have anchored the defense for one of history's great teams or helped push the Harbaugh 49ers over the top in the Super Bowl. The best we can offer is a little bit of credit where a lot is due. Super Bowl victories? Mills and Reggie White were the USFL's two greatest defenders ever. All-time underrated and overrated players for Evans is a long shot to do either, which is a shame. His teams averaged 392.0 yards and 34.0 points in those games. Pittsburgh Steelers: All-time underrated, overrated players - NFL.com No, what youll see are lots of gaping holes the size of Boulder. Players like McDole are what all-time underrated lists exist for. Because he is one of the NFL's best defensive players, for one thing. McDole is not known for much of anything anymore, as his AFL stardom came before the Super Bowl era and his Redskins heroics predated the era of Joe Gibbs and the Hogs. Theyre the flat-liners whose drop-dead consistency gets lost with average-to-bad teams, in smaller markets, with brain-challenged organizations that have little, if any, history of success. Greenwood, but there are dozens of other great old players clamoring for their chance who didn't enjoy the glory of playing for a "team of the decade.". To make our list, a player must contribute to a winning effort while putting up bad stats, misunderstood stats or no stats. Eric Allen's job in Buddy Ryan's 46 defense was simple. Rivers' excellence, longevity and ability to barely dodge immortality make him the John Hadl of his era. He recorded four consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons from 1988 through 1991, a rare feat at the time. Defensive Player of the Year awards? Know who created those wide-open spaces? Saleh has compared Franklin-Myers to Arik Armstead, whom he coached in SF while registering 10 sacks in 2019. McDole's Bills defenses held opponents to fewer than 3.1 yards per carry across three consecutive seasons. But the diminutive Brees would not have been able to lead the Saints to a Super Bowl and several seasons as top contenders without a clean pocket, particularly right in front of him. He once threw three touchdowns in a shutout victory in a title game. Bahr converted 84 percent of his field-goal attempts (21 of 25), and 98 percent of his extra-point tries (40 of 41) when it counted most. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996. Most Underrated Edouard Mendy of Chelsea celebrates after his sides victory in the Premier League match 2. The start to his career is Hall of Fame worthy and includes a Super Bowl championship while with the New England Patriots. It's hard for a running back to be underrated. Teams: Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos, Super Bowl championships: Three (1991, 1997, 1998). "That was my territory," Edwards recalled in The Palm Beach Post. WebFive players made their "Top 100" debuts -- David Montgomery, Jimmie Ward, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Tucker and Kyle Pitts -- in Episode 1 (Nos. Kenn was one of the leaders of the NFL Players Association during the era of replacement players and court battles over free agency. Ronald Koeman is a bonafide legend of Dutch football. He must either play for teams so good that they overshadow his accomplishments, or teams so bad that he had to do it all by himself. Williams' career-high in receptions is only 49, but with increased targets, he has already recorded 31 catches over the first five games in 2021. Sam Mills rises above the rest of the gritty linebacker pack, at least when it comes to being underrated, because three of his greatest seasons have been erased from history. White: 12 underrated players; White: 12 overrated players; Towers: Generic vs. Name Brand; Prospect hunting . Unless you live in Cleveland or are over 50, you probably have never heard of him. But Hadl had to do something to make the Packers think he was worth two armfuls of draft picks. Anderson is no Hall of Famerthe middle of his career is a morass of ordinary-at-best seasonsbut he was a pioneer and an innovator. Jordi Alba. Ohhh-kaaaaay, one of the Hasselbecks then? But don't write him off as some 1960s product of the system. Kenny Anderson may be the most "so underrated that he's overrated" player in NFL historya darling of the stat-head community and common first-guy-mentioned when Hall of Fame snubs come up. That feeling never really went away.". The guy should demand a recount, I tell ya. But here's the thing: Gradishar, Mecklenberg and Atwater are famous for being snubbed. 2023 NFL Scouting Combine: Day 2 Recap (Fantasy Football) Every NFL teams most underrated player of all time - FanSided During his first four seasons, three with the Ravens and one in Oakland, Waller caught just 18 passes on 29 targets while also being suspended all of 2017. If you guessed both or neither one, youre wrong. It would rank 16th all-time, except that if we allow Marshall's sacks into the record, we would have to make room for Deacon Jones, Mean Joe Greene and others. Most Underrated American Football Players of All Time Raphael Guerreiro - Borussia Dortmund. In his prime, Wright was often mentioned in the same breath as Hall of Famers Mel Blount and Mike Haynes. They were the Yale football of the NFL, their glory years moldering in history books. He also had some of the clutch gene. The only lineman to start all four of those games was a workout warrior and routinely bench-pressed 550 pounds in his prime. Related:Most Overrated NFL Players of All Time. Hes also among a select few to be a four-time Super Bowl champion. Shanahan uses Juszczyk as a traditional lead blocking back, but he provides plenty of versatility out of the backfield and with the ball in his hands. According to Pro Football Reference, he was flagged for 14 accepted holding penalties in 187 career games, little more than one per season. Maybe there is still an NFL team in San Diego. Far from it. An undrafted quarterback out of the late Milton College (Wisconsin), Krieg got them to the postseason four times and the AFC championship game once. Gheorghe Hagi, Romania. Dont know about you, but I want Mason on my retro fantasy league team. In his most prolific early season, he caught 54 passes for 811 yards and five touchdowns. "Hate to say it, but I do believe I should be there (in Canton)," Marshall once said. He had 44 career sacks and as many as eight in a season on two occasions. When London Fletcher retired after the 2014 season, Robert Klemko of The MMQBasked him if he was motivated by feeling underappreciated for most of his career. He enjoyed one of the greatest receiving games in NFL history: 15 catches, 291 yards and three touchdowns against the historic 2000 Ravens defense. The system helped make Hall of Famers of Kelly, Reed and Thomas. McLaurins numbers through two-plus seasons are very similar to Stefon Diggs, who went through a similar quarterback situation early during his career in Minnesota. The Hall of Fame eluded Ellard for several reasons: comparisons to Rice, the Rams' move to St. Louis (it takes hometown writers and buzz to mount a campaign) and those five early seasons in a ground-and-pound offense. As some players continue to grow their stardom and gain league-wide recognition, others are less talked about, often flying under the radar for several seasons or even entire careers without proper acknowledgment. Year after year, Chandler Jones is one of the best pure pass rushers in football. Is Jalen Hurts the Future of the Philadelphia Eagles? Bottom line: In his 15th and final season, the 36-year-old Ken Riley had eight interceptions and returned two of them for touchdowns, one of the most incredible performances by an old man ever. Teams: Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, San Diego Chargers, Experience: 13 years (1950-59, 1963-64, 1966), AFL All-Star Game appearances: One (1963). Teams: Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins. The best teams in the AFL proved to be NFL-caliber, but the bottom of the league was populated with a nearly bankrupt franchise or two, so the best players clumped on the best teams and stood out from the crowd. He played center, as well, before his career was over. Jackson finished his career with 11,438 rushing yards (18th all-time) and 15,121 total scrimmage yards (21st all-time). Maybe Wright wasn't a Blount-level legend, but he deserves better than to be the forgotten man among the Broncos' forgotten men. He blitzed (20.5 sacks). Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content, acquired the 34-year-old Rams quarterback by, Ronald C. Modra/Sports Imagery/Getty Images, Pro Football Reference Similar Players tool, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Unlike many of Marshall's teammates, however, he wasnt an obnoxious self-promoter, which partly explained his absence from the NFC Pro Bowl roster that season. Bottom line: All Ken Norton could do was take down ballcarriers and collect Super Bowl rings. Along with the legendary Johnny Unitas, Rote probably did more to change the quarterback position than anyone in the pre-merger era even if so few know it. In Dierdorfs second to last season, the Cardinals were embarrassed by the Packers 41-16 in their playoff opener. Jerry Rice and John Taylor may have been the greatest receiving tandem of that era, but Ellard and Flipper Anderson were the most explosive pair of deep threats. A mauler of a right guard, Timmerman also was agile enough to escort Marshall Faulk on screens and sweeps. His franchises just kept ending up on the wrong side of history. But Brown was a unique and underappreciated player for over a decade on a team that nearly revolutionized the way football is played. The admission probably slams the door of the Hall of Fame on Brown forever. Most Underrated NFL Players Of All Time - The Onion Finally, at last, the cornerback was selected to play in his first Pro Bowl game as some kind of lifetime achievement award. Karl Mecklenburg. This list begins with a quarterback who is preparing to play in the 2015 NFL regular season. #5. As for being so underrated he's overrated, wellthat's extremely underrated, which justifies Anderson's ranking here. But this list is all about giving overlooked players their due respect. Neal Anderson replaced Walter Payton. The Over-the-Hill Gang fielded one of the most ferocious pass rushes of its era, notching 53 sacks in 1973. Not only was Fleming good enough to stick with great teams, but he also was the luckiest son of a gun on the face of the earth. All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands. But he didn't play for the legendary 49ers teams. Waller overcame addiction and his suspension to emerge in 2019, catching 90 passes for 1,145 yards and three touchdowns while starting all 16 games for the Raiders. most underrated nfl players He should be remembered as more than a throwback to the era when Lawrence Welk references were topical. Oakland Raiders. WebDeion Sanders: Deion Sanders is one of the most underrated players of all time. He then led three fourth-quarter comebacks to bring them back to the playoffs in 1965. Bates is a ball-hawking safety in coverage with excellent range, intelligence, and athleticism. Along with Devin White, David was all over the field making plays around the ball and was one of the more valuable players in shutting down the Chiefs offense in the Super Bowl. Sanders was an extremely Beachum has lined up at both left and right tackle but displayed Start with Adam Timmerman, who won Super Bowl rings with the Packers and Rams three years apart. His career was cut short by injuries suffered in the first of those three Pro Bowls. Angel Di Maria. After spending a season on the practice squad and injured-reserve with the Jets, Franklin-Myers made the most of his opportunities as a rotational player throughout most of 2020, leading to a starting role in 2021 and a massive $55M extension. And to think, the guy never played in a Pro Bowl game. But run defense was king in the era when McDole played, and his 16-year career is littered with big plays: 12 interceptions, 14 fumble recoveries, two touchdowns, three safeties and a pair of sacks in the 1966 AFL Championship Game.
