20 most underrated football players of all time

"Underrated" is in the eye of the beholder, so let's establish some ground rules for these rankings: After that, players are ranked based how underappreciated they are, not how great they are. Nothing screams underappreciated like rumors you're about to be traded to make room for a late first-round pick. Bottom line: After eight seasons in Buffalo, where he had been a mainstay with the best defense in AFL history, Ron McDole took his two-bar helmet to Washington. St. He also had some of the clutch gene. Starting in at least 13 games every year since entering the league in 2012, David has finished just one season with less than 100 tackles. Brandon Graham is an incredibly underrated defensive lineman and lifelong Philadelphia Eagle. The fullback has become a non-factor in many of todays NFL offenses, but Juszczyk remains an integral part of how the San Francisco 49ers run their offense. Bottom line: All Ken Norton could do was take down ballcarriers and collect Super Bowl rings. 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. At 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, he didnt wow anyone physically. While every fan base is sure to have two or three names they feel are undervalued and worthy of this list, here are my current top ten underrated players in the NFL. By the time Rivers is retired for five years, the "San Diego Chargers" will be as relevant as the Dayton Triangles, and Hall voters will be too busy rubber-stamping Tom Brady and Drew Brees to get to a guy from a lost city who couldn't win the big one. He then led three fourth-quarter comebacks to bring them back to the playoffs in 1965. WebTop 20 Most Underrated Footballers in 2022 1. MVP-caliber seasons (1,528 yards, 90 receptions, 16 total touchdowns in 2006) early in his career gave way to annual 1,100-1,200 yard, low-touchdown grinds as the Greatest Show Rams retired one by one and the team fell to 2-14 and 1-15. The Pro Football Reference Similar Players tool compares Ryan's five-year peak to that of Joe Theismann. He was one of the first true slot receivers of 21st-century NFL offenses. But here's the thing: Gradishar, Mecklenberg and Atwater are famous for being snubbed. It takes bad timing and bad luck. Honourable Mentions Hajime Hosogai, Hertha Berlin DM, Age: 27 In Super Bowl IX, Edwards killed a drive and darn near Vikings intended receiver John Gilliam on a hellacious hit near the goal line. Ron McDole falls into that final category. 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. After making the Pro Bowl twice early in his career, David has failed to make it since 2015 while still playing at a high level. But there is no player; fans themselves get to "leap" into the statue for photo ops. Pro Football Reference rates him at near a Pro Bowl level well into his 30s. I still don't know that people gave me my due respect for my production. Dont let the numbers fool you Morgan wasnt a one-trick racehorse. During his time at Fiorentina, he was the best player, 2. According to Pro Football Reference, he was flagged for 14 accepted holding penalties in 187 career games, little more than one per season. Dave Meggett -- RB, 1989-1994. McDole played 251 professional games as a defensive lineman, a remarkable feat in any era that should not be forgotten. 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. WebWhile positional drills may be more indicative of a player's success in the NFL, other events like the 40-yard dash, three-cone drill and bench press are less obvious. You know the type. 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. As Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase earn praise for helping bring competitive football back to Cincinnati, safety Jessie Bates is a huge reason for the Bengals turnaround on defense. To understand why he is not in the Hall of Fame, you must familiarize yourself with both the era he played in and the vagaries of Hall voting. Let's take a look at the the five most underrated footballers of all time. He picked off a dozen passes in his career two of them at 38 years of age an absurd number for a 6-foot-4, 265-pound lineman. Top 20 Most Underrated Footballers in 2022 - Top Soccer Blog 10 Most Underrated Promising Football Players In The World 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. 2022 NFL Mock Draft: Jacksonville Jaguars overtake Detroit for No. Bottom line: Few remember Glen Edwards as the fearless strong safety with the Steelers first two Super Bowl teams. David entered the league as a terrific coverage linebacker and has continued to grow into an all-around complete linebacker and playmaker. C'mon, who doesn't love Darren Sproles and Mike Tolbert? As good as Ellard was at the time, he almost was never mentioned in debates about the best at his position. Jones is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection. Know who created those wide-open spaces? Even so, Smith was pretty much a well-kept secret outside Pittsburgh despite meeting or approaching Pro Bowl standards for almost a decade. With that in mind, NFL Teams: Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Bottom line: Fred Taylor once tweeted, "I earned respect on the field. The 49ers are installing a new system and reshaping their roster. Year after year, Chandler Jones is one of the best pure pass rushers in football. But Anderson was an extraordinary talent. The top 20 most under-rated footballers of all time - The Telegraph Waller upped his game in 2020 and hauled in 107 passes and nine touchdowns to earn his first Pro Bowl nod. An all-underrated team like this one can get flooded with Zach Thomas, Hardy Nickerson, Tommy Nobis and Tedy Bruschi types if we don't get a little choosy. 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. They're the working stiffs who bust their butts at so-called lesser positions, on teams that are seldom seen on highlights shows, let alone national television. He recorded four consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons from 1988 through 1991, a rare feat at the time. WebThe Top 10 Most Underrated Football Players of All Time 1. Sideways. Not bad for a guy who might as well have played in a straight jacket for 14 seasons. They never had any playoff success, even when they did make it into the postseason. "I wasnt the fastest guy, but I didnt mind having the defender at my hip," Ellard said per Yahoo Sports. WebFive players made their "Top 100" debuts -- David Montgomery, Jimmie Ward, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Tucker and Kyle Pitts -- in Episode 1 (Nos. Whether they were disrespected by the media, or scrappy fan-favorites, every NFL team has had a selection of players that didnt get the attention they deserved. He had one sack in four games, all Rams victories. His .588 win percentage ranks second to Wilson in team history. "Even now I still get pissed off. But few cornerbacks spent more of their careers in the crosshairs than Allen. Running backs suffer none of the "didn't win the big game" biases that color our perception of quarterbacks. And let's not place the full burden of history on his shoulders, as Marty Schottenheimer, Norv Turner, the Chargers front office and Rivers himself had a hand in making the team a playoff also-ran during those peak years. Even pesky third-down backs and gritty fullbacks may seem underrated until you realize how many of them become local heroes. He's also among the top 100 in games started (83rd), interception return yardage (89th) and interception return touchdowns (31st). Shenault is dynamic after the catch and plays like a running back with the ball in his hands. Player B was a one-time MVP who played in two Pro Bowl games. In Jahri Evans' four All-Pro seasons (2009-12), the Saints ranked first, sixth, first and second in the NFL in total yards. Neal Anderson replaced Walter Payton. Anderson was not Payton, and the later-era Mike Ditka Bears could never approach the heights reached by the 1985 Bears. Players like McDole are what all-time underrated lists exist for. WebDuring the next few weeks, we here at NFL.com will unveil our Most Underrated and Overrated Players of All Time for all 32 teams and allow users to determine their Most Underrated It didnt help that he had ordinary quarterbacks named Tony Eason and Steve Grogan to throw him the ball. Evans, the best pass-protecting guard of his era, was charged with making sure pass-rushers didn't get close enough to Brees to bat his passes down, let alone sack him. Jeff Saturday had to translate Peyton Manning's spur-of-the-moment audibles into protection schemes a split second before the snap. He covered receivers (38 career interceptions). 1. Maybe there is still an NFL team in San Diego. Also, the field was often a block of ice. But a double whammyplaying center and playing for the Broncoshas kept him miles from Hall of Fame consideration. Marshall cant get his name even on the preliminary Hall of Fame ballot. Giants: All-time underrated, overrated players He ran a Sonny Jurgensen pass back 59 yards in the fourth quarter to seal a Rams playoff win over the Redskins in 1974. He announced his retirement from pro football in 2010, not long after signing with the Arizona Cardinals. Coughlin gave Smith a tryout, then kickoff return duties, and then teamed him with Mark Brunell and Keenan McCardell to create one of the most dangerous passing attacks of the late '90s and early 2000s. 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. In his prime, Wright was often mentioned in the same breath as Hall of Famers Mel Blount and Mike Haynes. Bottom line: For 16 seasons, Henry Ellard wreaked havoc as a pass receiver and punt returner. Both of those seasons came, ironically enough, after Allen and Buddy were separated. With his career spread evenly across three teams and zero All-Pro selections (a consequence of playing in the same era as Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher), Fletcher is a Hall of Fame long shot. TGT Tips! It made the Bills of the early 1990s the greatest team to never win a Super Bowl. Krieg was a career overachiever who survived 19 seasons on modest talent with defense-driven teams. WebThe NFL is increasingly becoming a passing league. No, what youll see are lots of gaping holes the size of Boulder. Most Underrated Mills was a USFL All-Star in all three seasons of the league's existence, and he led the Philadelphia and Baltimore Stars' Doghouse Defense (coached by Jim Mora) to a pair of league titles. Full name: Jordi Alba Ramos Date of birth: March 21, 1989 Age: 33 years old (as of 2023) Place of birth: L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain Height: 1.70 m Current team: Even unspectacular ones manage to rack up a few 1,000-yard seasons and get drafted early in fantasy leagues. Most Underrated NFL Players of All Time | Stadium Talk Overall, the total still ranks ninth at the position. Some of the 19 Success came early for Fletcher, recognition late. Today we look back at the most underrated Quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, and a few of these should be in Canton. TGT Play! Odds Deals Podcasts US USA Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Louisiana Maryland Michigan New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Robinson is a staple of Hall of Fame Snubs lists, and he certainly has his case. Dunn finished his career with 15,655 all-purpose yards, 25th in league history, one of the best players never to be a champion. Both Courtland Sutton and teammate Tim Patrick could easily make this list together as neither player is discussed nearly enough. Hadl signed with the Chargers instead, and Sid Gilman built him into the trigger man for an offense from which all modern offenses descended. But Hadl had to do something to make the Packers think he was worth two armfuls of draft picks. Jordi Alba. "That was my territory," Edwards recalled in The Palm Beach Post. Graham has only missed one game since 2012 prior to 2021, and similar to Hughes is a winning culture type of player. We could just trudge onward to the next player right now. 1 overall pick, NFL coverage map 2021: TV schedule Week 16, Seattle Seahawks: 3 players who wont be back in 2022. Since 2013, Jones has registered six double-digit sack seasons including a 17 sack season in 2017 that led the NFL, and a career-high of 19 in 2019. "It was tough, but I was happy for those guys," Dunn told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. most underrated players in football at He led the Bengals to a pair of playoff appearances in 1973 and 1975, Joe Montana's high school senior and Notre Dame sophomore seasons. 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. He was overshadowed by more famous teammates throughout his career. Wisniewski reached eight Pro Bowls and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decade team for the 1990s, so he's not exactly obscure. Ryan would blitz between five and eight defenders, plus some water boys and maybe a few boo birds from the 700 level of Veterans Stadium. Top 20 most underrated footballers of all time: who are they? 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Turned out he was skilled and driven enough to be a champion. Anchoring defenses with catchy names like the "Orange Crush?" Nope, not Charles Haley. The only lineman to start all four of those games was a workout warrior and routinely bench-pressed 550 pounds in his prime. He intercepted 34 passes for the Eagles and 54 in his career. The best we can offer is a little bit of credit where a lot is due. 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. There are a ton of names in the conversation for best offensive linemen of all time, but Dierdorf never seems to have his name mentioned. Ellard was an Antonio Brown-level talent in his prime, but his teams were in no hurry to get him the ball. WebOnce called the toughest cornerback in the NFL by Jerry Rice, Lewis would have received much more acclaim in his career if hed played a position that wasnt just following other His franchises just kept ending up on the wrong side of history. Is Jalen Hurts the Future of the Philadelphia Eagles? Antoine Griezmann is known for his excellent left foot and can score and create goals with it; hence, he is one of the best left-footed midfielders. On the final play a year later, he picked off a Roger Staubach pass in the end zone that put the Cowboys to rest. When Da Bears bean counters refused to pay up two years later, Marshall was the odd man out again. Bates finished tied for 6th in 2020 with 15 passes defended. Meet every NFL team's all-time most underrated player. Web#shortsucl#bayernmunich #bayern #barcelona#football#footballedit#footballedits#footballshirts#soccer#socceredit#socceredits#soccershorts WebLet's face it: An entire All-Underrated Team can be assembled using only Broncos defenders. Bowman doesn't get the recognition he's due, and he may have to get used to it. Moton has also committed just 10 penalties in over 50 career starts, an average of less than one penalty every five games. Wouldnt you know it? His 4.53 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine was far from elite level speed either, but none of that has not stopped Johnson from playing fast and producing at a high level for the Steelers. If the quarterback got rid of the ball before getting crushed, it was up to Allen to make a play.

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