Fletcher followed Gregg Williams from coaching stop to coaching stop, serving as the sometimes controversial, always effective defensive mastermind's field marshal. 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. For years, the team couldn't even harken back to its glory days properly, as Smith's Pride of the Jaguars induction was delayed until he was sober and no longer under house arrest. Roberston is the guy getting head-butted in the sternum and knocked backward by Campbell before the running back's jersey gets torn off. Cooke is the most underrated player in the sport, performing mostly in the wonderful but considerable shadows of Boston, Staleys grand personality and all the noise at Colonial Life Arena. The Hall of Fame has turned up its nose on all of them. Juszczyk has made five Pro Bowl appearances, including each season since joining San Francisco in 2017. He lacked the straight-line speed to be a game-breaker. That's a higher sack total than Dwight Freeney or Robert Mathis. Now that's underrated. Teams: Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins. McDole was known as "The Dancing Bear" because of his nimble feet, one of the coolest nicknames ever. They say you know an offensive lineman is doing a great job when his name is rarely brought up, but its time Moton is talked about more for his success. He recorded four consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons from 1988 through 1991, a rare feat at the time. He blitzed (20.5 sacks). 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. Poor Louis Wright has a hard time even making the Broncos' overcrowded All-Snub Team. According to Pro Football Reference, he was flagged for 14 accepted holding penalties in 187 career games, little more than one per season. Bowman doesn't get the recognition he's due, and he may have to get used to it. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. Fleming was a reliable backup tight end/wide receiver who played with four Super Bowl-winners (and one NFL champion) in a dozen seasons. All picks and predictions are suggestions only. Web#shortsucl#bayernmunich #bayern #barcelona#football#footballedit#footballedits#footballshirts#soccer#socceredit#socceredits#soccershorts Ellard was an Antonio Brown-level talent in his prime, but his teams were in no hurry to get him the ball. On a walk-through between center and left guard, naturally. But three of his best seasons are not listed in the encyclopedias. Super Bowl championships: Four (1966, 1967, 1972, 1973). He accounted for all his teams points in a 15-13 white-knuckler that wrecked the 49ers three-peat bid and sent the Giants to Super Bowl XXV. Anderson was the first quarterback to successfully orchestrate the beta version of Bill Walsh's West Coast offense for multiple seasons. Super Bowl championships: Two (1996, 1999). One of the greatest defenders of his era reduced to stuntman status in Campbell's action movieall it takes is a moment to make a player underrated forever. Bottom line: Derrick Mason was among the shrewdest, most precise route runners of his time. 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. Put him on the Tom Brady-led Patriots, and Mason might have invented a new branch of mathematics. Both of those seasons came, ironically enough, after Allen and Buddy were separated. But so were teammates like Len Dawson, Willie Lanier, Buck Buchanan, Bobby Bell, Curley Culp and Jan Stenerud, all of whom are in the Hall of Fame. 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. Bowman is coming off an Achilles tear in 2016. We look at the 10 most underrated players in football at the moment. Neal Anderson replaced Walter Payton. Franklin-Myers went from fourth-round draft choice of the Rams in 2018, to a final roster cut in 2019. Tom Jackson. 100-91). 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 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. He returned eight interceptions for touchdowns, including four in 1993 and three during his age-35 season with the Raiders in 2000. WebLet's face it: An entire All-Underrated Team can be assembled using only Broncos defenders. Anchoring defenses with catchy names like the "Orange Crush?" He played in the run-'n'-shoot offense, which means he was on an island against the NFL's best pass-rushers on every snap for a half-decadeno tight end flanking him, no blocking back behind him. WebTop 20 Most Underrated Footballers in 2022 1. Some of the 19 He should be remembered as more than a throwback to the era when Lawrence Welk references were topical. Maybe Wright wasn't a Blount-level legend, but he deserves better than to be the forgotten man among the Broncos' forgotten men. Teammates Alan Page and Carl Ellar were held in higher regard. chants for the best players who didnt get their just dues over the years. The Steelers rushed for a then-record 249 yards and did not allow a sack. Only a dozen players have more career interception return yards (961), and seven of them are in the Hall of Fame. This list begins with a quarterback who is preparing to play in the 2015 NFL regular season. 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. Maybe that victory gives them the psychological edge they need to beat the undefeated Patriots in their 2008 playoff rematch. There are no official sack statistics before 1982, but the Minnesota Vikings credit Jim Marshall with 127 career sacks. The Rams eventually acquired Jim Everett and opened up their offense, transforming Ellard into one of the NFL's most dangerous deep threats. And almost nobody remembers that, when Edwards caught the ball, he knew what to do it. Teams kept doing something special to get their hands on Hadl. Wide receiver Chase Claypool stole headlines as a rookie in 2020, while teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster always seems to attract headlines one way or another. Oh, and sub-packages were pretty rare in the 1960s and 1970s, so Marshall didn't leave the field much. Anderson went on to duel with Walsh and Montana's 49ers in Super Bowl XVI. Mostly Schlereth and sidekick Tom Nalen, who were masters of zone-blocking schemes, a major reason why Davis is in the Hall of Fame today. 10. Bates finished tied for 6th in 2020 with 15 passes defended. You mean future Hall of Fame tackle Orlando Pace didnt block four guys all by himself? Sutton hauled in 72 catches for 1,112 yards during his second season in the league before a knee injury cut short his 2020campaign after 1 game. Hence, the Campbell video. All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands. On this All-Underrated list, he is in very good company. 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. It takes bad timing and bad luck. Not one of the Jim Harbaugh-era guys. 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. 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. That feeling never really went away.". Bottom line: Terrell Davis rushed for 2,008 yards in his momentous 1998 season, but look at the game films and you wont see him fake out many defenders or break many tackles. He won 65 percent of his NFL starts. 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. Turned out he was skilled and driven enough to be a champion. He began his career at the tail end of Jim Harbaugh's great defensive teams, but he has since battled both injuries and the incompetence of the Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly experiments. He was a eight-time Pro Bowler and one-time Super Bowl champion. No matter what the two-time All-Pro accomplished, he could never be Jerry Rice, who cast a long, tall shadow in the same conference. Victory propelled Montana to superstardom, while defeat left the 32-year old Anderson to play out the string as a high-percentage passer for a rapidly disintegrating franchise. Player A was a one-time Most Valuable Player who took part in four Pro Bowl games. 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. He then led three fourth-quarter comebacks to bring them back to the playoffs in 1965. Truth is, Norton should have been Super Bowl XXVII Most Valuable Player, not Troy Aikman, who was the obligatory quarterback pick. 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. He was an All-Pro for the Orange Crush defenses of the 1970s, and then he stuck around to play for the 1986 Broncos Super Bowl team. His career was cut short by injuries suffered in the first of those three Pro Bowls. Far from it. No one else is even close. But Anderson was an extraordinary talent. 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. 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. When the team inducted Smith into the Pride of the Jaguars ring of honor last year, it was the strange case of a moribund franchise honoring a former receiver still on parole for succumbing to the demons of addiction. Craters so big that you could drive a semi through them. But here's the thing: Gradishar, Mecklenberg and Atwater are famous for being snubbed. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Super Bowl championships: 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979. Quarterback is the most important position in organized football and maybe in all of sports, so it should be no surprise that men who play QB dominate the top spots of this list. 1. "Hate to say it, but I do believe I should be there (in Canton)," Marshall once said. And no Hall of Famers allowed. 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. 25 Feb/23. 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. Know who created those wide-open spaces? 1. You know the type. He's rarely mentioned as an all-time great. It didnt help that he had ordinary quarterbacks named Tony Eason and Steve Grogan to throw him the ball. Brown earned seven Pro Bowl berths and an All-Pro selection. David has amassed 12 interceptions, 16 fumble recoveries, 24 forced fumbles, and 53 pass deflections during his career. So Kenn basically had three careers. Player B passed for 31,548 yards and 214 touchdowns and ran for 22 touchdowns with below average-to-good teams. Taylor Moton has quietly emerged as a dominant presence at right tackle for the Panthers. "That was my territory," Edwards recalled in The Palm Beach Post. The system helped make Hall of Famers of Kelly, Reed and Thomas. David entered the league as a terrific coverage linebacker and has continued to grow into an all-around complete linebacker and playmaker. There, he led a relentless Redskins pass rush in their Super Bowl XXVI ambush. Smith produced nine 1,000-yard seasons in 10 years, including two 100-plus-catch seasons in an era when they were still relatively uncommon. An ever-growing backlog of outstanding safeties is queuing up outside Canton, as Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed will soon joinJohn Lynch and Brian Dawkins. Karl Mecklenburg. WebThis list is for those players the ones who were great football players and did not get the credit they deserve. A beast in coverage, Jones continues to round out his game as one of the top overall linebackers in football. 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. Wouldnt you know it? Tom Jackson. Some might say it's a stretch to put Allen on this list after four straight Pro Bowl seasons and 95+ catch seasons. There have been many better quarterbacks than Ryan in NFL history. Dont know about you, but I want Mason on my retro fantasy league team. Moton started all 16 games each of the last four years, gradually improving and joining the conversation of best right tackles in football. Player A passed for 27,928 yards and 194 touchdowns and ran for four touchdowns with mostly very good teams and one great one. And Jackson spent a generation as a pre- and postgame show staple, which puts him in a whole different category. As the Chargers faded, Rivers kept them in the wild-card picture and became the franchise's only recognizable public figure. Bates started every game during his first three seasons since entering the league in 2018, recording three interceptions in each season and averaging over 100 tackles. Web12. Here are ten of the most underrated college football players of all time. Jackson probably helped you win a fantasy title or two, but he would be remembered for so much more if he wasn't always on the wrong team at the wrong time. Super Bowl championships: Two (2005, 2008). Numbers better than majority of RBs in history. Let's hope the fame doesn't go to his head. 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. There are a ton of names in the conversation for best offensive linemen of all time, but Dierdorf Year after year, Chandler Jones is one of the best pure pass rushers in football. ), Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers, Super Bowl championships: Two (1974, 1975). 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. Drew Brees endured an average of just 24 sacks per season in Evans' All-Pro seasons, despite typically dropping back to pass over 650 times per year. Build your customFanSided Daily email newsletter with news and analysis onAll NFL and all your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and more. 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. It's Bryant Young, whorecorded 89.5 sacks for the 49ers, 23 more than Haley. He played 256 career regular-season games, never missing a start due to injury. Jordi Alba. Bates is a ball-hawking safety in coverage with excellent range, intelligence, and athleticism. Then it was off to Carolina, where he earned an All-Pro selection for leading the Panthers to the NFC Championship Game as a second-year expansion team during his age-37 season. Bowman makes this list because he has the makings of a player who will be underappreciated historically. Once an arbitrary number of players from a historic team get enshrined, the committee moves on in search of underappreciated players from other franchises. A Hall of Fame voter once warned me that "every town has its linebacker.". He's not the kind of player a wise organization sheds to cut expenses. There will never be another player like Marshall. Randy Gradishar. (Bonus point: Schlereth doesnt suck as a broadcaster on ESPN. Henry Ellard spent the first five seasons of his NFL career returning punts and putting up humdrum receiving stats. His teams averaged 392.0 yards and 34.0 points in those games. Web#shortsucl#bayernmunich #bayern #barcelona#football#footballedit#footballedits#footballshirts#soccer#socceredit#socceredits#soccershorts The USFL may not have been the NFL in terms of quality, but being the Luke Kuechly of a league that featured Herschel Walker, Jim Kelly and Steve Young should count for something. A great story off the field and rare talent on it, Waller appears to still be getting better at age 29. Web113 Likes, TikTok video from FootWorld (@lovingfootbal): "The most underrated player of all time #dimaria #football". Many of those catches occurred down the field, with Anderson serving as a de facto possession receiver. ", Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Oilers, Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, Pro Bowl appearances (AFL All-Star Game): Two (1965, 1967). Bowman is a four-time All-Pro and tremendous all-purpose linebacker who emerged as a stalwart leader for teams that otherwise might have packed it in before Labor Day. When Da Bears bean counters refused to pay up two years later, Marshall was the odd man out again. The linebacker ranks 17th in career solo tackles (1,130) and is the only player to be part of three consecutive Super Bowl champions. 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. A Super Bowl ring and two AFL championships. Both Courtland Sutton and teammate Tim Patrick could easily make this list together as neither player is discussed nearly enough. TGT Tips! Those who like to shout "first-ballot Hall of Famer" about Rivers do not know how the Hall of Fame works. That voter meant every fanbase has a beloved old defender, renowned for his toughness and leadership, that they swear belongs in the Hall of Fame. 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. For a few years, he was not only the best guard in the NFL, but the most important. That may be unfair to players like Robinson, Jerry Kramer and L.C. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996. Fifteen years ago, similar receivers were gimmicky undersized role players. Beachum has lined up at both left and right tackle but displayed With 4.35 speed, McLaurin can take the top off any defense but has also rounded out the rest of his game since his time at Ohio State. Karl Mecklenburg. 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 The 49ers are installing a new system and reshaping their roster. Ryan threw five touchdown passes and ran for a sixth to beat the Giants and lead the Browns to the NFL championship in 1964. We could just trudge onward to the next player right now. In his prime, Wright was often mentioned in the same breath as Hall of Famers Mel Blount and Mike Haynes. While Graham's sack numbers have never hit double digits, he remains a complete player and Super Bowl champion. The most similar current player to Anderson is Pittsburgh's Le'Veon Bell, but Bell plays in a modern offense that amplifies his production instead of suppressing it.