20 most underrated football players of all time

An undrafted quarterback out of the late Milton College (Wisconsin), Krieg got them to the postseason four times and the AFC championship game once. Every NFL teams most underrated player of all time - FanSided Bottom line: For 16 seasons, Henry Ellard wreaked havoc as a pass receiver and punt returner. Raphael Guerreiro of Borussia Dortmund Looks Oakland Raiders. top 20 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. Defensive Player of the Year awards? Most Underrated The former top ten draft pick looks to be on the verge of breaking out. In 10 of the 12 seasons in which he started at least half their games, the Seahawks prevailed more times than not. As a pass blocker, Moton has developed into a steady presence capable of holding his own, and at times even dominating top pass rushers that include Joey Bosa and Cameron Jordan. Hull never lived to see himself make a Hall of Fame semifinalist list, as he died of liver failure at age 50 in 2011. In both New England and Arizona, Jones has wreaked havoc on quarterbacks, demonstrating versatility as a 3-4 OLB and 4-3 DE. They never had any playoff success, even when they did make it into the postseason. In their two Super Bowl seasons that followed, Young was a virtual nonfactor in the matchup. He played for teams that were more interesting than outstanding, from the Ryan and Rich Kotite-era Eagles to the Jim Mora and Mike Ditka Saints to Jon Gruden's Raiders. 100-91). The Niners' willingness to spend big money on a long-term deal at fullback demonstrates the value and unique skill set Juszczyk provides. Graham has only missed one game since 2012 prior to 2021, and similar to Hughes is a winning culture type of player. While coverage is Bates' strength, he can still lay the big hit and be a factor in run support. He was arrested four times after his abrupt retirement. The statue portrays jubilant Packers fans in tundra-weather gear appearing to cradle a player who just pounced into the stands. Rivers' excellence, longevity and ability to barely dodge immortality make him the John Hadl of his era. Also, the field was often a block of ice. Both of those seasons came, ironically enough, after Allen and Buddy were separated. 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. When Da Bears bean counters refused to pay up two years later, Marshall was the odd man out again. "I wasnt the fastest guy, but I didnt mind having the defender at my hip," Ellard said per Yahoo Sports. Sanders was an extremely The Hall of Try Dave Krieg. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Steve Wisniewski played guard on a Raiders team that moved in the middle of his career and was just good enough to remind you it was not in the same class as the great Raiders teams that preceded it. He is now stuck in a rebuilding cycle that may take a few years. 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. 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 The start to his career is Hall of Fame worthy and includes a Super Bowl championship while with the New England Patriots. It was rival 49ers tackle Bryant Young who the Rams were most concerned about before the 1999 season, when they signed Timmerman as a free agent. Even unspectacular ones manage to rack up a few 1,000-yard seasons and get drafted early in fantasy leagues. Bates finished tied for 6th in 2020 with 15 passes defended. Jones is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection. Not enough credit is given to Waller who lacks the Shanahan offense or elite QB to help take his game to the next level. WebThis list is for those players the ones who were great football players and did not get the credit they deserve. Put him on the Tom Brady-led Patriots, and Mason might have invented a new branch of mathematics. The admission probably slams the door of the Hall of Fame on Brown forever. Young played for some great 49ers teams, including a Super Bowl-winning squad as a rookie in 1994. 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. The least glamorous position on the field, a so-so team, a franchise moveWisniewski pulled three lemons on the recognition slot machine. He didnt just take up space, either. A Colts defender delivered some payback in the all-star game. Guards don't make the Hall of Fame unless they win multiple Super Bowls or play forever. 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. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports By Sam Monson May 13, There may be such a thing as too much blitzing, after all. Upon entering the league in 2019, Johnson recorded 59 catches as a rookie and then topped that mark in 2020 with 88 catches. But don't write him off as some 1960s product of the system. Brown is now best known as a television personality. If ever a geezer was meant to play with George Allens Over The Hill Gang, he was the one. Hull was not just a great lineman but a groundbreaking one. WebA key ingredient of arguably the best back four to grace the game Mauro Tassoti, him, Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini the Milan central defender made more than 450 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. In two Super Bowl trips, Bahr didnt miss a kick three field goals, six PATs. Because he is one of the NFL's best defensive players, for one thing. Gheorghe Hagi, Romania. Measurables. Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images, Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images, Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images. 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. Player A passed for 27,928 yards and 194 touchdowns and ran for four touchdowns with mostly very good teams and one great one. Norton made the key play of the game in the second period, when he stood up Buffalo Bills back Kenneth Davis mere inches from the goal line. Bottom line: OK, kids, lets play Name That Hall of Famer. Twenty years ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars were one of the marquee organizations in professional sports, and Jimmy Smith was one of their brightest stars. Tom Jackson. Robinson is a staple of Hall of Fame Snubs lists, and he certainly has his case. Mason's 95-catch, 1,200-yard seasons translate to 115-catch monsters in more pass-oriented schemes. Johnson can line up all over the field and consistently find space in the opposing defense. He led his team to an NFL championship. Not bad for a guy who might as well have played in a straight jacket for 14 seasons. Buckner is a smart player and one of the better-run defenders in football. No one plays guard expecting fame and accolades, least of all Wisniewski, who is worthy of all the gritty cliches you can sling at him. Most Underrated NFL Players Of All Time - The Onion Bowman is coming off an Achilles tear in 2016. Most underrated NFL players on all Edouard Mendy - Chelsea. Teams kept doing something special to get their hands on Hadl. The Cardinals were 0-3 in the playoffs in Dierdorfs time with the team, and none of the games were particularly close. McLaurins route running continues to improve while routinely making contested catches look easy. He had to blanket a wide receiver in man coverage with no safety help on every play. WebFive players made their "Top 100" debuts -- David Montgomery, Jimmie Ward, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Tucker and Kyle Pitts -- in Episode 1 (Nos. As the Chargers faded, Rivers kept them in the wild-card picture and became the franchise's only recognizable public figure. 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. The most underrated player on all 32 NFL teams Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard (20) runs with the ball while being tackled by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters (24) in the second quarter at M&T Bank Stadium. Interior defensive linemen: The average height and weight for defensive tackles entering the league is 6-foot-3, 306 pounds. All picks and predictions are suggestions only. 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. That may be unfair to players like Robinson, Jerry Kramer and L.C. Kenn was one of the leaders of the NFL Players Association during the era of replacement players and court battles over free agency. Theyre the core players who are overshadowed by more well-paid, high-profile teammates and just plain pathetic, shameless self-promoters. Maybe Wright wasn't a Blount-level legend, but he deserves better than to be the forgotten man among the Broncos' forgotten men. Schlereth started in three Super Bowls with the Redskins and Broncos, all of them victories. A lifelong Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Davids 10-year career has been about consistency and productivity. most underrated player of all time The AFL was an eight- to 10-team league, so All-Pro selections were easier to come by. It is absurd that Jones isnt talked about more with his ability to impact games. Derrick Mason recorded four 1,000-yard seasons for Jeff Fisher teams and four more for the Baltimore Ravens. Regardless of the Cardinals struggles, Dierdorf was a star. 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. Hull started his professional career with the USFL's New Jersey Generals, where he helped Herschel Walker rush for 2,411 yards in one 18-game season. Fifteen years ago, similar receivers were gimmicky undersized role players. Ryan threw five touchdown passes and ran for a sixth to beat the Giants and lead the Browns to the NFL championship in 1964. What Mason did have was a keen attention to detail and fanatical drive to succeed. Ellard was an Antonio Brown-level talent in his prime, but his teams were in no hurry to get him the ball. The Colts accused Ryan of running up the score in the 27-0 championship rout of 1964. The Rams acquired him from the Chargers in 1973 in exchange for defensive end Coy Bacon. In the 1950s and the days of 12-game regular seasons, he rushed for 3,078 yards, nearly 1,000 more than the runner-up. The 49ers drafted linebacker Reuben Foster at the bottom of the first round. Arizona Cardinals: Kelvin Beachum, OT. Or as astute NBC broadcaster Dick Enberg scored it, "KO for Ken Norton.". Krieg was a career overachiever who survived 19 seasons on modest talent with defense-driven teams. 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. "That was my territory," Edwards recalled in The Palm Beach Post. While Graham's sack numbers have never hit double digits, he remains a complete player and Super Bowl champion. Bottom line: Never mind guys such as Michael Vick and Lamar Jackson. McDole's Bills defenses held opponents to fewer than 3.1 yards per carry across three consecutive seasons. Kolb set the Super Bowl standard for left tackles in Super Bowl IV, when he smoked undersized Minnesota Vikings end Jim Marshall like a bad cigar. MOST UNDERRATED PLAYERS OF ALL TIME And no Hall of Famers allowed. Sideways. It's Bryant Young, whorecorded 89.5 sacks for the 49ers, 23 more than Haley. most underrated player The Top 10 Most Underrated Football Players of All Time It didnt help that he had ordinary quarterbacks named Tony Eason and Steve Grogan to throw him the ball. He was an iron man for a powerhouse franchise that reached four Super Bowls while playing many of their home games in arctic conditions. The 6'2" Wright was renowned as a run-stuffing cornerbackthat's him tackling Walter Payton in the photobut he also intercepted 26 career passes, even though opposing quarterbacks spent much of his career avoiding him. Mills looks like just another local hero linebacker in the encyclopedias, albeit a good one. He also had some of the clutch gene. Travis Kelce and George Kittle dominate the conversation at tight end but Darren Waller is quickly emerging as a name that should be discussed as well. But there is no player; fans themselves get to "leap" into the statue for photo ops. Some might say it's a stretch to put Allen on this list after four straight Pro Bowl seasons and 95+ catch seasons. Thats what Krieg did best win football games. "It pissed me off," Fletcher replied.