20 most underrated football players of all time

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. He rose to Pro Bowl status playing left tackle for a single-back, Joe Gibbs-style 1980s offense. 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. 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. Player B was a one-time MVP who played in two Pro Bowl games. He blitzed (20.5 sacks). Were talking about the most unsung, underappreciated players in NFL history here. He played the run with authority (721 career solo tackles). Still, Allen rarely gets respect as a true number one wideout. That may be unfair to players like Robinson, Jerry Kramer and L.C. Yet he still led his team to the playoffs three more times. More than anything, though, Rote was a leader and winner. A bit more well-known after recently signing a four-year contract extension, John Franklin Myers is an easy player to root for and deserving of the success he has achieved. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996. 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. Mason's 95-catch, 1,200-yard seasons translate to 115-catch monsters in more pass-oriented schemes. Eric Allen's job in Buddy Ryan's 46 defense was simple. Bottom line: Never mind guys such as Michael Vick and Lamar Jackson. You mean future Hall of Fame tackle Orlando Pace didnt block four guys all by himself? So Anderson cranked out a few 1,000-yard seasons and played in some Pro Bowls, and that was that. It takes bad timing and bad luck. The NFL is now full of receivers like Mason, but few of them are as productive as he was for over a decade. 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. Both Courtland Sutton and teammate Tim Patrick could easily make this list together as neither player is discussed nearly enough. There's a statue outside of Lambeau Field commemorating the Lambeau Leap, perhaps the most recognizable and beloved (except to Packers opponents) end-zone celebration in the NFL. 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. He is now stuck in a rebuilding cycle that may take a few years. Try Dave Krieg. Fred Warner gets a lot of attention at linebacker for the 49ers, but Dre Greenlaw flies under theradar as a young playmaker quickly on the rise. The Hall of Fame has turned up its nose on all of them. Quick: Name the 49ers' all-time sack leader. 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. Oh, and Norton scored the final touchdown of the game on a 9-yard fumble return. No, what youll see are lots of gaping holes the size of Boulder. 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. There will never be another player like Marshall. (Bonus point: Schlereth doesnt suck as a broadcaster on ESPN. There are over 120 teams that compete in the FBS, which means that storylines and hidden superstars abound. Not Fred Dean. He finished his career by doing something almost impossible: signing with the Patriots as a veteran role player during one of the few years they didn't reach the Super Bowl. With Warfield hurt nearly all of that season, Ryan helped make a Pro Bowler out of receiver/punter Gary Collins. WebThe Top 10 Most Underrated Football Players of All Time 1. WebBUY OUR MERCH: https://www.thegivengo.com/merchTIK TOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@thegivengoSPOTIFY: Bowman makes this list because he has the makings of a player who will be underappreciated historically. Measurables. 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. WebThis list is for those players the ones who were great football players and did not get the credit they deserve. 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. But what peak years they were: 14- and 13-win seasons, annual playoff appearances, routine 4,000-yard, 30-touchdown seasons. He is also infamous for admitting on ESPN Radio that he once purposely let Packers defender Sean Jones sack Scott Mitchell so the struggling quarterback would get knocked out of a game. 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. By being overshadowed by Brown, achieving his greatest success just before the dawn of the Super Bowl era and getting stuck behind the Tom Brady and Peyton Manning of your grandfather's generation, Ryan earned the title of the NFL's All-Time Most Underrated Player. WebTop 20 Most Underrated NFL Players of All Time 20 Drew Brees. He should be remembered as more than a throwback to the era when Lawrence Welk references were topical. He enjoyed one of the greatest receiving games in NFL history: 15 catches, 291 yards and three touchdowns against the historic 2000 Ravens defense. 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. Buckner is a smart player and one of the better-run defenders in football. Jackson then moved on to Atlanta just after the collapse of the Mike Smith playoff teams but before the rise of the current Dan Quinn contenders. Brandon Graham is an incredibly underrated defensive lineman and lifelong Philadelphia Eagle. Robinson was one of those players. A Super Bowl ring and two AFL championships. The Packers believed they were a veteran quarterback away from a playoff run in 1974, so head coach/GM Dan Devine acquired the 34-year-old Rams quarterback by surrendering a ransom of draft picks huge enough to cause even Ryan Pace to do a spit take: two first-rounders, two second-rounders and a third-rounder. Hmmm. 10. Even unspectacular ones manage to rack up a few 1,000-yard seasons and get drafted early in fantasy leagues. Karl Mecklenburg. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. "Stanley Steamer" could run every route and was hell on wheels with the ball in his hands. And then there is plain old forgotten. The Hall of And almost nobody remembers that, when Edwards caught the ball, he knew what to do it. According to Pro Football Reference, he was flagged for 14 accepted holding penalties in 187 career games, little more than one per season. St. Teams: Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Houston Texans. 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. One look at the logjam forming outside the entrance to Canton tells you Wisniewski isn't moving up the ladder anytime soon. Jerry Hughes has been a consistent pass rusher and important piece to the Buffalo Bills defense. There are a ton of names in the conversation for best offensive linemen of all time, but Dierdorf Randy Gradishar. 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. During his nine seasons in Buffalo, Hughes has emerged as a leader while registering double-digits in QB hits every season but one. The Colts accused Ryan of running up the score in the 27-0 championship rout of 1964. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports By Sam Monson May 13, In addition to the most underrated and overrated Raiders of all time, Adam Rank goes on a mini-tirade about a criminally underrated coach. McLaurins route running continues to improve while routinely making contested catches look easy. Here are ten of the most underrated college football players of all time. On a walk-through between center and left guard, naturally. The Over-the-Hill Gang fielded one of the most ferocious pass rushes of its era, notching 53 sacks in 1973. 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. Young played for some great 49ers teams, including a Super Bowl-winning squad as a rookie in 1994. McDole, nicknamed "The Dancing Bear" because of his boogie on the dance floor rather than his on-field footwork, was known as more of a run defender than a pass-rusher. 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. Only a dozen players have more career interception return yards (961), and seven of them are in the Hall of Fame. He played 256 career regular-season games, never missing a start due to injury. That "something" was throwing for more than 29,000 yards and going to four AFL All-Star Games and a Pro Bowl with the Chargers and then leading the Rams to a 12-2 record in 1973. He routinely beat defenders with quickness out of his breaks and clever change-of-pace moves, qualities that also served him well as a punt returner. 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. Maybe there is still an NFL team in San Diego. Tom Jackson. Mason had seven seasons of at least 70 pass receptions, 1,000 yards and five touchdowns. 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. Teams: Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins, Houston Oilers, Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets, Pro Bowl appearances: Three (1986, 1987, 1992), Super Bowl championships: Two (1985, 1991). 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. Maybe Rivers takes his place among the all-time greats. 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. Actually, theres a simple explanation. Dunn finished his career with 15,655 all-purpose yards, 25th in league history, one of the best players never to be a champion. 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. The admission probably slams the door of the Hall of Fame on Brown forever. These men did so much but received so little credit in return. 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. And because versatility is his calling card, he'll never produce gaudy sack totals or climb any all-time leaderboards. But Brown was a unique and underappreciated player for over a decade on a team that nearly revolutionized the way football is played. He announced his retirement from pro football in 2010, not long after signing with the Arizona Cardinals. And you're never going to guess who's No. Bottom line: The 49ers of the 1980s are remembered most for Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, coach Bill Walsh and the West Coast offense. Hes the only quarterback with AFL and NFL titles on his resume and he darn near pulled it off in the Canadian Football League as well. 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. 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. Kenn is one of the NFL's all-time great players and leaders, and his impact ranges far beyond his playing career. But three of his best seasons are not listed in the encyclopedias. WebWhile 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. Deion Jones is one interception away from tying the all-time record for pick 6's by a linebacker, and he's done it in a fraction of the games. He covered receivers (38 career interceptions). The difference between the great and the all-time great is often a matter of timing and luck. An undrafted quarterback out of the late Milton College (Wisconsin), Krieg got them to the postseason four times and the AFC championship game once. Anderson went on to duel with Walsh and Montana's 49ers in Super Bowl XVI. That may tick him off. Meet every NFL team's all-time most underrated player. But no highlight clip of that play can be found on the internet. Sanders was an extremely Developing a rapport with new QB Trevor Lawrence should only help Shenault quickly reach his true potential. Ronald Koeman is a bonafide legend of Dutch football. Two names that are familiar to even casual football fans sit atop the mountaintop of underrated NFL players for the 2015 regular season. 1. Actually, make that four careers. Build your customFanSided Daily email newsletter with news and analysis onAll NFL and all your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and more. But Hadl had to do something to make the Packers think he was worth two armfuls of draft picks. 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. Here is every NFL teams most underrated player of all time. Get this: Ten of those seasons were spent with either the Vince Lombardi Packers or Don Shula Dolphins. 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. But the former NFL Man of the Year award winner and two-time All-Pro should not have had to wait so long. Dave Meggett -- RB, 1989-1994. His 65 interceptions are fifth most in NFL history. Lomas Brown played left tackle for four Lions playoff teams. Chiesa is a winger who plays for Juventus. 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. Frank Ryan led the NFL in passing touchdowns twice. Fleming was a reliable backup tight end/wide receiver who played with four Super Bowl-winners (and one NFL champion) in a dozen seasons. WebWho are the most underrated players of all time? He won 65 percent of his NFL starts. And Jackson spent a generation as a pre- and postgame show staple, which puts him in a whole different category. And he played in one stinking Pro Bowl game. He didnt just take up space, either. Rote was the first quarterback who regularly beat defenses with his legs as well as his arm. His stardom was spread among three teams, robbing him of local hero status (or Hall of Fame momentum) in any one city. Even so, Smith was pretty much a well-kept secret outside Pittsburgh despite meeting or approaching Pro Bowl standards for almost a decade. If John Hadl is remembered for anything these days, it's for one of the most disastrous trades in NFL history. He arrived in Buffalo at the same time Marv Levy was revolutionizing NFL offense with the help of Jim Kelly, Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas. In his prime, Wright was often mentioned in the same breath as Hall of Famers Mel Blount and Mike Haynes. There, he led a relentless Redskins pass rush in their Super Bowl XXVI ambush. Graham has only missed one game since 2012 prior to 2021, and similar to Hughes is a winning culture type of player. He was overshadowed by more famous teammates throughout his career. There may be such a thing as too much blitzing, after all. Evans is a long shot to do either, which is a shame. Marshall cant get his name even on the preliminary Hall of Fame ballot. 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. 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. While the 2021 season is still early, Johnson looks to have cleaned up some issues with drops that hindered his 2020 performance and is perhaps the only thing stopping him from gaining more notoriety. 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. If McCree doesn't cough up that fourth-quarter pick, the Chargers beat the Patriots, and perhaps Philip Rivers leads a team that went 14-2 in the regular season to the Super Bowl. At 67 Buckner also has a wide arsenal of pass rush moves to pressure the quarterback. Jackson finished his career with 11,438 rushing yards (18th all-time) and 15,121 total scrimmage yards (21st all-time). David has amassed 12 interceptions, 16 fumble recoveries, 24 forced fumbles, and 53 pass deflections during his career. The linebacker ranks 17th in career solo tackles (1,130) and is the only player to be part of three consecutive Super Bowl champions. He started for the Rams in their Super Bowl seasons at the beginning of his career and then earned Pro Bowl berths for Washington from 2009 through 2012 when he was in his mid-30s. He was a Pro Bowl regular, two-time All-Pro and Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1971. The best we can offer is a little bit of credit where a lot is due. Here on the All-Time Underrated List, it counts for a lot. The Lions drafted him as a running back. He reached the playoffs as a rookie backup in 2004 and a 32-year-old backup in 2015, but zero times in the decade in between. 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. The Jaguars upset John Elway's Broncos and reached the AFC Championship Game as a second-year expansion team and then went on to three more playoff berths, culminating in a 14-2 season. The 49ers are installing a new system and reshaping their roster. WebLet's face it: An entire All-Underrated Team can be assembled using only Broncos defenders. Photo by JOHN CAPUTO/AFP via Getty Images, ST. LOUIS, MO CIRCA 1980: Ed Jones #72 of the Dallas Cowboys gets blocked by Dan Dierdorf #72 of the St. Louis Cardinals during an NFL football game circa 1980 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. That's where the politics of Hall voting come in. McLaurin registered 87 catches in 2020 after 58 during his rookie season in 2019. Mason also caught 49 postseason passes and was one of the game's best return men for a few years. Its easy to forget the Seahawks had some pretty good teams way back when, even a few playoff ones. And then there is Kent Hull, the first center to achieve greatness in a no-huddle offense. So it takes a remarkable streak of hard luck for a running back to make this list. He intercepted 25 career regular-season passes and two more in the postseason. The 49ers drafted linebacker Reuben Foster at the bottom of the first round. All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands. Teams: Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos, Super Bowl championships: Three (1991, 1997, 1998). Bottom line: The Greatest Show On Turf boasted so much star power you couldnt tell the other Rams without a program. Anchoring defenses with catchy names like the "Orange Crush?" Dierdorf started his career with the Cardinals in 1971 as a guard. Related:Most Overrated NFL Players of All Time. WebFive players made their "Top 100" debuts -- David Montgomery, Jimmie Ward, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Tucker and Kyle Pitts -- in Episode 1 (Nos. Shenault is dynamic after the catch and plays like a running back with the ball in his hands. But don't write him off as some 1960s product of the system. Fletcher followed Gregg Williams from coaching stop to coaching stop, serving as the sometimes controversial, always effective defensive mastermind's field marshal. He had to blanket a wide receiver in man coverage with no safety help on every play. 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. 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. The Bucs hired head coach Jon Gruden and won Super Bowl XXXVII the next season. 25 Feb/23. Oh, and sub-packages were pretty rare in the 1960s and 1970s, so Marshall didn't leave the field much. Bottom line: Quick, name the winningest Seahawks quarterback before the Russell Wilson era. It was a motivating factor for a number of years in my career. Year after year, Chandler Jones is one of the best pure pass rushers in football. Teams: Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, San Diego Chargers, Experience: 13 years (1950-59, 1963-64, 1966), AFL All-Star Game appearances: One (1963). Sideways. 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. shaka wear graphic tees is candy digital publicly traded ellen lawson wife of ted lawson most underrated nfl players 2000s. He's rarely mentioned as an all-time great. This past offseason, Juszczyk signed a five-year $27M contract to return to the 49ers, making him the highest-paid fullback in football by a wide margin. Pro Bowl? The Rams acquired him from the Chargers in 1973 in exchange for defensive end Coy Bacon. The least glamorous position on the field, a so-so team, a franchise moveWisniewski pulled three lemons on the recognition slot machine. It doesn't matter: If you are a Broncos defender, you might as well forget about a bust in Canton. Teams: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, Pro Bowl appearances: Three (1997, 2000, 2005). Even pesky third-down backs and gritty fullbacks may seem underrated until you realize how many of them become local heroes. Mike Kenn began his career playing left tackle for a lumbering 1970s power-running offense. He finally won a Super Bowl ring as a backup for the Buccaneers. WebTop 20 Most Underrated Footballers in 2022 1. 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. "Because when the ball was thrown, I knew I had better ball skills and would go up and get it.". But things were different in the long-ago 1990s, when the sports universe belonged to teal-emblazoned expansion franchises and a youngish Tom Coughlin received a binder full of press clippings from the mother of a wide receiver ready to call it quits after injuries derailed his Cowboys career. They would rank first in the NFL in yardage four other times while Evans was a starter. They never had any playoff success, even when they did make it into the postseason. 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. Super Bowl championships: Four (1966, 1967, 1972, 1973). In 10 of the 12 seasons in which he started at least half their games, the Seahawks prevailed more times than not. Know who created those wide-open spaces? Web#shortsucl#bayernmunich #bayern #barcelona#football#footballedit#footballedits#footballshirts#soccer#socceredit#socceredits#soccershorts Wouldnt you know it? Thats what Krieg did best win football games. Modern centers don't get the credit they deserve. Angel Di Maria. The rumors themselves were not surprising.

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