He played 256 career regular-season games, never missing a start due to injury. Robinson is a staple of Hall of Fame Snubs lists, and he certainly has his case. The 49ers drafted linebacker Reuben Foster at the bottom of the first round. The 49ers are installing a new system and reshaping their roster. St. 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. Who knows what the NFL might have looked like then? Smith wasnt a no-show on third-and-long, either. 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. Karl Mecklenburg. Entering 2021, Moton had allowed only 10 sacks in over 2,000 pass-blocking snaps. The career active leader in games started by a defensive lineman is Julius Peppers with 227. His franchises just kept ending up on the wrong side of history. His 2,690 all-purpose yards with the Titans in the 2000 season are second in league history. So it takes a remarkable streak of hard luck for a running back to make this list. Theyre the core players who are overshadowed by more well-paid, high-profile teammates and just plain pathetic, shameless self-promoters. The Cardinals were 0-3 in the playoffs in Dierdorfs time with the team, and none of the games were particularly close. That feeling never really went away.". Unless you live in Cleveland or are over 50, you probably have never heard of him. There may be such a thing as too much blitzing, after all. No one else is even close. He was overshadowed by more famous teammates throughout his career. Teams: New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, Pro Bowl appearances: Four (1979, 1980, 1986, 1987). He then went on to start at left tackle for the playoff-bound Cardinals and 2000 NFC champion Giants. Maybe there is still an NFL team in San Diego. 25 Feb/23. Coaches rave about his work off the field and his dedication to improving his craft. The rumors themselves were not surprising. In 10 of the 12 seasons in which he started at least half their games, the Seahawks prevailed more times than not. In Dierdorfs second to last season, the Cardinals were embarrassed by the Packers 41-16 in their playoff opener. Make no mistake about it, Eric Bieniemys exodus from Kansas City to Washington is only one move on the chess board His .588 win percentage ranks second to Wilson in team history. Some might say it's a stretch to put Allen on this list after four straight Pro Bowl seasons and 95+ catch seasons. Feyenoord v VVV Venlo - Eredivisie. Anderson went on to duel with Walsh and Montana's 49ers in Super Bowl XVI. Those accomplishments may soon finally land Kenn in the Hall of Fame. He returned eight interceptions for touchdowns, including four in 1993 and three during his age-35 season with the Raiders in 2000. Ken Griffey Jr.? 10. Evans is still playing at a high level; the Packers hope that he can do for Aaron Rodgers what he did for Brees. Steven Jackson arrived in St. Louis just as the Greatest Show on Turf was deteriorating into the Most Miserable Slog in the Midwest. 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. 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. Bates has still developed into a leader in the Bengals secondary and arguably their best player on defense. Teams: Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Bottom line: Fred Taylor once tweeted, "I earned respect on the field. ", Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Oilers, Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, Pro Bowl appearances (AFL All-Star Game): Two (1965, 1967). It doesn't matter: If you are a Broncos defender, you might as well forget about a bust in Canton. 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. Interior defensive linemen: The average height and weight for defensive tackles entering the league is 6-foot-3, 306 pounds. The converted all-purpose athlete became one of the fathers of modern quarterbacking. 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. Greenlaw is equally effective against the run and pass, a sure tackler, and brings plenty of energy to theNiners' defense. Edouard Mendy - Chelsea. That made Hull one of the first centers to make line adjustments on the fly. Web12. The admission probably slams the door of the Hall of Fame on Brown forever. Arizona Cardinals: Kelvin Beachum, OT. "No one was going to catch no ball.". They were the Yale football of the NFL, their glory years moldering in history books. In Jahri Evans' four All-Pro seasons (2009-12), the Saints ranked first, sixth, first and second in the NFL in total yards. 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. 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. But the former NFL Man of the Year award winner and two-time All-Pro should not have had to wait so long. 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. 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. If Marlon McCree hadn't fumbled that interception in the playoffs after the 2006 season, everything might have been different. "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. That may tick him off. 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. Twenty years ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars were one of the marquee organizations in professional sports, and Jimmy Smith was one of their brightest stars. His stardom was spread among three teams, robbing him of local hero status (or Hall of Fame momentum) in any one city. 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. We could just trudge onward to the next player right now. #5. Marshall cant get his name even on the preliminary Hall of Fame ballot. Shenault is dynamic after the catch and plays like a running back with the ball in his hands. He isn't the dynamic threat thatTyreek Hill orDavante Adams are, but Allen is an elite route runner that consistently puts up elite production. 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). At only 510, Johnson lacks the ideal size. White: 12 underrated players; White: 12 overrated players; Towers: Generic vs. Name Brand; Prospect hunting . 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. Anderson was the first quarterback to successfully orchestrate the beta version of Bill Walsh's West Coast offense for multiple seasons. Teams: Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, San Diego Chargers, Experience: 13 years (1950-59, 1963-64, 1966), AFL All-Star Game appearances: One (1963). 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 In Super Bowl IX, Edwards killed a drive and darn near Vikings intended receiver John Gilliam on a hellacious hit near the goal line. This list begins with a quarterback who is preparing to play in the 2015 NFL regular season. Many of those catches occurred down the field, with Anderson serving as a de facto possession receiver. Numbers better than majority of RBs in history. 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. Its easy to forget the Seahawks had some pretty good teams way back when, even a few playoff ones. "I wasnt the fastest guy, but I didnt mind having the defender at my hip," Ellard said per Yahoo Sports. He headed to Washington and moved from the weak to strong side. If the quarterback got rid of the ball before getting crushed, it was up to Allen to make a play. Old-timers call it the Lawrence Welk trade after a television bandleader of the era who would begin songs by counting off "A one, and a two, and a three". If the soft-spoken scatback had been in the right place at the right time, he would have filled his one nagging void a Super Bowl title and the exposure that accompanied it. Mason's 95-catch, 1,200-yard seasons translate to 115-catch monsters in more pass-oriented schemes. Robertson's Rams made a habit of reaching the playoffs every year and losing to the Vikings or Cowboys. 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. In his most prolific early season, he caught 54 passes for 811 yards and five touchdowns. Not bad for a guy who might as well have played in a straight jacket for 14 seasons. Now that's underrated. 'Nuff said, right? There have been many better quarterbacks than Ryan in NFL history. The Over-the-Hill Gang fielded one of the most ferocious pass rushes of its era, notching 53 sacks in 1973. Even so, Smith was pretty much a well-kept secret outside Pittsburgh despite meeting or approaching Pro Bowl standards for almost a decade. 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. Jackson finished his career with 11,438 rushing yards (18th all-time) and 15,121 total scrimmage yards (21st 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. Hall of Fame receiver Paul Warfield was on the receiving end of many of Ryan's touchdowns. McDole played 251 professional games as a defensive lineman, a remarkable feat in any era that should not be forgotten. He had 44 career sacks and as many as eight in a season on two occasions. The Colts accused Ryan of running up the score in the 27-0 championship rout of 1964. Those who like to shout "first-ballot Hall of Famer" about Rivers do not know how the Hall of Fame works. Super Bowl championships: Four (1966, 1967, 1972, 1973). He intercepted 25 career regular-season passes and two more in the postseason. Seven times, he surpassed 1,000 yards on pass receptions, most of them on slants and corner routes. Ryan threw five touchdown passes and ran for a sixth to beat the Giants and lead the Browns to the NFL championship in 1964. Peppers will have to play three more seasons to catch Marshall, and Peppers' starts are non-consecutive. Mike Williams is an elite deep threat at wide receiver and has maintained an average YPC of over 15 every year since 2018. If John Hadl is remembered for anything these days, it's for one of the most disastrous trades in NFL history. Dont know about you, but I want Mason on my retro fantasy league team. Bottom line: Derrick Mason was among the shrewdest, most precise route runners of his time. 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. 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. Modern centers don't get the credit they deserve. Dierdorf started his career with the Cardinals in 1971 as a guard. That's not something to hold against a player. Bates is a ball-hawking safety in coverage with excellent range, intelligence, and athleticism. Bottom line: The 49ers of the 1980s are remembered most for Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, coach Bill Walsh and the West Coast offense. He once threw three touchdowns in a shutout victory in a title game. A Colts defender delivered some payback in the all-star game. While under the radar, Bates has emerged as one of the better all-around safeties in football. He recorded four consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons from 1988 through 1991, a rare feat at the time. I still don't know that people gave me my due respect for my production. He was a participant in four Super Bowls and a member of two All-Pro teams. Poor Louis Wright has a hard time even making the Broncos' overcrowded All-Snub Team. Turner was the ultimate plug-and-play guy, one of five 49ers to be part of all eight of their playoff teams in the decade. Derrick Mason recorded four 1,000-yard seasons for Jeff Fisher teams and four more for the Baltimore Ravens. 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. 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. And to think, the guy never played in a Pro Bowl game. They didnt do anything that Tobin Rote hadnt done a long time ago. "Even now I still get pissed off. TGT Tips! 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. 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. Young started his career as the NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year and ended it as a four-time winner of the Len Eshmont Award, the 49ers' team award for character and leadership. Mills and Reggie White were the USFL's two greatest defenders ever. 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. Web#shortsucl#bayernmunich #bayern #barcelona#football#footballedit#footballedits#footballshirts#soccer#socceredit#socceredits#soccershorts Despite his incredibly high waist seriously, check out his build Kelvin Beachum has been one of the most underrated tackles in the NFL. Both of those seasons came, ironically enough, after Allen and Buddy were separated. Lets hear some "un-der-ra-ted!" Put Ellard in another era or even the AFC with an accomplished quarterback, and his legacy as The Best Wideout Not Named Jerry Rice would be that much greater. He was one of the first true slot receivers of 21st-century NFL offenses. It didnt help that he had ordinary quarterbacks named Tony Eason and Steve Grogan to throw him the ball. But Wright never posted massive interception totals, and his teams ended up on the receiving end of a pair of Super Bowl beatings. But Hadl had to do something to make the Packers think he was worth two armfuls of draft picks. How he slipped through the cracks for 13 years remains one of the unsolved mysteries in pro football. A Hall of Fame voter once warned me that "every town has its linebacker.". Bottom line: For 16 seasons, Henry Ellard wreaked havoc as a pass receiver and punt returner. You mean future Hall of Fame tackle Orlando Pace didnt block four guys all by himself? 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. Franklin-Myers has the ability to play anywhere on the defensive line and is off to a strong start in the Jets' new 4-3 defense under head coach Robert Saleh. Super Bowl championships: 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979. Developing a rapport with new QB Trevor Lawrence should only help Shenault quickly reach his true potential. It made the Bills of the early 1990s the greatest team to never win a Super Bowl. Bottom line: Wilber Marshall was the most athletic and versatile linebacker with the legendary 1985 Bears defense he often replaced the celebrated Mike Singletary in pass situations. The problem with Dierdorf is he played for a lot of bad Cardinals teams. Some of the 19 Bottom line: Few remember Glen Edwards as the fearless strong safety with the Steelers first two Super Bowl teams. 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. Ryan needed surgery and was in constant pain for the rest of his career. 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. WebTop ten under-capped England players is a list Foden and Maddison want to avoid Matt Le Tissier won 10 fewer England caps than Carlton Palmer. Much of the Saints' offensive success in Evans' prime years is rightfully credited to Brees. 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. Even pesky third-down backs and gritty fullbacks may seem underrated until you realize how many of them become local heroes. Ron McDole falls into that final category. The Rams eventually acquired Jim Everett and opened up their offense, transforming Ellard into one of the NFL's most dangerous deep threats. 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. That makes sense: Both started their careers late, played with workhorse running backs, won a championship and had their careers curtailed by vicious hits. 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. One of the greatest defenders in the history of a storied franchise, Young is just another victim of bad timing when it comes to getting the reputation he deserves. Why retain an expensive vestige of the last regime, or really the last three regimes? Marshall reached just two Pro Bowls. But no highlight clip of that play can be found on the internet. "It was tough, but I was happy for those guys," Dunn told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 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 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. 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. "Because when the ball was thrown, I knew I had better ball skills and would go up and get it.". Its hard to think of a player more dominant and less talked about over a long period of time than Chandler Jones. He is also proficient with his right foot and is a versatile player who can play multiple positions in the attacking third of the pitch. As a 31-year-old, no less. 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. But few cornerbacks spent more of their careers in the crosshairs than Allen. 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. But McCree did fumble. There would not be another exchange of current Pro Bowlers in the NFL until the Broncos and Redskins exchanged Champ Bailey and Clinton Portis in 2004. "Hate to say it, but I do believe I should be there (in Canton)," Marshall once said. Overshadowed on a bad team for much of his early career, Bates also came from a draft that featured top safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Derwin James. Butler is all but guaranteed to get lost in the shuffle. Tom Jackson. He's rarely mentioned as an all-time great. It was a motivating factor for a number of years in my career. 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. Franklin-Myers went from fourth-round draft choice of the Rams in 2018, to a final roster cut in 2019. Jones is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection. 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. Still don't understand why the writers don't respect it.". Bottom line: The 1970s Steelers won four Super Bowls two with a power run game, two with a potent pass attack and who better than Jon Kolb to do the heavy lifting? Oh, and sub-packages were pretty rare in the 1960s and 1970s, so Marshall didn't leave the field much. They lost to the Vikings 30-14 in the 1974 Wildcard Round, and they were defeated by the Rams 35-23 in the opening round of the playoffs in 1975. Is Jalen Hurts the Future of the Philadelphia Eagles? WebBUY OUR MERCH: https://www.thegivengo.com/merchTIK TOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@thegivengoSPOTIFY: Both players were Pro Bowlers the previous year. Robinson was one of those players. Addiction soon began consuming Smith's career, and then his life. If not for Schlereth's many health problems that included 29 surgeries, 15 on his left knee alone, he would have been a perennial Pro Bowl selection. But this list is all about giving overlooked players their due respect. Other than Steve Largent and Kurt Warner, Pro Bowlers were harder to find in the Seahawks offense than a haystack in the Space Needle. There, he led a relentless Redskins pass rush in their Super Bowl XXVI ambush. The statue portrays jubilant Packers fans in tundra-weather gear appearing to cradle a player who just pounced into the stands. Ogbah improved against the run while putting up a career-high in both sacks (9) and QB hits (21). He once sacked Dan Marino twice on the first two plays of a gamea remarkable achievement, as Marino was one of the least sacked quarterbacks in NFL history. But three of his best seasons are not listed in the encyclopedias. Six All-Pro selections. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996. During his time at Fiorentina, he was the best player, 2. 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. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. Krieg was a career overachiever who survived 19 seasons on modest talent with defense-driven teams. in the mid-1960s to early '70s, chances are "Whichever one has Marv Fleming" would have been a correct answer. 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. And he played in one stinking Pro Bowl game. Ryan was Jim Brown's quarterback and then Leroy Kelly's quarterback. Today we look back at the most underrated Quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, and a few of these should be in Canton. Jordi Alba. Bottom line: OK, kids, lets play Name That Hall of Famer. One look at the logjam forming outside the entrance to Canton tells you Wisniewski isn't moving up the ladder anytime soon. 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. A Super Bowl ring and two AFL championships. Hence, the Campbell video. Start with Adam Timmerman, who won Super Bowl rings with the Packers and Rams three years apart. He enjoyed one of the greatest receiving games in NFL history: 15 catches, 291 yards and three touchdowns against the historic 2000 Ravens defense. 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. Player A passed for 27,928 yards and 194 touchdowns and ran for four touchdowns with mostly very good teams and one great one. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. When Da Bears bean counters refused to pay up two years later, Marshall was the odd man out again. chants for the best players who didnt get their just dues over the years. There will never be another player like Marshall. 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. 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. McDole's Bills defenses held opponents to fewer than 3.1 yards per carry across three consecutive seasons. 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 start to his career is Hall of Fame worthy and includes a Super Bowl championship while with the New England Patriots. Anderson's 1,000-yard seasons came in a primitive offense with a rudimentary passing game. Angel Di Maria. 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. And consider this: The one-time college triple-jumper played with a Pro Bowl quarterback (Jim Everett) in only one season. He became an All-Pro playing blindside protector in an early 1990s run-'n'-shoot offense. Mills looks like just another local hero linebacker in the encyclopedias, albeit a good one. The NFL is now full of receivers like Mason, but few of them are as productive as he was for over a decade. Jones topped the 100 career sack total in week one of 2021, a five-sack day that tied a Cardinals franchise record and set a personal career-best. 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.
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