Johnson can line up all over the field and consistently find space in the opposing defense. 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. 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. Waller upped his game in 2020 and hauled in 107 passes and nine touchdowns to earn his first Pro Bowl nod. He was overshadowed by more famous teammates throughout his career. Bowman makes this list because he has the makings of a player who will be underappreciated historically. But he didn't play for the legendary 49ers teams. 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. Those who like to shout "first-ballot Hall of Famer" about Rivers do not know how the Hall of Fame works. FEDERICO CHIESA. Oakland Raiders. Jones played for the Cowboys from 1974-78 and 1980-89. Maybe he wasn't the best defender on the field for any one play, but he stayed on that field for an entire generation. The linebacker ranks 17th in career solo tackles (1,130) and is the only player to be part of three consecutive Super Bowl champions. Rote was the first quarterback who regularly beat defenses with his legs as well as his arm. Modern centers don't get the credit they deserve. 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. 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. Following a strong start to 2021, McLaurin is slowly beginning to earn the respect his game deserves. Johnny Robinson's credentials make you want to drive to Canton, kick down the Hall of Fame's door and clear a spot for his bust yourself. But this list is all about giving overlooked players their due respect. Sideways. 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. That made Hull one of the first centers to make line adjustments on the fly. 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. While Kreig didnt possess fleet feet or a bazooka arm, he could read defenses and throw an accurate ball. So LeRoy Butler, innovator of the Lambeau Leap, is excluded from his own statue. Who knows what the NFL might have looked like then? And Jackson spent a generation as a pre- and postgame show staple, which puts him in a whole different category. As some players continue to grow their stardom and gain league-wide recognition, others are less talked about, often flying under the radar for several seasons or even entire careers without proper acknowledgment. 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. Super Bowl championships: Four (1966, 1967, 1972, 1973). Other than Steve Largent and Kurt Warner, Pro Bowlers were harder to find in the Seahawks offense than a haystack in the Space Needle. To make our list, a player must contribute to a winning effort while putting up bad stats, misunderstood stats or no stats. Craters so big that you could drive a semi through them. Dont know about you, but I want Mason on my retro fantasy league team. Six All-Pro selections. Franklin-Myers went from fourth-round draft choice of the Rams in 2018, to a final roster cut in 2019. Ellard moved on to Washington in 1994 and enjoyed a late-career renaissance, averaging 61 catches and 18.8 yards per reception over a three-year span in his mid-30s. Here are ten of the most underrated college football players of all time. 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. Greenwood, but there are dozens of other great old players clamoring for their chance who didn't enjoy the glory of playing for a "team of the decade.". Super Bowl championships: Two (2005, 2008). Bottom line: For 16 seasons, Henry Ellard wreaked havoc as a pass receiver and punt returner. Even unspectacular ones manage to rack up a few 1,000-yard seasons and get drafted early in fantasy leagues. 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. Super Bowl championships: Four (1981, 1984, 1988, 1989). We look at the 10 most underrated players in football at the moment. Numbers better than majority of RBs in history. McLaurin registered 87 catches in 2020 after 58 during his rookie season in 2019. He led his team to an NFL championship. 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. Fletcher followed Gregg Williams from coaching stop to coaching stop, serving as the sometimes controversial, always effective defensive mastermind's field marshal. He played left tackle in 1972 and moved to right tackle in 1974. 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. Juszczyk has made five Pro Bowl appearances, including each season since joining San Francisco in 2017. 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. Teams: Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Tennessee Oilers, Pro Bowl appearances: Three (1984, 1988, 1989). 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. 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. 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. He recorded four consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons from 1988 through 1991, a rare feat at the time. 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. He enjoyed one of the greatest receiving games in NFL history: 15 catches, 291 yards and three touchdowns against the historic 2000 Ravens defense. He is now stuck in a rebuilding cycle that may take a few years. Hall of Fame receiver Paul Warfield was on the receiving end of many of Ryan's touchdowns. 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. It's hard for a running back to be underrated. 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. They were the Yale football of the NFL, their glory years moldering in history books. He lacked the straight-line speed to be a game-breaker. 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? While most Giants fans remember Meggett, he is still one of the most underrated players of all time. He isn't the dynamic threat thatTyreek Hill orDavante Adams are, but Allen is an elite route runner that consistently puts up elite production. He blitzed (20.5 sacks). A beast in coverage, Jones continues to round out his game as one of the top overall linebackers in football. Some of the 19 Many of those catches occurred down the field, with Anderson serving as a de facto possession receiver. Player A was a one-time Most Valuable Player who took part in four Pro Bowl games. While Graham's sack numbers have never hit double digits, he remains a complete player and Super Bowl champion. 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. In Jahri Evans' four All-Pro seasons (2009-12), the Saints ranked first, sixth, first and second in the NFL in total yards. By the time the 49ers are great again, Bowman may be in his early 30s or on another team. And then there is plain old forgotten. Web20 most underrated football players of all time 1. Bottom line: All Ken Norton could do was take down ballcarriers and collect Super Bowl rings. There's underrated, underappreciated and overlooked. Guards don't make the Hall of Fame unless they win multiple Super Bowls or play forever. Yet somehow, some way, Kolb never received a Pro Bowl invitation. WebTop 20 Most Underrated Footballers in 2022 1. WebBUY OUR MERCH: https://www.thegivengo.com/merchTIK TOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@thegivengoSPOTIFY: But Brown was a unique and underappreciated player for over a decade on a team that nearly revolutionized the way football is played. A mauler of a right guard, Timmerman also was agile enough to escort Marshall Faulk on screens and sweeps. There is one football player who could score from literally anywhere, and his name is 2. 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. Truth is, Norton should have been Super Bowl XXVII Most Valuable Player, not Troy Aikman, who was the obligatory quarterback pick. There are a ton of names in the conversation for best offensive linemen of all time, but Dierdorf Dave Meggett -- RB, 1989-1994. Taylor Moton has quietly emerged as a dominant presence at right tackle for the Panthers. Ryan needed surgery and was in constant pain for the rest of his career. But his Rams had a running back named Eric Dickerson and quarterbacks named Dieter Brock and Jeff Kemp. In 10 of the 12 seasons in which he started at least half their games, the Seahawks prevailed more times than not. His franchises just kept ending up on the wrong side of history. But Anderson was an extraordinary talent. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. 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. It didnt help that he had ordinary quarterbacks named Tony Eason and Steve Grogan to throw him the ball. Feyenoord v VVV Venlo - Eredivisie. At 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, he didnt wow anyone physically. Buckner is a smart player and one of the better-run defenders in football. He ran a Sonny Jurgensen pass back 59 yards in the fourth quarter to seal a Rams playoff win over the Redskins in 1974. Matthew Stafford is approaching 50,000 career passing yards, a number only topped by 11 quarterbacks in history. Now that's underrated. But McCree did fumble. On a walk-through between center and left guard, naturally. Greenlaw is equally effective against the run and pass, a sure tackler, and brings plenty of energy to theNiners' defense. 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. Put him on the Tom Brady-led Patriots, and Mason might have invented a new branch of mathematics. Thats what Krieg did best win football games. The former top ten draft pick looks to be on the verge of breaking out. Evans is a long shot to do either, which is a shame. 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. Moton has also committed just 10 penalties in over 50 career starts, an average of less than one penalty every five games. 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. His .588 win percentage ranks second to Wilson in team history. 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. Ronald Koeman is a bonafide legend of Dutch football. 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. Ryan was Jim Brown's quarterback and then Leroy Kelly's quarterback. 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. Juszczyk knows his role and is a winning player that will always fight to win those tough yards. But his Hall of Fame candidacy has been stuck in semifinalist limbo. Nothing screams underappreciated like rumors you're about to be traded to make room for a late first-round pick. One look at the logjam forming outside the entrance to Canton tells you Wisniewski isn't moving up the ladder anytime soon.
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