Krause is undeniably one of the best defensive players to ever play pro football, but his name nevertheless rarely pops up whenever such discussions arise among fans and even among analysts. He is now stuck in a rebuilding cycle that may take a few years. So it takes a remarkable streak of hard luck for a running back to make this list. Maybe Wright wasn't a Blount-level legend, but he deserves better than to be the forgotten man among the Broncos' forgotten men. It didnt help that he had ordinary quarterbacks named Tony Eason and Steve Grogan to throw him the ball. Harrison's numbers should speak for themselves, and those who would say otherwise are either trying to make a point or are simply ignoring how great Harrison was during his career. The NFL is now full of receivers like Mason, but few of them are as productive as he was for over a decade. WebMost Underappreciated QBs of the 2000s. Bottom line: In the Steelers' 3-4 scheme, defensive ends were akin to smaller, more agile tackles run-stoppers first, pass-rushers second. As good as Ellard was at the time, he almost was never mentioned in debates about the best at his position. Only kicker in NFL history to hit at least one FG Ryan was Jim Brown's quarterback and then Leroy Kelly's quarterback. Jackson finished his career with 11,438 rushing yards (18th all-time) and 15,121 total scrimmage yards (21st all-time). Perhaps it has something to do with the era during which Tomlinson played, but that L.T. He was an iron man for a powerhouse franchise that reached four Super Bowls while playing many of their home games in arctic conditions. Finally, at last, the cornerback was selected to play in his first Pro Bowl game as some kind of lifetime achievement award. The Adventures of Grim Reaper J is a Reminder to Do What You Love style | Charlie Kolbrener Johnnie Walker Collaborates With VANDYTHEPINK and 88Rising to Release Special Blue Label Bottle nft | ONE37pm Editors And then there is Kent Hull, the first center to achieve greatness in a no-huddle offense. Even so, Smith was pretty much a well-kept secret outside Pittsburgh despite meeting or approaching Pro Bowl standards for almost a decade. One of those receivers is Flowers, who totaled over 1,100 yards and 12 touchdowns in 12 games this season for Boston College. 3. Along with the legendary Johnny Unitas, Rote probably did more to change the quarterback position than anyone in the pre-merger era even if so few know it. So Kenn basically had three careers. 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. At its core, PFF is a player evaluation system play-by-play grading of every player in the NFL and access to some of the same stats, grades and info that all 32 NFL No, what youll see are lots of gaping holes the size of Boulder. There are some out there who would say that a player who has been inducted into the Hall of Fame cannot possibly be underrated. These are the most unsung NFL quarterbacks of all time. The Hall of Fame has turned up its nose on all of them. Perhaps Hull would be in the Hall of Fame if the Bills had won even one Super Bowl. Nope, not Charles Haley. From a couple of fairly well-known quarterbacks to the linemen who make a quarterback's job easier, we argue these 32 players deserve more recognition. He became an All-Pro playing blindside protector in an early 1990s run-'n'-shoot offense. A mauler of a right guard, Timmerman also was agile enough to escort Marshall Faulk on screens and sweeps. It takes years of playing the wrong position for the wrong team in the wrong league at the wrong time. 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. When Da Bears bean counters refused to pay up two years later, Marshall was the odd man out again. But c'mon: 289 regular-season and postseason starts, 127 sacks and four Super Bowl appearances, yet the Hall of Fame turns up its nose at Marshall as just a pretty good defender with a long career? And because versatility is his calling card, he'll never produce gaudy sack totals or climb any all-time leaderboards. 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. Yet somehow, some way, Kolb never received a Pro Bowl invitation. Player: Emmitt Smith. 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. It is difficult to rank Ken Anderson in this list if only because he is constantly referenced as being an underrated player. Hmmm. Ryan needed surgery and was in constant pain for the rest of his career. Running backs suffer none of the "didn't win the big game" biases that color our perception of quarterbacks. WebIts weird to say that a player as celebrated as Jonathan Taylor could be one of the most underrated college football players of all time. Ryan made three Pro Bowls, but All-Pro status was blocked by a couple of guys named Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr. There's underrated, underappreciated and overlooked. Six All-Pro selections. "It pissed me off," Fletcher replied. WebKen Anderson is easily the most underrated quarterback of all time. But no highlight clip of that play can be found on the internet. Bowman is coming off an Achilles tear in 2016. He was a participant in four Super Bowls and a member of two All-Pro teams. Teams: Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Houston Texans. We could just trudge onward to the next player right now. "I dont get it. Teams: Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals. 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. 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. Teams: Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Bottom line: Fred Taylor once tweeted, "I earned respect on the field. Kenn was one of the leaders of the NFL Players Association during the era of replacement players and court battles over free agency. Terry Porter. Here on the All-Time Underrated List, it counts for a lot. If Mel Blount, Mike Haynes and teammate Lemar Parrish hadnt been in the same conference, Riley would have made more a few more Pro Bowl trips. Any defensive player breaking into the NFL in 2015 would love to be mentioned alongside such names when his career came to an end. That's its own kind of recognition. But he didn't play for the legendary 49ers teams. Rivers had neither, but he possessed just about everything else. As the Chargers faded, Rivers kept them in the wild-card picture and became the franchise's only recognizable public figure. Fleming was a reliable backup tight end/wide receiver who played with four Super Bowl-winners (and one NFL champion) in a dozen seasons. It made the Bills of the early 1990s the greatest team to never win a Super Bowl. Shaun Alexander's production plummeted when Hutch left Seattle in 2006. The Rams eventually acquired Jim Everett and opened up their offense, transforming Ellard into one of the NFL's most dangerous deep threats. The weekend opened with the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. 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. Fitzgerald has played on some lackluster offenses. He intercepted 25 career regular-season passes and two more in the postseason. Teams: Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins. Teams: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, Pro Bowl appearances: Three (1997, 2000, 2005). ", Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Oilers, Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, Pro Bowl appearances (AFL All-Star Game): Two (1965, 1967). They didnt do anything that Tobin Rote hadnt done a long time ago. This includes a wide receiver that some younger fans may have never before heard of, and also multiple quarterbacks who are still playing in the NFL as of the posting of this piece. During that time, he led the league in passer rating four times and passing yards twice. His teams averaged 392.0 yards and 34.0 points in those games. 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 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. 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. Its a frigging joke that Taylor isnt in the Hall of Fame discussion. 44. But there is no player; fans themselves get to "leap" into the statue for photo ops. 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. Krieg was a career overachiever who survived 19 seasons on modest talent with defense-driven teams. Butler has never even been a Hall of Fame semifinalist, and it's not going to happen for him soon. Theyre the core players who are overshadowed by more well-paid, high-profile teammates and just plain pathetic, shameless self-promoters. That is untrue for a variety of reasons. And then there is plain old forgotten. He recorded four consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons from 1988 through 1991, a rare feat at the time. But here's the thing: Gradishar, Mecklenberg and Atwater are famous for being snubbed. Bottom line: In his 15th and final season, the 36-year-old Ken Riley had eight interceptions and returned two of them for touchdowns, one of the most incredible performances by an old man ever. For the second installment in underappreciated NFL players, we have the running backs. 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. Butler was the NFL's most dangerous all-purpose safety for much of the 1990s. Arizona Cardinals: WR Andy Isabella. Incredibly, McDole started 97 of the next 98 games. 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. He had the speed to get to the edge and beat defenders down the sideline, the power to plow through tackles, the elusiveness to make things happen in the open field and receiving chops to rival contemporaries Roger Craig or Thurman Thomas. Teams kept doing something special to get their hands on Hadl. Checking in at 5-foot-9 (on a good day) and 232 pounds, Sam Mills was one of the best pound-for-pound linebackers of his day, and it remains a surprise that voters have not yet deemed him worthy of being in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He may not have been as good as Jerry Rice or Randy Moss, but there is a solid argument to be made that Lofton is one of the ten best wide receivers in the history of pro football. Dunn left Tampa Bay as a free agent after the 2001 season and headed to Atlanta, largely because of his relationship with Arthur Blank, the Falcons owner. C'mon, who doesn't love Darren Sproles and Mike Tolbert? Young was a devastating interior pass-rusher who recorded 30 sacks in the three-year span from 1998 through 2000. If John Hadl is remembered for anything these days, it's for one of the most disastrous trades in NFL history. Roberston is the guy getting head-butted in the sternum and knocked backward by Campbell before the running back's jersey gets torn off. Names such as Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders and Eric Dickerson probably immediately come to mind. Hall of Fame receiver Paul Warfield was on the receiving end of many of Ryan's touchdowns. Anderson is a member of the 10,000 rushing yards club. 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. Ken Griffey Jr.? For some reason, however, the community has somewhat forgotten that Paul Krause had held the record for most interceptions in NFL history for decades. He finally won a Super Bowl ring as a backup for the Buccaneers. He enjoyed one of the greatest receiving games in NFL history: 15 catches, 291 yards and three touchdowns against the historic 2000 Ravens defense. It is a shame that he will never truly have his day in Canton, one that he deserved before he passed away. As for being so underrated he's overrated, wellthat's extremely underrated, which justifies Anderson's ranking here. 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. 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. He is, however, most remembered, for being a wide receiver who was decades ahead of his time. Anderson also won MVP honors the same year he won Comeback Player of the Year. Steven Jackson arrived in St. Louis just as the Greatest Show on Turf was deteriorating into the Most Miserable Slog in the Midwest. He was drafted by the Falcons with the eighth overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, and he was an instant So whaddya say, fans? But Hadl had to do something to make the Packers think he was worth two armfuls of draft picks. Lofton was the first player in NFL history to accumulate 14,000 receiving yards. In Super Bowl IX, Edwards killed a drive and darn near Vikings intended receiver John Gilliam on a hellacious hit near the goal line. Jim Marshall, DE, Vikings. Its easy to forget the Seahawks had some pretty good teams way back when, even a few playoff ones. These men did so much but received so little credit in return. Truth is, Norton should have been Super Bowl XXVII Most Valuable Player, not Troy Aikman, who was the obligatory quarterback pick. Membership on various All-1960s teams. Super Bowl championships: Four (1966, 1967, 1972, 1973). That feeling never really went away.". He was usually the Bears' best rusher and receiver in his prime years, catching 40-50 passes per season from Mike Tomczak or the young Jim Harbaugh. 1. Most seasons with 30 made field goals (7). He is Baltimore Ravens nose tackle Brandon Williams. Perhaps it's time we look back on how much of an impact he and his Jaguars had on the NFL two decades ago. In Jacksonville, Both players were Pro Bowlers the previous year. Football experts know of the Hutson's accomplishments, but too many casual fans are unaware of all that the man credited with birthing pass routes that are used today achieved during his legendary career. Craters so big that you could drive a semi through them. 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. As much as there are people who would say that Cunningham remains an underrated quarterback, there are also some out there who would say that people have oversold how great he was during his career. The system helped make Hall of Famers of Kelly, Reed and Thomas. Member PFWA. So Anderson cranked out a few 1,000-yard seasons and played in some Pro Bowls, and that was that. But no one remembers the Greatest Show on Turf for its defense, and Fletcher spent the prime of his career playing for mediocre Bills teams. Anderson's 1,000-yard seasons came in a primitive offense with a rudimentary passing game. 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. So Anderson cranked out a few playoff ones also won MVP honors the same year he won Comeback player the! 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