The 49ers are installing a new system and reshaping their roster. 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. It was the era of great defensive lines with catchy namesthe Rams had the Fearsome Foursome, the Cowboys the Doomsday Defense, the Steelers later added the Steel Curtain, and so forthand Marshall was the Ringo Starr of the Purple People Eaters, the guy who once ran the wrong way for a touchdown and was happy just to be in the band. 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. 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. Start with Adam Timmerman, who won Super Bowl rings with the Packers and Rams three years apart. The Jaguars, meanwhile, slowly descended to their current status as the NFL's punching bag. That may be unfair to players like Robinson, Jerry Kramer and L.C. McDole was a starting defensive end for two of history's legendary defenses: the AFL champion Buffalo Bills of 1964 and '65 and Washington's "Over-the-Hill Gang" of the early 1970s. 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. He played the run with authority (721 career solo tackles). There are over 120 teams that compete in the FBS, which means that storylines and hidden superstars abound. He then went on to start at left tackle for the playoff-bound Cardinals and 2000 NFC champion Giants. 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. The Cardinals were 0-3 in the playoffs in Dierdorfs time with the team, and none of the games were particularly close. But he didn't play for the legendary 49ers teams. And few were better at making opposing quarterbacks pay for mistakes. Butler is all but guaranteed to get lost in the shuffle. Web#shortsucl#bayernmunich #bayern #barcelona#football#footballedit#footballedits#footballshirts#soccer#socceredit#socceredits#soccershorts Still don't understand why the writers don't respect it.". There, he led a relentless Redskins pass rush in their Super Bowl XXVI ambush. Young was a devastating interior pass-rusher who recorded 30 sacks in the three-year span from 1998 through 2000. Today we look back at the most underrated Quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, and a few of these should be in Canton. Teams: Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Houston Texans. 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. 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 Bills were among the first teams to frequently operate without a huddle. Allen made a lot of plays. He covered receivers (38 career interceptions). 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. Finally, at last, the cornerback was selected to play in his first Pro Bowl game as some kind of lifetime achievement award. Krieg was a career overachiever who survived 19 seasons on modest talent with defense-driven teams. Tom Jackson. Teams: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, Pro Bowl appearances: Three (1997, 2000, 2005). Jones has also recorded at least 100 tackles every year since entering the league with the exception of 2018 when he played in only 6 games. Bates finished tied for 6th in 2020 with 15 passes defended. Anderson was not Payton, and the later-era Mike Ditka Bears could never approach the heights reached by the 1985 Bears. Numbers better than majority of RBs in history. Many of those catches occurred down the field, with Anderson serving as a de facto possession receiver. Slot specialists such as Julian Edelman and Victor Cruz are now considered valuable components to the modern passing game. At 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, he didnt wow anyone physically. 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. He was an iron man for a powerhouse franchise that reached four Super Bowls while playing many of their home games in arctic conditions. Where did Davis score the game-winner late in Super Bowl XXXII? Not bad for a guy who might as well have played in a straight jacket for 14 seasons. 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. And Jackson spent a generation as a pre- and postgame show staple, which puts him in a whole different category. There have been many better quarterbacks than Ryan in NFL history. Moton started all 16 games each of the last four years, gradually improving and joining the conversation of best right tackles in football. Matthew Stafford is approaching 50,000 career passing yards, a number only topped by 11 quarterbacks in history. In addition to the most underrated and overrated Raiders of all time, Adam Rank goes on a mini-tirade about a criminally underrated coach. He had to blanket a wide receiver in man coverage with no safety help on every play. The statue portrays jubilant Packers fans in tundra-weather gear appearing to cradle a player who just pounced into the stands. WebWho are the most underrated players of all time? 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. 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. Evans is a long shot to do either, which is a shame. Guards don't make the Hall of Fame unless they win multiple Super Bowls or play forever. Now that's underrated. Thats what Krieg did best win football games. ", Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Oilers, Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, Pro Bowl appearances (AFL All-Star Game): Two (1965, 1967). 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. Brandon Graham is an incredibly underrated defensive lineman and lifelong Philadelphia Eagle. And he played in one stinking Pro Bowl game. Ogbah has always been a steady presence rushing the quarterback but broke out in 2020 during his first season with the Dolphins. Brown earned seven Pro Bowl berths and an All-Pro selection. You will find some familiar Hall of Fame snubs on this list (like Jim Marshall, pictured above), but also plenty of players who were even snubbed from the Hall of Fame snubs, plus some current players who aren't getting their due. A Super Bowl ring and two AFL championships. Young played for the teams that slowly slid from George Seifert to Steve Mariucci to oblivion. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. 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 There's underrated, underappreciated and overlooked. A Hall of Fame voter once warned me that "every town has its linebacker.". It made the Bills of the early 1990s the greatest team to never win a Super Bowl. Far from it. Tom Jackson. That's a higher sack total than Dwight Freeney or Robert Mathis. 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. Ogbah improved against the run while putting up a career-high in both sacks (9) and QB hits (21). 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. If you guessed both or neither one, youre wrong. 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. Super Bowl championships: Four (1966, 1967, 1972, 1973). The trade went how you might expect a lopsided midseason deal for an aging quarterback to go. 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. And consider this: The one-time college triple-jumper played with a Pro Bowl quarterback (Jim Everett) in only one season. He intercepted 34 passes for the Eagles and 54 in 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. If ever a geezer was meant to play with George Allens Over The Hill Gang, he was the one. But none accomplished more than Ryan while receiving less acclaim. 1 overall pick, NFL coverage map 2021: TV schedule Week 16, Seattle Seahawks: 3 players who wont be back in 2022. Some might say it's a stretch to put Allen on this list after four straight Pro Bowl seasons and 95+ catch seasons. At only 510, Johnson lacks the ideal size. He returned eight interceptions for touchdowns, including four in 1993 and three during his age-35 season with the Raiders in 2000. But his Rams had a running back named Eric Dickerson and quarterbacks named Dieter Brock and Jeff Kemp. 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. Passing wasn't really their thing. Player B was a one-time MVP who played in two Pro Bowl games. Juszczyk knows his role and is a winning player that will always fight to win those tough yards. "Hate to say it, but I do believe I should be there (in Canton)," Marshall once said. His 65 interceptions are fifth most in NFL history. 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. 'Nuff said, right? Bowman doesn't get the recognition he's due, and he may have to get used to it. But no highlight clip of that play can be found on the internet. Saleh has compared Franklin-Myers to Arik Armstead, whom he coached in SF while registering 10 sacks in 2019. That made Hull one of the first centers to make line adjustments on the fly. 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. To make our list, a player must contribute to a winning effort while putting up bad stats, misunderstood stats or no stats. Teams: Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins. You know the type. Sanders was an extremely Teams: Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Tennessee Oilers, Pro Bowl appearances: Three (1984, 1988, 1989). Taylor rushed for 1,000-plus yards in seven seasons. Dont let the numbers fool you Morgan wasnt a one-trick racehorse. On this All-Underrated list, he is in very good company. The converted all-purpose athlete became one of the fathers of modern quarterbacking. Rivers had neither, but he possessed just about everything else. 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. But what peak years they were: 14- and 13-win seasons, annual playoff appearances, routine 4,000-yard, 30-touchdown seasons. Juszczyk has made five Pro Bowl appearances, including each season since joining San Francisco in 2017. 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. The career active leader in games started by a defensive lineman is Julius Peppers with 227. A Colts defender delivered some payback in the all-star game. Mike Kenn began his career playing left tackle for a lumbering 1970s power-running offense. 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. Maybe not, seeing as Nalen has not had much success. 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. 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. The Bucs hired head coach Jon Gruden and won Super Bowl XXXVII the next season. David entered the league as a terrific coverage linebacker and has continued to grow into an all-around complete linebacker and playmaker. There have been too many players in NFL history to count, so naturally, many of them werent going to get the attention they deserved for their play. Anderson was the first quarterback to successfully orchestrate the beta version of Bill Walsh's West Coast offense for multiple seasons. Yet he still led his team to the playoffs three more times. He rose to Pro Bowl status playing left tackle for a single-back, Joe Gibbs-style 1980s offense. Ron McDole falls into that final category. 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. WebThe 10 most underrated football players of all time are: Gheorghe Hagi, Michael Laudrup, Gaetano Scirea, Hristo Stoichkov, Matthias Sammer, Davor Suker, Gunter Netzer, By the time the 49ers are great again, Bowman may be in his early 30s or on another team. If Isiah Robertson is famous at all, it's for being "posterized" by Earl Campbell in one of the most famous NFL Films highlights of all time. Because he is one of the NFL's best defensive players, for one thing. He helped the Packers win a Super Bowl. 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. Some of the 19 It doesn't matter: If you are a Broncos defender, you might as well forget about a bust in Canton. So LeRoy Butler, innovator of the Lambeau Leap, is excluded from his own statue. Let's face it: An entire All-Underrated Team can be assembled using only Broncos defenders. 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. What Mason did have was a keen attention to detail and fanatical drive to succeed. Jones played for the Cowboys from 1974-78 and 1980-89. 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.". I still don't know that people gave me my due respect for my production. Moton has also committed just 10 penalties in over 50 career starts, an average of less than one penalty every five games. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports By Sam Monson May 13, In two Super Bowl trips, Bahr didnt miss a kick three field goals, six PATs. 1. Still, Allen rarely gets respect as a true number one wideout. Both of those seasons came, ironically enough, after Allen and Buddy were separated. His 42-yarder in the 1990 NFC championship game rates as one of the greatest clutch kicks in league history. 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. 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. Jackson probably helped you win a fantasy title or two, but he would be remembered for so much more if he wasn't always on the wrong team at the wrong time. Super Bowl championships: Four (1981, 1984, 1988, 1989). Dunn finished his career with 15,655 all-purpose yards, 25th in league history, one of the best players never to be a champion. Chiesa is a winger who plays for Juventus. While Graham's sack numbers have never hit double digits, he remains a complete player and Super Bowl champion. Maybe that victory gives them the psychological edge they need to beat the undefeated Patriots in their 2008 playoff rematch. Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images, Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images, Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images. Teams: Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos, Super Bowl championships: Three (1991, 1997, 1998). 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. 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. 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. He led his team to an NFL championship. Randy Gradishar. It didnt help that he had ordinary quarterbacks named Tony Eason and Steve Grogan to throw him the ball. Evans is still playing at a high level; the Packers hope that he can do for Aaron Rodgers what he did for Brees. Robinson was one of those players. As the Chargers faded, Rivers kept them in the wild-card picture and became the franchise's only recognizable public figure. 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. "No one was going to catch no ball.". Not one of the Jim Harbaugh-era guys. Actually, make that four careers. The difference between the great and the all-time great is often a matter of timing and luck. If Marlon McCree hadn't fumbled that interception in the playoffs after the 2006 season, everything might have been different. But here's the thing: Gradishar, Mecklenberg and Atwater are famous for being snubbed. 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. So Anderson cranked out a few 1,000-yard seasons and played in some Pro Bowls, and that was that. He's not the kind of player a wise organization sheds to cut expenses. Buckner plays within the defense, often allowing others to make plays, but remains a nightmare trying to block one on one. After making the Pro Bowl twice early in his career, David has failed to make it since 2015 while still playing at a high level. Schlereth started in three Super Bowls with the Redskins and Broncos, all of them victories. They were the Yale football of the NFL, their glory years moldering in history books. Without Kenn, there might not be free agency in the NFL, to say nothing of limitations on practice conditions and other initiatives that make pro football less dangerous than it was decades ago.

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