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The Five Most Underrated Players in the NFL
Published by JM Van Horn on June 29, 2009
The NFL is full of underrated players that most casual fans may not even know unless they play for the home team. These players are the backbone of the team and play critical parts in winning a championship.
Sometimes they are underrated because of the market they play in and receive no national attention or because their fans build up unattainable expectations that the players can never achieve. Here are the five most underrated players in the NFL any team would be lucky to have.
Donovan McNabb - Philadelphia Eagles
Despite the fact McNabb plays in the city of Brotherly love, there seems to be no love lost when it comes to McNabb’s performance. Since he was drafted in 1999, McNabb has completed 58% of his passes for 29,320 yards with 194 touchdowns and 90 interceptions. McNabb boasts the third best touchdown to interception ratio in the history of the NFL behind Tom Brady and Steve Young.
During his ten years in the NFL, McNabb has led the Eagles to five NFC championship games. Even though McNabb was only able to lead his team to one Super Bowl appearance, his playoff performance out performs others, like future Hall of Fame quarterback, Peyton Manning. With Manning under center, the Colts have an overall record of 8 -7, whereas the Eagles with McNabb at the helm, have a 7 – 4 record with less offensive firepower.
Yes, McNabb may have not won the big game yet, but he has shown leadership and the ability to bring success to the team he plays for. There is no telling what type of career McNabb would have had if he had more offensive weapons at his disposal. Though he will never go down as one of the top ten quarterbacks of all time, McNabb deserves some consideration when you expand the list to twenty five.
Owen Daniels – Houston Texans
The moment the you being to discuss the topic of top tight ends in the NFL, names like Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, or Dallas Clark come to mind. One name that should be on the tip of everyone’s tongue is the Texans, Owen Daniels.
In 2008, Daniels hauled in 70 receptions for 862 yards and 2 touchdowns. Daniels had the highest yards after the catch, 6.1 yards among the top ten tight ends. Daniels was second on the Texans in receptions and third in yardage while having at least five receptions in six games during the 2008 NFL season. How does he stack up against Dallas Clark, one of the premier passing catching tight ends in the game?
During the past two seasons in the NFL, Clark has hauled in 135 receptions for 1,464 yards and 17 touchdowns. By comparison, Daniels has 113 receptions 1,630 yards and 5 touchdowns. The biggest difference between the two has been the number of touchdowns scored but that is more a result of the offense they play in and their red zone game plan. If Owens is able to keep up this level of production, he will eventually become a household name even if he stays with
Chad Pennington - Miami Dolphins
When you are discussing the top quarterbacks in the NFL during the last ten years, several names, like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, come to mind. One name that is constantly forgotten from the list is the quarterback who is the NFL’s career leader in passing accuracy. That name is Chad Pennington.
In Pennington’s 9 year career, he has completed 66% of his passes for 17,391 yards with 101 touchdowns and 62 interceptions. Even though Pennington’s statistics may not overwhelm you, consider his career passing rating of 90.6, which has him ranked seventh, ahead of other quarterbacks like Drew Brees, Brett Favre, and Dan Marino.
The biggest thing holding Pennington back from joining the elite level of quarterback has been his injuries. In the seasons when Pennington has played in at least twelve games, he has been able to lead his team to the playoffs. Pennington has shown he is a leader on the field and has what it takes to lead his teams into the playoffs.
Clinton Portis – Washington Redskins
In the NFL, running backs are a hot commodity because they can control the tempo of the game. Backs like Adrian Peterson and LaDainian Tomlinson have shown how they can take over a game in the fourth quarter. When it comes to an underrated running back in the NFL, my selection would be Clinton Portis.
Since entering the league in 2002, Portis has carried the ball a staggering 2,052 times for 9,202 yards and 72 touchdowns. Portis is also a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield, recording 233 receptions for 1,906 yards during his career. But how does he compare with the other top backs, like Peterson, Tomlinson, or Steven Jackson?
During Portis’ seven year career, he has averaged 4.5 yards per carry. Tomlinson has averaged 4.4 yards per carry during his eight years in the NFL and Jackson has averaged 4.3 yards per carry during his five years. When it comes to yards per game, Portis has averaged 92 yards per game during his career, while Tomlinson edges him out slightly with 92.6 yards per game. During their first two years in the league, Portis racked up 3,099 yards while Peterson has totaled 3,101 yards.
When it comes to Portis, he has never hid from the media and seems to be always clamoring for the attention of the media. Perhaps this is the reason why people tend to overlook him as being one of the top elite backs in the game today, even though the numbers speak for themselves.
Robert Mathis – Indianapolis Colts
When you think of the stars on the Indianapolis Colts defense, Dwight Freeney and Bob Sanders are usually the first ones mentioned. Most people outside of Indianapolis do not know much about Mathis, except that he is a defensive end that plays opposite Freeney.
Since the drafted Mathis, out of Alabama A & M, he has been nothing but a standout on a sometimes suspect defense. During his six years in the NFL, Mathis has recorded 53.5 sacks to go along with 257 total tackles and 28 forced fumbles. Three times during his career, Mathis has had at least 10 sacks in a season.
Let’s compare Mathis’ production during the first six years of his careers with some of the players at the top of the NFL’s all time sack list. By the end of their respective sixth season in the NFL, Kevin Greene had 62.5 sacks, Chris Doleman had 54.5 sacks, and the legendary Bruce Smith had recorded 66.5 sacks.
By no means am I making the claim that Mathis will make a run at the all time NFL sack record, this is more food for thought as to why he is one of the most underrated players in the NFL. Even though Mathis was finally rewarded with a Pro Bowl selection in 2008, he still lives in relative obscurity.
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The Goon Squad | My Sports Rumors on Mon, 29th Jun 2009 15:36
[...] Steady Burn – U.S. Soccer Releases Michael Jackson Tribute Jersey Fansided – The Whitewashing Of The Indiana Pacers Pacman Jonesin – What if America Had Won the Confed Cup? Moon Dog Sports – The Five Most Underrated Players in the NFL [...]
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waltsense on Mon, 29th Jun 2009 22:27
Damn MoonDog — first sports article I read and your dead on. I am lifelong season ticket holder of the Eagles and it drives me nuts what this city thinks of McNabb. is he a momma’s boy and a sensitive baby? yes….but as he won more playoff games then all of 8 people – yes? He is come up short in many games and 3 points away from a SB ….but its the toughest job in all of sports and he is typically a top 5-10 QB year in and year out. Tough to find. Ride him out another two years and hope he gets over the hump a la Elway. Sweet site.
MoonDog on Tue, 30th Jun 2009 05:10
I appreciate the comments but JM wrote this piece, not me. I believe McNabb has been a victim of circumstance in Philly. Outside of T.O., he’s never had the one truly great receiver to take pressure off the running game. But even still, he has the Eagles in the playoff chase every year.
JM Van Horn on Tue, 30th Jun 2009 20:53
Thanks for the comments Waltsense. I could have gone on and on about McNabb and but I had to share the other four players as well. It is a shame in the sports world championships are equated with greatness. Especially when it comes to football because it is a team sport.
tophatal on Fri, 10th Jul 2009 16:34
JMVH
Can’t disagree at all with your assessments. They’re entirely spot on !
tophatal …….
drr on Tue, 4th Aug 2009 13:01
I think that the tight end from Pittsburgh, Heath Miller, is definitely a top five under-rated player.
MoonDog on Tue, 4th Aug 2009 14:01
I think we need to increase the list by 5 because several players can easily be called underrated. I’d agree that Miller might be among those.
JM Van Horn on Wed, 5th Aug 2009 22:34
Dead on Drr, Miller is an underrated player. Not only that, he plays an underrated position. Those guys never get much love. The one hard thing I had with this list was trimming it down to five players. Mainly because when I started, there was 20.