The Most Underrated Players in the NFL

I call a lot of players overrated. Historically, the list includes John Elway, Terry Bradshaw, Dan Marino, Gale Sayers, Don Hutson, Lynn Swann, Johnny Unitas, and Brett Favre. Among active players, some of the most overrated are Andrew Luck, Andrew Luck, Andrew Luck, Andrew Luck, and Andrew Luck. Honorable mentions go to Andrew Luck, Luke Kuechly, Patrick Peterson, Joe Haden, Colin Kaepernick, Aldon Smith, Robert Mathis, Jimmy Graham, Joe Thomas, and Andrew Luck.

Recently, I began to wonder if I was being too negative in my approach to rating players. I decided that I should write this article, in which I focus on the really underrated players in the NFL, the guys who I think are doing a terrific job and could use some more recognition. These are their stories.

JJ Watt. Yes. He's underrated. He's suffering from LeBron Syndrome, where a player can be the best at his position, and indeed the best in the game, and even be recognized as such, and still not receive enough credit for what he does. LeBron, for his part, is probably the best player in the history of the NBA, but is considered only top 10 or so. Watt [scroll down to the DPOY blurb] is the best player (on either side of the ball) currently in the NFL, by a wide margin, but he's considered one of the best defensive players in the league, or sometimes even just the best 3-4 DE in the NFL. That's like saying LeBron is one of the best small forwards on the Cavaliers. Or like saying the sun is pretty big, or Richard Feynman was a little bright. [Or "the ocean is partly composed of water," or "Google has achieved some degree of success," or "the Seahawks were marginally better than the Broncos in SBXVIII," or "this is a decent sports blog."] It's technically true, but it MASSIVELY understates the facts of the matter.

Lavonte David. Still not a Pro Bowler, still underrated. David is probably the best linebacker currently playing in the NFL (with the possible exception of this next guy), but for some reason other names get included in the conversation. Names like Luke and Kuechly.

Von Miller. He's had some issues. He hasn't played as much as he should have. But whenever he so much as touches the field, Miller dominates. I think. Is he even playing this year? Is he doing well?

Bobby Wagner. The third-best linebacker in the NFL who's not on the 49ers.

Vontaze Burfict. The fourth-best linebacker in the NFL who's not on the 49ers.

Evan Mathis. He's getting recognized more. He's still underrated. Mathis is one of the best interior linemen to ever play, no joke. If/when I make an All-Millennium team (best since '00), Mathis will probably be a starting guard. Wait. Now I want to do that.

Kam Chancellor. Kam's basically Brian Dawkins. He might be the second-best safety in the league (to Earl Thomas). He might be the best. All he does is BLOW SHIT UP.

Robert Griffin III. Okay, so he's been injured forever. But Gree's rookie season was one of the best rookie seasons at any position, ever. He was very efficient passing the ball and exceptionally effective running it.

Russell Wilson. Speaking of underrated quarterbacks who were drafted in 2012, Wilson is an elite QB in the league, right now, and he's widely considered borderline top-10. He's straight-up better than every QB in the league not named Peyton, Drewb, Aaron, or Philip. He might be better than a few of them. I have no idea where his ceiling is (it's at least Steve Young), but I know where he is right now, and it's in the fucking clouds.

Richard Sherman. Y'all do realize that Sherman was the least targeted CB in the league last year, and he still caught the most interceptions, right? He dominates virtually every other CB in the league across the board. He's the best cornerback we've seen since '09 Revis, and yet stupid fans include other corners in the debate for top dog.

Philip Rivers. He's finally starting to get some of the respect he deserves, and yet most people don't seem to realize just how good he's been over his career. See below.

Tony Romo. Romo might be the most underrated player of all time. On the career charts, he's 5th in passer rating (Rivers is t-3rd); t-9th in YPA (Rivers is t-6th) [the players rank t-5 and t-3 among modern-era players; YPA is just biased toward earlier QBs]; 4th in ANY/A (Rivers is 3rd); 6th in cmp% (Rivers is 7th); [modern] t-4 (for both) in TD%; and a relatively unimportant t-26 and t-11 in int% which I'm only bringing up for a reason that will become clear in a minute. Basically, Rivers and Romo are two of the most efficient quarterbacks of all time and should be shoo-ins for Canton. It's just that neither of them are currently on pace to make it.

[Russell Wilson, as it happens, doesn't qualify for those leaderboards because he's too young. If he DID qualify--and he will soon--he'd rank 2nd in PR, t-2 [modern] in YPA, 3rd in ANY/A, 8th in cmp%, t-4 in int%, and a modern #1 outright in TD%. That's right: Wilson has thrown for touchdowns more frequently than any quarterback since the NFL-AFL merger.]

Russell Wilson is so great. I just love him.