The 49ers drafted linebacker Reuben Foster at the bottom of the first round. If ever a geezer was meant to play with George Allens Over The Hill Gang, he was the one. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. The difference between the great and the all-time great is often a matter of timing and luck. He blitzed (20.5 sacks). Entering 2021, Moton had allowed only 10 sacks in over 2,000 pass-blocking snaps. He played the run with authority (721 career solo tackles). Brandon Graham is an incredibly underrated defensive lineman and lifelong Philadelphia Eagle. Even without the same speed and athleticism as when he entered the league, David continues to find ways to make impact plays like a seasoned veteran. The admission probably slams the door of the Hall of Fame on Brown forever. Beachum has lined up at both left and right tackle but displayed Modern centers don't get the credit they deserve. There may be such a thing as too much blitzing, after all. WebMost Underrated NFL Players of All Time These men did so much but received so little credit in return. WebTop 20 Most Underrated NFL Players of All Time 20 Drew Brees. It's better to be remembered for one of the most painful moments in your career than to not be remembered at all. When London Fletcher retired after the 2014 season, Robert Klemko of The MMQBasked him if he was motivated by feeling underappreciated for most of his career. Antoine Griezmann is known for his excellent left foot and can score and create goals with it; hence, he is one of the best left-footed midfielders. He was an iron man for a powerhouse franchise that reached four Super Bowls while playing many of their home games in arctic conditions. A Hall of Fame voter once warned me that "every town has its linebacker.". Jerry Rice and John Taylor may have been the greatest receiving tandem of that era, but Ellard and Flipper Anderson were the most explosive pair of deep threats. Some might say it's a stretch to put Allen on this list after four straight Pro Bowl seasons and 95+ catch seasons. Bottom line: For 16 seasons, Henry Ellard wreaked havoc as a pass receiver and punt returner. 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. The 49ers are installing a new system and reshaping their roster. Let's take a look at the the five most underrated footballers of all time. It's Bryant Young, whorecorded 89.5 sacks for the 49ers, 23 more than Haley. So LeRoy Butler, innovator of the Lambeau Leap, is excluded from his own statue. Players like McDole are what all-time underrated lists exist for. 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. When the Rams finally earned a Super Bowl berth, Robertson was in Buffalo, playing for another playoff also-ran. But this list is all about giving overlooked players their due respect. Terry McLaurin has played through one of the more unstable quarterback situations in football with Washington since entering the league but continues to emerge as one of the top wideouts in football. Johnson can line up all over the field and consistently find space in the opposing defense. He led his team to an NFL championship. Ryan made three Pro Bowls, but All-Pro status was blocked by a couple of guys named Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr. 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. Addiction soon began consuming Smith's career, and then his life. Allen made a lot of plays. One of the most underrated players in AM Football, Brodie Croyle was drafted into the NFL by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2006 after being a college football standout with the University of Alabama. WebThe 10 most underrated football players of all time are: Gheorghe Hagi, Michael Laudrup, Gaetano Scirea, Hristo Stoichkov, Matthias Sammer, Davor Suker, Gunter Netzer, Hmmm. Super Bowl championships: Two (1996, 1999). Time has been hard on both of them. In an era when 50 percent completion rates and 20-interception seasons were common for Pro Bowl quarterbacks, Anderson's 64.9 percent completion rate and quarterback ratings above 90 look like temporal anomalies. The Pro Football Reference Similar Players tool compares Ryan's five-year peak to that of Joe Theismann. Wide receiver Chase Claypool stole headlines as a rookie in 2020, while teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster always seems to attract headlines one way or another. "I wasnt the fastest guy, but I didnt mind having the defender at my hip," Ellard said per Yahoo Sports. He played 256 career regular-season games, never missing a start due to injury. Let's face it: An entire All-Underrated Team can be assembled using only Broncos defenders. Build your customFanSided Daily email newsletter with news and analysis onAll NFL and all your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and more. Only a dozen players have more career interception return yards (961), and seven of them are in the Hall of Fame. WebWho are the most underrated players of all time? But Brown was a unique and underappreciated player for over a decade on a team that nearly revolutionized the way football is played. Fletcher intercepted 23 passes and recorded 39 sacks as a do-it-all middle linebacker. In his prime, Wright was often mentioned in the same breath as Hall of Famers Mel Blount and Mike Haynes. Playing in Detroit can stifle any career. Off to a fast start in 2021, Sutton is quickly reminding opposing defenses of his talent. But his Hall of Fame candidacy has been stuck in semifinalist limbo. He is now stuck in a rebuilding cycle that may take a few years. 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 two Super Bowl trips, Bahr didnt miss a kick three field goals, six PATs. 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. Sanders was an extremely He played left tackle in 1972 and moved to right tackle in 1974. There will never be another player like Marshall. Were talking about the most unsung, underappreciated players in NFL history here. Hes on the short list of running back leaders in yards per rush (4.6, 17th), touches (2,824, 25th) and yards from scrimmage (14,079, 35th) in NFL history. Karl Mecklenburg. They didnt do anything that Tobin Rote hadnt done a long time ago. That may tick him off. He was an All-Pro for the Orange Crush defenses of the 1970s, and then he stuck around to play for the 1986 Broncos Super Bowl team. During his nine seasons in Buffalo, Hughes has emerged as a leader while registering double-digits in QB hits every season but one. Ryan threw five touchdown passes and ran for a sixth to beat the Giants and lead the Browns to the NFL championship in 1964. And few were better at making opposing quarterbacks pay for mistakes. FanDuel NFL 2021: Best lineup for Week 16, Jets HC Robert Saleh tests positive for COVID, could miss Jaguars game, LeVeon Bell fires back on Twitter at fans trolling him for signing with Buccaneers. In his most prolific early season, he caught 54 passes for 811 yards and five touchdowns. Bottom line: The 49ers of the 1980s are remembered most for Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, coach Bill Walsh and the West Coast offense. He must either play for teams so good that they overshadow his accomplishments, or teams so bad that he had to do it all by himself. 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. And consider this: The one-time college triple-jumper played with a Pro Bowl quarterback (Jim Everett) in only one season. Incredibly, McDole started 97 of the next 98 games. Juszczyk has made five Pro Bowl appearances, including each season since joining San Francisco in 2017. Ken Griffey Jr.? Kenn was one of the leaders of the NFL Players Association during the era of replacement players and court battles over free agency. While most Giants fans remember Meggett, he is still one of the most underrated players of all time. Pro Bowl? Jordi Alba. "Even now I still get pissed off. 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. Following a strong start to 2021, McLaurin is slowly beginning to earn the respect his game deserves. FEDERICO CHIESA. But the former NFL Man of the Year award winner and two-time All-Pro should not have had to wait so long. 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. "When I was there, the thing we were missing was that explosive type of offense, and the new coach brought that in.". A lifelong Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Davids 10-year career has been about consistency and productivity. But the diminutive Brees would not have been able to lead the Saints to a Super Bowl and several seasons as top contenders without a clean pocket, particularly right in front of him. 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. Ryan needed surgery and was in constant pain for the rest of his career. 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. 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. 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. They say you know an offensive lineman is doing a great job when his name is rarely brought up, but its time Moton is talked about more for his success. Whether they were disrespected by the media, or scrappy fan-favorites, every NFL team has had a selection of players that didnt get the attention they deserved. Jeff Saturday had to translate Peyton Manning's spur-of-the-moment audibles into protection schemes a split second before the snap. Jones played for the Cowboys from 1974-78 and 1980-89. Krieg was a career overachiever who survived 19 seasons on modest talent with defense-driven teams. Maybe there is still an NFL team in San Diego. A beast in coverage, Jones continues to round out his game as one of the top overall linebackers in football. Hull never lived to see himself make a Hall of Fame semifinalist list, as he died of liver failure at age 50 in 2011. 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. Dave Meggett -- RB, 1989-1994. He ran a Sonny Jurgensen pass back 59 yards in the fourth quarter to seal a Rams playoff win over the Redskins in 1974. Far from it. Steve Wisniewski played guard on a Raiders team that moved in the middle of his career and was just good enough to remind you it was not in the same class as the great Raiders teams that preceded it. If you guessed both or neither one, youre wrong. Young played for some great 49ers teams, including a Super Bowl-winning squad as a rookie in 1994. When the team inducted Smith into the Pride of the Jaguars ring of honor last year, it was the strange case of a moribund franchise honoring a former receiver still on parole for succumbing to the demons of addiction. Anderson's 1,000-yard seasons came in a primitive offense with a rudimentary passing game. With Warfield hurt nearly all of that season, Ryan helped make a Pro Bowler out of receiver/punter Gary Collins. WebTop 20 Most Underrated Footballers in 2022 1. Even pesky third-down backs and gritty fullbacks may seem underrated until you realize how many of them become local heroes. He also scored 35 touchdowns on the ground in that span. Sam Mills rises above the rest of the gritty linebacker pack, at least when it comes to being underrated, because three of his greatest seasons have been erased from history. It didnt help that he had ordinary quarterbacks named Tony Eason and Steve Grogan to throw him the ball.