|
Icy Issue #3: The NFL's most underrated player
Cold, Hard Football Facts for September 6, 2008
The Cold, Hard Football Facts tackle the chilliest issues in the NFL with all the emotion displayed by a jar of pickled herring.
So sit back, enjoy our first-round of Icy Issues, and bathe in the raw, chilly wisdom of the Cold, Hard Football Facts.
Icy Issue: Who is the most underrated player in the NFL?
Icy Answer: That’s for us to know and you to find out.
Only one of you got it right. The other nearly 1,000 people who took the survey got it wrong, including the scores of Patriot fans who wrote in Wes Welker – a preposterous choice, given Welker’s high profile, Pro Bowl recognition and coveted place alongside Tom Brady and Randy Moss in the illustrious New England offense. Welker is one of those guys who goes from underrated to overrated seemingly overnight. A very good player, to be sure, but it’s a safe bet that our Most Underrated Player award won’t go to a skill player of any kind.
No, in trying to identify the most underrated player, we thought one honest response from a poll respondent was most apt: “I probably don’t know who he is.”
So, we scoured all 32 rosters, high and low, looking for players who:
- Have played at a very high level for an extended period of time.
- Have played in their fair share of the big games.
- Could walk around any city except their own without being recognized.
- Play a low-profile position (i.e., OL, defense).
We got many nominations that almost fit the bill, such as:
- Cowboys TE Jason Witten (underrated, but well-known and a skill player)
- Colts CB Marlin Jackson (has been solid in three years, but in a CB-friendly Cover 2)
- Saints G Jahri Evans (only two years as a pro)
- Colts DE Robert Mathis (overshadowed by Freeney, but a one-dimensional type)
- Browns G Eric Steinbach (teams have never gone anywhere)
- Bucs CB Ronde Barber (underrated, but gets plenty of attention as Tiki’s brother)
We got one vote for a truly obscure and somewhat worthy candidate: Bears long-snapper Patrick Mannelly, who has been the best in the business at his position for a full decade – read all about him at www.longsnapper.com. But a long-snapper has negligible value, so he’d have to be a long-snapper/backup QB/backup safety to make this honor. (And if he did all that, he’d be a cult hero already, and probably overrated).
There was little support for others in the kicking game, and that’s probably a good thing. Kickers and punters make more than a million dollars a year without having to get their jerseys dirty – they can’t be considered underrated.
So, here’s the list, from No. 5 to No. 1. All of these guys have made the Pro Bowl, played in multiple playoff games, most have Super Bowl rings. Yet they still don’t get their due.
5. London Fletcher, Washington
If you watched the Redskins-Giants game Thursday night, Fletcher might have slipped your notice. His name was called by Madden and Michaels a couple of times, but he didn’t exactly stand out. Yet he finished with a quiet 12 tackles and five assists. He's productive, and has been for almost a decade, but in the quietest way possible. He’s played at Pro Bowl levels in St. Louis (Super Bowl title, two top-10 team defenses), Buffalo (two top-10 defenses in four years) and now Washington (heart of last year’s playoff team).
With three franchises, and through the ups and downs of the NFL, he’s produced identical season stat lines for a decade: 100 solo tackles, another 30-50 assists, a handful of impact sacks or INTs or forced fumbles. And in all three cities, the team captain of the defense at middle linebacker. If he was a quarterback, he’d be Drew Brees.
4. Derrick Brooks, LB, Tampa Bay
Underrated? How can you be underrated when you’ve been all-NFL five times? Well, it’s all in the interpretation of what makes a player underrated. Consider that while Brooks is well known and well-respected, he’s not exactly a household name with the non-football types. And the guys at pro-football-reference.com, in developing an “Approximate Value” system to rate all of the players in the NFL’s modern era, show the true greatness of Brooks – he comes in as the No. 17 player of the modern era (since 1950).
That lofty value ranking puts him ahead of Joe Montana, Walter Payton, Mike Singletary, Emmitt Smith, Ray Lewis, and about a million other schmoes who’ve played in the NFL. Brooks hasn’t missed a game since … oh, wait, he’s never missed a game, in 13 years in the league, almost all of which have figured excellent Buc defenses. If this is Brooks’ last year (he turned 35 in April), he’ll probably get 30 seconds on SportsCenter and we won’t hear from him again until he goes into the Hall of Fame. So let’s appreciate this all-time great while he’s still playing (and producing).
3. Tra Thomas, T, Philadelphia
The Eagles’ offense has been good for the overwhelming majority of Thomas’ entire 10-season tenure as starting left tackle – during which he missed just nine games. Ever wonder why the Eagles seem to thrive even when their backup QB is in? Thomas’ presence is the key. The only backup who didn’t succeed during McNabb’s many absences was Mike McMahon – who was playing without the injured Thomas for six games. After two years of growing pains, Thomas and the Eagles have stayed powerful for almost a complete decade. He’s been elected to three Pro Bowls, which is a fairly low number for the LT on a perennial conference power, and would certainly only be identified as “Whoa, look at that huge-ass dude” at an airport.
2. Aaron Smith, DE, Pittsburgh
In 2000, the Pittsburgh Steelers were No. 6 overall in scoring defense. Over the next seven years, they finished no worse than 16th in that all-important stat, finishing third twice, second once, and first in 2008. The only defensive player to make it through the entire run? Smith, who has an anonymous name to go with his anonymous game.
Smith never puts up big numbers (career high sacks: 8), but that’s usually not the DE’s job in a 3-4. In New England, Richard Seymour gets recognized regularly for his similarly number-less work in the 3-4, and has made five Pro Bowls. Smith, who fills the same role in Pittsburgh, has one Pro Bowl nod. But when Smith missed the last five games of the Steelers’ season, the defense responded by giving up 25.8 PPG when they had allowed a mere 13.2 PPG with him in there. And still, you barely heard his name mentioned as a factor.
A name change to Aaron Nueve Uno would help with the recognition.
1. Tom Nalen, C, Denver
Super Bowl rings? Two. Pro Bowls? Five. Nalen hasn’t allowed a sack since 2005, and has been the man for a Broncos team that has allowed the third-fewest sacks (395) in the NFL since 1995. In 2002, when he was in his prime, the Broncos had scored 26.1 PPG and were 5-2. Then Nalen went down with an injury. In his absence, they went 4-5 and averaged 20.9 PPG.
Nalen has been the rock of the great Denver lines for more than a decade – when Terrell Davis was dominating the league, he was doing it behind Nalen. Yet he’ll struggle to make the Hall of Fame. (Speaking of struggling, the Broncos will be doing it without him this Monday night; he’s got a knee injury). His obscurity isn’t helped by his position (low man on the OL totem pole), low draft status (7th round) and silence (he’s a Bronco lineman, for God’s sake, and they never talk, period).
But if you happen to be in Denver and see a 6-foot-3, 286 pound white man in his late 30s walking past you on the street, limping slightly and probably looking the other way, take some time to consider: I just walked past the most underrated player in the NFL.
|
