Gates was once the most dominant tight end in the NFL, but since he's no longer getting 49 targets each game, that has changed. Gates can't get open anymore and when he does, he seems to stumble over his own feet too often to haul in the pass. You can definitely blame injuries here, but Gates is still overrated until he bounces back or his hype is gone completely.
He had a pretty good rookie year and then a pretty good year when he came back from prison, but that was just because of the shock factor. Michael Vick can't throw, he has no pocket presence and it takes him half a day to read a defense, which is why he gets sacked so much these days. Sure, Philly's dreadful o-line is partially to blame, but Vick does his teammates no favors by holding on to the ball too long and panicking too quickly in the pocket.
My, how the mighty have fallen. Jermichael Finley missed the Packers' magical Super Bowl run a couple of years ago and now he's a bust. He can't get open and when he does, there's a 50-50 chance he'll catch the ball -- and that's if the ball hits his hands. Seriously, this guy just hasn't been the same, yet he's always hyped because of his name. It's time for that to end.
Worlds of talent, no work ethic whatsoever. This guy could be really good if he cared, but until then, he's overrated because Heaven knows he won't live up to the hype. Hopefully his new team will change that, but even the Broncos have their work cut out for them with DRC.
Ever since he became CJ2K, Chris Johnson has gotten way too big for his britches. A couple of holdouts really did him in and now he's just a speedster who can't get past defenders. A less-than-stellar o-line certainly hasn't helped, but Johnson is not the back he was once, yet he's still hyped because of his name and that one 2,000-yard season. That will change in 2013.
If you're a running back in the NFL and you can't run between the tackles, you're overrated. Bush was only good in college because he was the fastest player on the field and when he got the NFL, that was no longer the case. He's an average kick returner and had one good year in Miami, so now he's apparently going to set the woods on fire in Detroit. I ain't buyin' it.
Yes, he's played in five Super Bowls in a decade. Yes, he's one of four 5,000-yard passers in NFL history. But tom Brady is also a system quarterback. If he played for any other team, he would be average, at best. Bill Belichick knows how to play to Brady's strengths, which include 50 passes per game. With that o-line, the receivers Brady's had over the course of his career and a million passes each year, half the quarterbacks in the league could throw for 5,000 yards. Oh, and he hasn't won a Super Bowl since Spygate.
The Chargers' crybaby quarterback spends way too much time whining about things he can't control than trying to get better and that's why his team is always a huge disappointment each season. Heck, Rivers isn't even a good fantasy quarterback anymore! No one wants a passer who has as many turnovers as touchdowns in a single season, both in reality and fantasy land.
If not for his annual Thanksgiving Day stomp, the world would have forgotten about Suh by now because he's terrible. He was pretty solid as a rookie, but fell off in his sophomore season and has been nothing but a big, distracting disappointment ever since.
This guy had one good season. One. And that was with one of the greatest quarterbacks in history throwing him the ball in statically his best season. Since that lone magical year with Brett Favre, Sidney Rice has been average, at best, and he's about to become irrelevant in Seattle with Percy Harvin in town.
His name is a big one, especially because of Bountygate, but he's not nearly the player the media makes him out to be. If I had a dime for every time I saw Vilma get pushed around by an opposing blocker (regardless of position), I'd be paying someone to write this while enjoying a pina colada in Hawaii.
For some reason, all the hype surrounding DeAngelo Hall coming out of college back in 2004 has stuck around and no matter how badly he disappoints each season, we keep thinking he'll bounce back the next year. Not anymore. Stamp: overrated.
Butterfingers and a half! DeSean Jackson is lightning quick and he can make some big plays here and there, but his inconsistency and moronic behavior make him overrated. He's expected to be "explosive" and whatnot each season, but he hasn't done much the past two years other than a couple of nice kick returns. As a receiver, no one is going to make it in the NFL if he can't run routes correctly and catch the ball.
Sometimes he makes great plays and sometimes he gets manhandled by opposing blockers. Sometimes he goes on streaks of greatness through several games and sometimes you wonder if he's even been on the field for the Packers for the last few weeks. Clay Matthews can be a stud, but at other times, he's absolutely pathetic, and that lands him a spot on the overrated list. Consistency is the key and put simply, he is not.
After recording a 1,000-yard season in 2010, people were beginning to sing McFadden's praises on the field. However, he followed that up with a 600-yard season and a 700-yard season. In 2013, he's on pace to finish with half of the 700 he finished with in 2012. One 1,000-yard season got him far too much respect.
Richardson has yet to prove anything in the NFL, yet "experts" have dubbed him an elite-level running back. How's that working out for him with the Indianapolis Colts? How about 495 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in 14 weeks? Yeah, not living up to all the hype.
Prior to the 2013 season, Kaepernick had played in just 16 career games -- not started, but played in -- and he was already being called one of the best quarterbacks in the league. So far in 2013, he has passed for 2,690 yards and 18 touchdowns while leading the worst passing offense in the NFL. Not so good, Colin.
Yes, we get it, he has one of the strongest arms in the NFL -- if not the strongest -- but he can't capitalize on that if he's not passing very much. He has yet to gain over 4,000 yards through the air in a single season and no more than 25 touchdown passes in a year. However, he got paid far too much money for winning a Super Bowl that was backed up by one of the best defenses in the NFL.
Mike Wallace was a talented receiver with great route running abilities when he played in Pittsburgh, but he struggled in 2012, leading to just 836 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. What did that earn him? Oh, just a $60 million deal that will keep him in Miami for a while.
How many times have we seen Polamalu lower his head for a huge hit only to go flying right past the ballcarrier and sometimes into something like a water cooler? If this guy would focus on just making the tackle instead of trying to make every play a highlight reel, he might be more effective, like he was in the late 2000s. Today? He's as overrated as they come.
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