July 5, 2005
By Pete Prisco
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Tell Pete your opinion!
Hype.
If an NFL player gets it, he can live off it for years. If he doesn't, it's a tough fight to get the credit he deserves.
Which brings us to the CBS SportsLine.com annual list of underrated/overrated players for each of the league's 32 teams.
After his breakthrough season in 2004, Detroit's James Hall won't be underrated for long. (Getty Images)
Every team has a player -- or players -- who gets way too much credit, a player living off a reputation or a past. By contrast, each team has a handful of players who don't get nearly the due they deserve for whatever reason.
Maybe it's lack of name recognition.
Maybe they play in a small market.
Maybe they avoid the hype.
By doing our overrated/underrated list each year, it is hoped that we can help close the gap on some of these inequities, shine light on those not getting it and take away some of the spotlight from those who get too much.
For the list, we pick one overrated and one underrated player from each team, although several teams had multiple players in each category, making for tough choices.
So who are the most overrated and most underrated players from among our 64, giving them those titles throughout the league?
Washington Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington is the choice as the most-overrated player. Arrington has all the tools to be a truly dominant player. But misuse in schemes, plus a tendency to freelance too much as well as injury troubles (he played just four games last season), have stunted his development.
Arrington was considered the potential second coming of Lawrence Taylor when he came out of Penn State in 2000. Instead, he's been a big tease.
As for the most-underrated player, we'll go with Detroit Lions defensive end James Hall.
Who, you say?
Hall had 11½ sacks in 2004 to lead the Lions and finish seventh overall in the league.
At 6-2, 280 pounds, Hall has decent speed off the corner and he plays with a relentless style that makes him tough to block coming from the right side of the defense.
Entering his sixth season, Hall had 11½ sacks in his first four seasons combined before becoming a pass-rush force last season. Playing next to Pro Bowl tackle Shaun Rogers helps, but it also takes away from the attention Hall deserves.
The Lions did the smart thing before the 2004 season, locking him up to a contract through the 2008 season. This 28-year-old is coming into his prime, and pass rushers are worth a ton on the open market. If Hall can continue to develop, 15 sacks is a number that isn't out of the question.
If he gets that, he may get the due he deserves. Until then, it's up to columns like this to get James Hall a little of the attention that should be coming his way as the league's most-underrated player.
Fixing the inequities. That's what our underrated/overrated list is all about.
Now here's the rest of the list. read the article please...
true- arrington is a bit overrated. but if i had to defend him...2 points- first, he hasnt had the same D coordinator 2 seasons in a row since hes been in the league, having to adapt from freelancer to virtual down lineman under marvin lewis. second, he was hurt all last year. that's hardly a ringing endorsement, but he wasnt on the field to play badly to be considered overrated either. if he's hurt all this year, i'll change my tune on that point.
hate to beat a dead horse, but if lynch beat out bailey for most overrated on the broncos, he must have sucked bad. to have that much $ invested in 2 DB's on the downside of their careers...not good. at least bailey still has usa today on his jock ---
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football ... acks_x.htm
Despite a difficult transition to the NFL's new rules governing the passing game, Champ Bailey still rates as the best cornerback in the business.
By Tom DiPace, Sports Weekly
No wonder Champ Bailey wants in on the fun.
A record 732 touchdowns were thrown in 2004 punctuated by league MVP Peyton Manning setting the single-season benchmark with 49 passing touchdowns as NFL defensive backs struggled to adjust to the stricter enforcement of the 5-yard "chuck" rule.
Even Bailey, the $63 million gold standard for cornerbacks, suffered a down year.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise to learn that Bailey, a five-time Pro Bowler, is working as hard this offseason on his receiving skills as he is on making adjustments that will help him adapt to the rules that restricted defensive backs last year.
As Bill Belichick's Patriots showed once again, more of a premium has been placed on playing zone coverage and coaching fundamentals as receiver-turned-corner Troy Brown helped overcome the injury losses of starting cornerbacks Ty Law and Tyrone Poole en route to a third Super Bowl title in four years.
CORNERBACKS
Elite
Champ Bailey suffered a bad rap last season in this sense: He is isolated more than any other corner in Denver's man-to-man scheme. His arrival in the trade for running back Clinton Portis didn't prevent Denver's second straight first-round playoff exit against Peyton Manning and the Colts by another lopsided score. Bailey has elite coverage skills and makeup speed. Expect Bailey to be more comfortable and receive more deep safety help in his second season under defensive coordinator Larry Coyer. He'll need it considering Oakland's acquisition of Randy Moss.
for the love of god...writers make excuses for bailey like he's a freakin' retard or something. how about 'if you get burned over and over, you just arent that good'???