Most Overrated Athletes In the NFL

Some of these were a lot tougher than others, but all of these players are not quite as good as advertised.

Quarterback
Carson Palmer               Arizona Cardinals
Carson Palmer had mild success in Cincinnati and the team got much better after he left. At the time he was considered the 3rd best QB in the league which was and still is a complete joke. This guy was never a top QB and was never the answer, but teams keep giving him a shot. After failing to bring success to the Raiders, Palmer's newest victim is the Arizona Cardinals. He just threw another interception as I wrote this also.


Runningback
Reggie Bush                   Detroit Lions
Reggie Bush is the most overrated prospect of all-time. I will never forget how much nonsense the Texans got for passing on this guy for a much better football player. Reggie Bush is electrifying, but his skillset is limited. He has to be used the right way to be effective and he is very replaceable. Far from the game changer he was pumped up to be and still is pumped up to be by many.

Wide Receiver
Dez Bryant                     Dallas Cowboys
Roddy White                  Atlanta Falcons
Percy Harvin                  Seattle Seahawks
Dez Bryant is a great receiver, but some consider him the #2 receiver in the game. He was also ranked as the 35th best player in the entire league which is a joke. Good football player, but not elite like he is made out to be. Call me when he does something in the playoffs, if the Cowboys ever make it there.
Roddy White might be the biggest idiot in the NFL. His most recent offense was saying an entire jury should kill themselves. Seriously where does this guy get off telling another human to take their life. Roddy White is credited by many as being the top threat in Atlanta's passing game, but he isn't. Julio Jones and even Tony Gonzalez at times create far bigger matchup problems than White. He is good, but again not elite. Having Matt Ryan definitely helps Roddy out too.
Percy Harvin may be the most overrated player I can remember. He is supposed to be this amazing gamebreaker, but can't stay on the field. Now for the Seahawks, Harvin is again hurt. He has to produce before he can be the difference maker that he is made out to be. He does not make the Seahawks the favorite.





Tight End
Jason Witten                   Dallas Cowboys
I wrote a detailed piece just on Witten a few days ago. Click on the Jason Witten tab at the bottom of this post if you want to read it.

Offensive Tackle
Russell Okung                 Seattle Seahawks
D'Brickashaw Ferguson   New York Jets
Russell Okung made the Pro Bowl, but he wasn't on the field every game again this year. This guy should have to be on the field to make a Pro Bowl. Okung was named a starter over Trent Williams in the Pro Bowl even though Williams is a much better player. Donald Penn is also better than Okung.
D'Brickashaw is considered by some the best Jets player and one of the best tackles in the game. Ferguson is neither of those and until Jake Long left could be considered the weakest starting tackle in the AFC East.


Guard
Maurice Pouncey             Miami Dolphins
Richie Incognito               Miami Dolphins
Richie Incognito made the Pro Bowl somehow need I say more.
Much like his brother Maurice Pouncey has a reputation for being an amazing lineman. He is good, but not great. More than that he obviously is not the brightest as evidenced by the picture to the right.

Center
Maurkice Pouncey            Pittsburgh Steelers
See the write-up for his brother Maurice.

Defensive Tackle
Geno Atkins                     Cincinnati Bengals
Jay Ratliff                          Dallas Cowboys
Geno Atkins is considered by some the best defensive tackle in football. However, if you have been following Atkins during his career, he just is not as good as some others. I just saw video of him getting destroyed by Jermaine Gresham in training camp also. Gresham is a tight end and shouldn't be able to destroy an elite tackle like that. The fact that some consider him better than Ngata is enough to make him overrated in my opinion though.
Jay Ratliff once made a Pro Bowl over BJ Raji. Has there ever been a bigger Pro Bowl snub?

Defensive End
Jason Babin                       Jacksonville Jaguars
Jason Pierre-Paul               New York Giants
Jason Babin was at one point considered a top DE in the NFL. Seriously? The Eagles wised up and cut him last year, but the fact that this guy got that deal and was considered one of the best DE's in football was a joke.
Jason Pierre-Paul is considered a top 5 DE, but why? He is not that good and shouldn't be as high as he is in the top 100.

Linebacker
Justin Houston  and Tambi Hali          
Kansas City Chiefs
Stephen Tulloch              
Detroit Lions
The Kansas City Chiefs had three Pro Bowl linebackers last year. Are you serious? A team with 2 wins had three players from the same unit in the Pro Bowl. Two of these players made the Top 100. I left one of these off because I wanted to include Stephen Tulloch on my overrated list, but this unit is the most overrated group in football. Especially Justin Houston.

Stephen Tulloch was ranked the #51 player in all of football. Tulloch affected the game so much that he never seems to make an impact. The guy doesn't impact the game as much as Kuechley despite a much better defensive line, but somehow he is rated as a better player than the Panthers middle linebacker. He is rated better than every inside linebacker not named Patrick Willis. That is a crime.

Corner
Prince Amukamara               New York Giants
Richard Sherman                  Seattle Seahawks
Prince was supposed to help the Giants secondary return to the Super Bowl. Instead, he was part of the weakest unit on the team. The Giants secondary, especially Amukamara was the reason the team failed to make the playoffs. Amukamara got burned far too often and hopes not to be the Giants' Achilles' Heel this year.
Richard Sherman is considered the best corner in football by many, but quarterbacks challenge Sherman for a reason. They don't do the same with guys like Revis. The true shutdown corners in football. Sherman also tested positive for PEDs and blamed the tester, now where have we seen that before?

Safety
Troy Polamalu                      Pittsburgh Steelers
Eric Berry                             Kansas City Chiefs
At one time, I considered Troy Polamalu the best player in all of football. I still respect Polamalu as a football player. However, I have to be honest and he isn't the same player. He no longer is a top 100 player in this league. Polamalu is still a fantastic football player, but he shouldn't be a Pro Bowler and he shouldn't be a top 100 guy. He's lost a step and just isn't the same guy that dominated the game every snap.
Eric Berry is not the best safety in football. I am told that he is constantly, but it isn't true. He is a good player, but he isn't the best. How could the Chiefs go 2-14 if they have multiple guys that are the best at their positions. This must be the best 2-14 team in NFL history. Yes, their QB situation was awful, but the Chiefs have a lot of overrated players. The only Chiefs player more overrated than Berry is Justin Houston.

-Noland