I dont think you can have 16 1/2 sacks and 4 forced fumbles and be overrated. That doesn't make any sense. John Abraham played at the very top of his position last year. Prisco's reasoning for Abraham being overrated is that "he needs to focus more." Huh? Antonio Pierce is the undisputed leader of the Giants very good defense and a playmaker. Brian Dawkins and Brian Westbrook are also tremendous players. Roy Williams for the Cowboys could actually make a case that he is underrated since everyone is doubting he can be a number one receiver even though he put up good sometimes great numbers in the terrible Detroit offense. Al Harris is overrated maybe, but who overrated him? A couple years ago you said he was up and coming and was a pro bowl snub who should have gone instead of Ronde Barber (even though Barbers numbers were far and away better than Harris'), so you are the one who overrated him and now you are calling him overrated. Create your own news why don't you. L. White averages under 4 yards per carry, but its hard to get more than 4 yards when its only 2 yards to the end zone. He does all the short yardage duties remember. TJ Houshmanzadeh averaged under 10 yards per catch last year and ONLY last year. Who was the QB for the Bengals last year again? Housh also averaged 1000 yards per year for the past 5 years and he was the only receiver who makes the tough possesion catches over the middle for the BEngals. How can he be overrated? One more thing, can all of you CBS sportsline writers stop with the puns and stupid little writing gimmicks already. DQwell is swell? What? He's going to DQ some runningbacks? What does that even mean? Come on Prisco, you're better than that I think. Leave that crap to Freeman.
I dont think you can have 16 1/2 sacks and 4 forced fumbles and be overrated. That doesn't make any sense. John Abraham played at the very top of his position last year.
Seeing as it's impossible to read more than a few lines down your post, due to lack of any organization at all, I'll just talk about this one.
Nobody really seems to realize it, but this was a great call by Prisco. A lot of these weren't the greatest, but this was good. Nobody was ever filled in, but the Falcons were extraordinarily nice to Abraham. He didn't play a lot of snaps at all. He "started" all 16 games, but didn't play the snaps that starters typically do. As evidenced by his 42 tackles, almost half of which were sacks, he was primarily a pass-rushing specialist, and not an everydown player.
BUT, I do want to say that he is and was a great player, and certainly had his moments this year. Forcing 4 fumbles and blocking a punt is nothing to scoff at. And he took missing the pro bowl well. He's a great guy.
Here's a quote from an article about him and missing the pro bowl: "While Abraham is having a great year, he doesn't play nearly as many snaps as Allen, Peppers or Tuck, which makes it hard to argue that his absence is any kind of an injustice."
How can a center be considered overrated? I have the Ravens team website as my homepage, and still had no clue Matt Birk was even on the team. Not to mention, your only reasoning was "watch the tape..." of a single game. You get paid to write this stuff? My fifth grade cousin gives more insightful analysis.
Kinda hard to take your rebuttal seriously when you don't understand that Abrham is overrated because he's horrible vs. the run. Top 10 Defensive End easily, but he sucks vs. the run.
And Antonio Pierce may be the captain of the Giants Defense, but he's like the 5th or 6th most important piece. He's an average LineBacker that isn't even top 13 at the position.
Packers fan here but Al Harris is not the most overrated on the team Ryan Grant was he was supposed to be a top tier RB after his breakout season 2 yrs ago. He didnt perform to his previous years performance getting about 1/2 the YPC average and 1/2 the TDs. Al Harris is always torn down due to his lack of speed and he makes plays. Also there is the fact that he had a ruptured spleen last season and injuries are not a grounds for being overrated.
I've been saying that Al Harris is overrated for years. He shuts nothing down, and his numbers don't impress me one bit. I'll take you back to the 2007 season, when the Dallas Cowboys had to face the Brett Favre-led Packers. Tony Romo and T.O. Still had chemistry, and were firing on all cylinders, so Al Harris was tasked with covering T.O. He did no such thing. T.O. had a couple T.D.s, was all over the stats sheet, and pretty much put the game out of reach for Aaron Rogers (substituting for a beaten-up Favre). Al harris got an interception in that game---after T.O. dropped a sure-fire touchdown pass that hit him in the number 8. This type of performance is not unusual for Al Harris. He gives receivers too much cushion and has for years. He's overrated.
Before I just rip Prisco, I will ask the obligatory question of what the heck is the criteria for being on this list??? Is there even any?? It doesn't appear that there is because the names on this list range from completely ludicrous, to (and it pains me to say this) completely justified. Injuries obviously were not taken into consideration and in the case of Brett Favre even retirement doesn't seem to mean anything either!!! In order to be overrated you would think that the players Prisco put in that category would be either grossly overpaid or garnering Pro Bowl, All-Pro or some other form of recognition that was not deserved, but as previously stated, there doesn't seem to be any consistency with the choices. Now for some team by team analysis...First having Anquan Boldin listed as the most overrated falls into the ludicrous category. If it were not for Larry Fitzgerald's insane postseason last year (and Anquan's contract demands) this wouldn't be an issue. Boldin has got the job done with and without Fitzgerald (71 rec, 928 yds, 5.7 TD's Avg season over his career) and they compliment each other as well as any receiving tandem in the league. Also of note, he put up numbers with lesser QB's than Kurt Warner. So if you are trolling the Cardinals roster for overrated players, look a little deeper than contract issues and don't choose Boldin just because he is one of the first players alphabetically. How about Matt Leinart??? Antrell Rolle?? I would say Edgerrin James but alas he is gone. Before moving on, it is also worth noting, that statistics don't tell the whole story for a players worth. 1,000 yards rushing for a running back doesn't mean as much as it used to, and a receiver's dropped passes often means as much as his number of touchdowns. Also I noted a lot of players on the list that have changed teams, so is their rating based on their overall career or how Prisco thinks they will do with the new team??? It seems that Pete has a thing for the diva position (WR), but if that is the case, where is the ultimate prima donna, Terrell Owens??? Also, what value does Prisco place on leadership?? Obviously not much since team leaders such as Jake Delhomme and Brian Westbrook are considered overrated. On a positive note, I agree 100 % on guys like Jamal Lewis, Larry Johnson, Jeremy Shockey, LenDale White, and DeAngelo Hall being overrated. Transitioning to the underrated category, I have the same question, what is the criteria?? As you would expect there are a lot of young players Prisco has in this category, that show a lot of potential but haven't necessarily garned the acclaim as premier players. But shouldn't we wait until someone lives up to that potential before they get the rewards??? I realize this is getting rather long and there is no way Prisco will ever actually read or heed anything in this or any of our replies, so I will close with two more examples rather than go team by team and needlessly drag this out. First the Chargers choice for underrated is Phillip Rivers!!! He has nice stats, but the team has never lived up to expectations since he became the starter. He has been to the Pro Bowl so he is not being overlooked in that departement either. Priso's comment about carrying the team last year is true, but also understandable. LT had the worst year of his career so they had to do more in the passing game. He is extremely talented and is looked upon as a top 5-10 QB by most "experts" so I don't think he is underrated. Lastly, Prisco lists Willie Parker as being the most overrated player on the Steelers. This selection is laughable considering in his justification Prisco states "he was bothered by injury, and his 3.8 avg wasn't very good". Are you ignoring the fact that his career avg. is 4.3 Pete??? the fact that the Steelers drafted Rashard Mendenhall to share the carries is not a bad thing. If he (Mendenhall) stays healthy, then that should result in less wear and tear on Parker. Pittsburgh has employed the 2 back system for years (with great success BTW) so if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Parker also backs up his accolades with multiple Pro Bowls, 2 Super Bowl rings, and 1 Super Bowl, and Team MVP. Not bad for an UFA who didn't play extensively in colleger and was considered a backup when drafted. So in closing, I have a request for Mr. Prisco: In the future could you please provide criteria for your judgements and do the adequate amount of research to back up your opinion??? Thanks in advance.
I think that Al Harris is not our best corner. Charles Woodson has held that title since the day Ted Thompson picked him up. That being said, Al Harris is still a very good press coverage cornerback. Elite? No, just very good. Larger receivers are his kryptonite, as evidenced by Plaxico Burress' domination of him in the 2007 NFC Championship Game. The 2007 Cowboy game on the NFL Network was another good example. Andre Johnson would've eaten him up last year, but I am pretty sure that he was hurt. Elite WRs vs. Very Good CBs??? Advantage WR. Every time.
That being said, Al Harris is not the most overrated player on the Packers. That title does go Ryan Grant, unquestionably. He was not worth the money that he got last year. The reason he got what he did is because the Front Office wanted to make sure to have a nice nucleus in place because Brett Favre decided to flake...
The motivation he had coming in during the '07 season to break into the starting lineup was but a faint glimmer last season. Maybe it was his hamstring hanging him up, but there was nothing special about his '08 performance. Aaron Rodgers carried the offense.
And on that note, I will say that Aaron Rodgers makes a strong argument to be the most underrated, although I don't disagree about Charles Woodson.
Green Bay Packers
Overrated: CB Al Harris . He isn't his team's best corner and at 35, his age is starting to become an issue.
Underrated: CB Charles Woodson . Why isn't he considered an elite corner? Anybody?
Prisco, he isn't considered elite because he is the classiest, most humble man on the team. He had 7 INTs, 2 sacks, 2 TDs, and a forced fumble last season. What did he do after every big play? He shook hands with his co-secondary teammates. In fact, he set the standard for the secondary in Green Bay. Every time any of them, like Nick Collins, made a big, gamebreaking play, what did they do? That's right. They congregated, shook hands and got off the field. The reason that Charles Woodson isn't considered elite is beyond me. He is the role model type of NFL player that should be in the spotlight.
