The decade's 25 most overrated players

[TheLynchTrain]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/news/story?id=4269800

 

Five former Bills are on this list...pretty funny.

 

On Moulds had how many different QBs, coordinators, coaches during his time in Buffalo?

 

And maybe Travis...we had the worst O line in football during his time here.

 

Clements...shut down corner in Buf...wasnt worth his contract, I get it.

 

McGahee and Ruben...of course we've talked about Ruben in buffalo on this for years, my only surprise was he wasn't higher.

[Lt. Dan's Revenge]

To me, it's absolutely unreal that Eric Moulds is on that list. He was a very good, productive receiver who put up numbers while having little help as far as the quarterback position is concerned. Also didn't have a truly legit threat opposite of him to take away some attention other than one fluke year of outstanding play from Peerless Price. I just don't get that assertion at all.

[SteamRoller67]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/news/story?id=4269800

 

Five former Bills are on this list...pretty funny.

 

On Moulds had how many different QBs, coordinators, coaches during his time in Buffalo?And maybe Travis...we had the worst O line in football during his time here.

 

Clements...shut down corner in Buf...wasnt worth his contract, I get it.

 

McGahee and Ruben...of course we've talked about Ruben in buffalo on this for years, my only surprise was he wasn't higher.

 

I can't see the full list on ESPN, so I'll go by your report.

 

Let me get this straight....Eric Moulds is on the top 25 most OVER-rated list for the decade?

Who the f**k put this list together?

McGahee and Brown belong on the list, but Moulds even being considered over-rated is absurd. Maybe the person composing the list was jealous because his girlfriend thought E was hot or something. Penis envy goes a long way!

[TheLynchTrain]

I can't see the full list on ESPN, so I'll go by your report.

 

Let me get this straight....Eric Moulds is on the top 25 most OVER-rated list for the decade?

Who the f**k put this list together?

McGahee and Brown belong on the list, but Moulds even being considered over-rated is absurd. Maybe the person composing the list was jealous because his girlfriend thought E was hot or something. Penis envy goes a long way!

 

1. DeShaun Foster:

2. Michael Vick:

3. Chris Chambers:

4. Jamal Lewis:

5. Adam Vinatieri:

6. Reggie Bush:

7. Ty Law:

8. Stephen Alexander:

9. Dante Hall:

10. DeAngelo Hall:

11. Keith Brooking:

12. Flozell Adams:

13. Simeon Rice:

14. Terence Newman:

15. Ruben Brown: Certainly a good player but nine Pro Bowls? Playing for the Bills in the early part of the decade, Brown was basically making the Pro Bowl by default every year because the best guards were in the NFC.

16. Olin Kreutz:

17. Willis McGahee: He thinks of himself as a superstar back, but so far he's nowhere close. In five seasons, McGahee has never ranked higher than eighth in the NFL in rushing yardage or 14th in DYAR. He's also had very poor receiving numbers. Last year, for example, McGahee's 24 receptions included four that actually lost yardage and two others on third-and-eight plays that each came up six yards short of the sticks.

18. Nate Clements: Is he an above-average cornerback? Yes. Is he worth the roughly $7.25 million per year the 49ers agreed to pay him during the 2007 offseason, the largest contract ever given to a defensive player up to that point? Um, no.

19. Eric Moulds: Moulds was the best receiver in the league in 1998 and one of the best in 1999 and 2000. He then spent most of this decade riding that reputation. FO metrics score him as below-average for five straight years from 2001 to 2005, but Moulds kept insisting he was a No. 1 receiver, and the Buffalo coaches kept treating him like one. He finally accepted himself as an older, slower possession receiver when he went to Houston in 2006, and then he had his best season in years, catching 74 percent of passes.

20. Freddie Jones:

21. Damien Woody:

22. Roy Williams (safety):

23. Jammal Brown:

24. Travis Henry: Henry had 4.1 yards per carry or less in five of his seven seasons (exceptions: 2002 and 2006), and his numbers would look even worse except that he had the advantage of playing a below-average schedule of run defenses in five of his seven seasons (exceptions: 2004 and 2005). He has never finished higher than 23rd among running backs in the Football Outsiders DVOA ratings.

(Honestly, we could have just forgotten the other positions and done a list of 25 boom-and-bust running backs whose impressive fantasy football totals were primarily the product of lots of carries instead of above-average performance. No other group of players comes close when it comes to being overrated.)

25. All Denver punters:

[SteamRoller67]

Some of that list is baffling!

I agree with most players listed except these 5:

4. Jamal Lewis

7. Ty Law

11. Keith Brooking

16. Olin Kreutz

19. Eric Moulds

 

I would take any of these guys for an entire decade all day, all week and twice on Sunday. Those are 5 of the best players in the NFL in the 2000's....WTF?

 

Discounting Moulds because he finally slowed a bit after 2000 is garbage. I'll just pretend he never played form 1998 - 2000 than. Great logic ESPN.

[ricojes]

To me, it's absolutely unreal that Eric Moulds is on that list. He was a very good, productive receiver who put up numbers while having little help as far as the quarterback position is concerned. Also didn't have a truly legit threat opposite of him to take away some attention other than one fluke year of outstanding play from Peerless Price. I just don't get that assertion at all.

Exactly! And how is calling someone "a very good, productive receiver" overrating them? I have never heard Moulds name come up in elite receiver conversation, He wasn't great, but he was a very good receiver. Very odd that he makes the list.

Unless they are referring to free agent overrated signings, but then the list would have to include Peerless Price.

[TheLynchTrain]

I don't know I thought it was all very strange. You know these football geeks though, they have their strange made up stats and apparently Moulds came up on the list. Funny thing is, him and Chambers are the only WR on the list. I get chambers...they guy shows up sometimes and most of the time he doesn't.

 

But Moulds? I always thought he was clutch, always went over the middle. Arrogant? What WR isn't, save for Lee Evans. It sounds like the knock against him is percentage of passes thrown to him that were caught. But how reliable of a stat is that when you have Rob Johnson, AVP, and Billy Jo Holbert throwing you the ball? I am really baffled at this list...

[TheLynchTrain]

Some of that list is baffling!

I agree with most players listed except these 5:

4. Jamal Lewis

7. Ty Law

11. Keith Brooking

16. Olin Kreutz

19. Eric Moulds

 

I would take any of these guys for an entire decade all day, all week and twice on Sunday. Those are 5 of the best players in the NFL in the 2000's....WTF?

 

Discounting Moulds because he finally slowed a bit after 2000 is garbage. I'll just pretend he never played form 1998 - 2000 than. Great logic ESPN.

 

4. Jamal Lewis: Lewis is remarkably inconsistent for a guy who is supposed to be a big, bruising back. When he rushed for more than 2,000 yards in 2003, he gained a lot of that yardage on a few long runs. The Ravens led the league in rushing yardage that year, but were tied for ninth in rushing first downs. (As an added non-bonus, Lewis fumbled nine times that season.) Lewis has never finished in the top 10 in running back DVOA. Compare that to Marshall Faulk and Priest Holmes (five times) or LaDainian Tomlinson (three times).

 

7. Ty Law:The Jets signing Law last year was a far bigger story than a player of Law's level should merit. At this point, Law's a fourth corner on a good team. Although he had 10 interceptions for the Jets in 2005, Law allowed a mediocre 7.2 yards per attempt and was 80th among corners in stopping players from gaining first downs. Law was certainly not overrated during the first few years of the decade, but as a physical corner, he has been a liability since the league re-emphasized the "Polian Rules" regarding bumping at the line.

 

11. Keith Brooking: A good outside linebacker whose skills don't fit well as a 4-3 middle linebacker, but year after year he was forced back into the middle by injuries to other Falcons linebackers. His biggest problems came in pass coverage, one reason why the Falcons ranked among the worst defenses against opposing tight ends for the entire decade.

 

16. Olin Kreutz: Like Brown, Kreutz is a fine player, who made the Pro Bowl six straight years because the only other consistently good center in the NFC was Matt Birk. It isn't like the Bears are known as one of the league's best pound-up-the-gut running teams.

[JJBuffalo]

what is the list for 25 most underrated? thanks

[DIE HARD 1967]

I would have listed Moulds in the under rated list.

[Dan]

Some of that list is baffling!

...

No doubt. It really must be nice to have a job where you can just make up any old thing you want and call it done.

 

I'll add... Adam Vinatieri. Didn't the Pats* get to their 1st Super Bowl on the leg of Vinatieri in the snowbowl game? Then he won the Super Bowl. Then another. One of the best clutch kickers of all time is over rated?

 

Also, I wonder... do some of these "writers" jut put Bills players in the list because they know it'll piss us off and generate a lot of feedback? It does make me wonder to see so many Bills on that list. Not so much because those players were so good, but more so because who really had any of those players that highly rated to begin with (other than maybe Moulds)?

[shrader]

Is it fair to call out Ruben for being one of the most overrated players of the past decade due to his 9 pro bowls? 4 of those weren't even in the past decade. Mention some of the later ones, fine, but how can you factor the 90s into this list?

[Ice Cold Bruschi]

Yeah this is a bs list

[Fingon]

Ruben made 4 second team all-pro teams as well. He will likely get strong HOF consideration.

[ganesh]

Some of that list is baffling!

I agree with most players listed except these 5:

4. Jamal Lewis

7. Ty Law

11. Keith Brooking

16. Olin Kreutz

19. Eric Moulds

 

I would take any of these guys for an entire decade all day, all week and twice on Sunday. Those are 5 of the best players in the NFL in the 2000's....WTF?

 

Discounting Moulds because he finally slowed a bit after 2000 is garbage. I'll just pretend he never played form 1998 - 2000 than. Great logic ESPN.

 

List must have been written by an AFC East writer.

[Tcali]

To me, it's absolutely unreal that Eric Moulds is on that list. He was a very good, productive receiver who put up numbers while having little help as far as the quarterback position is concerned. Also didn't have a truly legit threat opposite of him to take away some attention other than one fluke year of outstanding play from Peerless Price. I just don't get that assertion at all.

completely agree..Moulds was a great player not at all overrated...esp given that he had noodle armed or poor or old QBs throwing to him all his career

[Bill Brasky]

Adam Vinatieri is on that list? Are you kidding me?

[GOBILLS78]

I've read this list three times and I still can't find Junior Seau.

[/dev/null]

I've read this list three times and I still can't find Junior Seau.

 

Or Tedy Bruschi

[Big Turk]

Exactly! And how is calling someone "a very good, productive receiver" overrating them? I have never heard Moulds name come up in elite receiver conversation, He wasn't great, but he was a very good receiver. Very odd that he makes the list.

Unless they are referring to free agent overrated signings, but then the list would have to include Peerless Price.

 

Moulds was awesome for about a 3 year period, and then never again came close to matching that performance again---basically becoming maddeningly frustrating to watch...it was like you knew he had the ability to be better than he was, but it just wasn't happening. The only reason he got as many catches as he did after 2000 was because he got the ball thrown at him an unbelievable amount of times. His percentage of catches for those years were among the worst in the NFL...if he would have caught even anywhere close to the average for his position, he would have probably turned in 1400-1600 yard seasons...