5. (tie) Jay Cutler/Matt Cassel-Their names have been bandied about all summer as if they are franchise quarterbacks. Why? What have they done? Last Season, prior to his much publicized post season meltdown and cry baby routine that landed him in Chi-town, Cutler led a team that cratered down the stretch and missed the playoffs in a weak division. He often seemed more interested in face time than winning football games. His goofy in game antics and comments slightly overshadowed his penchant for making team killing bonehead decisions at the worst possible time. His end numbers were decent, but it's about wins. He made the pro bowl, but so did VY a few years ago. In other words, this distinction is not always deserved. This year will be telling. He now finds himself on the team with the worst concept of the passing game in the league. A jackass led by an offensive staff full of jackasses. The smart money says Orton will have a better year in Denver than Cutler has in Chicago. Cassel is a different story. He might be good, but hold the phones. What has he done? Putting up good numbers at QB in New England is like rushing for 1,000 for the Broncos from 1995-2005. Their system is by far the best in the league. They are the only offense in the cookie cutter NFL with any balls. KC is a different story. We will see. If it works out, I will strike him from my list. Franchise QB? The jury is definitely still out. 4. Reggie Bush-I think this one is wearing off a bit, but you can tell the media still wants so bad for him to be great. As it is, I am not even sure he is good. He is a great athlete, and a decent punt returner, and a slightly above average third down back. Not bad for an early 2nd day draft choice. Dude was the 2nd pick overall! Wouldn't the Saints be better had they taken D'Brickashaw Ferguson or Donte Whitner or Ernie Sims or Haloti Ngata or 15 other players whose names I don't feel like typing that were 1st round picks in '06. Everyone was so sure he was going to be great. Everyone was ready to anoint him. The Texans became a laughing stalk. Theisman developed a man crush. Bush might be the reason Theisman lost his job. Joe T"Heisman" was giving him credit for tackles and interceptions in a game I watched his rookie year. Seriously! I think, if given the opportunity, Theisman would claw Kardashian's eyes out. Think about it. Theisman didn't just lose his job because he's terrible. That wouldn't be fair. He's always been terrible. It's Reggie. Oh, and who will be next to lose his job. I guess it's kind of already happened. Ain't that right Reggie. Have fun backing up Pierre Thomas this year. 3. Eli Manning-It's the New York factor. When I watch him he looks terrible. He looks clueless. Even during that playoff run he looked shaky. How many dropped interceptions can one QB have? He's like a warlock or something. I don't know how else to explain it. I've never seen anything like it. I mean, he'll throw it right into the their hands?!!? If he actually has developed a passing technique that makes the ball impossible for db's and db's only to catch then I apologize, and I guess he is great. I just don't buy it. It's called luck and I predict his has run out. Look. The dude is an average to slightly below average QB that lucked into the big one thanks to Tyree, a great D-line, that jackass CB for the Patriots and a host of butter finger DB's. We hear a lot about media bias today. Fox claims all news but them is lefty, and everyone else claims Fox is crazy. I'm sure they are all crazy, except maybe that Lou Dobbs on CNN, but the NY sports media bias is real. If Eli played for the Panthers he'd be Jake Delhomme, and if he played for the Cardinals they'd be sh**ty. 2. Champ Bailey-Although he's getting up there, I still think he deserves this ranking. Out of college he was given the vaunted 'shut-down' corner tag. Now, I watch a lot of football. Much more than I care to admit. I won't detail specific numbers but the amount I watch may even be illegal in some states and I'm sure it is in parts of Utah. I have seen him play a bunch, and I think this 'shut-down' corner has been burnt for 6 in every game I've seen. Sometimes more than once. Its always classic. It usually happens right after Theisman or Deirdorf or some other jackass points out that the Redskins/Broncos opponent can only work one side of the field because they don't want to challenge Bailey. Within 5 plays... Touchdown! There always follows some explanation about how Bailey slipped or he was pushed or his feet got tangled up. I've got one... He sucks. Now that he's old, he really sucks. I think the Shanahan running back ego got the best of him when they pulled off this deal. I bet the Broncos would take Portis back in a straight swap like yesterday. 1. Brian Urlacher-This one is mind boggling. It must be the ghosts of Butkus and Singletary. The middle linebacker for 'da Bears must be great, right? Uhhh, No. Watch him. I mean really watch him. He isn't just overrated. He is terrible. He might be the worst starting MLB in the league. I will give him some credit. He is rangy. He makes a lot of drag down tackles 15-20 yards down field on curl and dig routes. He is ok at covering the deep hole when they play cover 2. But watch him at the point of attack. The POA is where a MLB should make his money. He is a complete coward. He is a total pud. He never fills hard. He tries to run around blocks. He is often clearly guessing instead of reading. He stands straight up and is useless when he blitzes. He plays with terrible leverage. He gets trucked more than any defensive player in the league. Just ask Bettis, Jacobs, or Slaton. That's right. 200lb Steve Slaton. He plays the most physical position on the field and the guy is clearly afraid of contact. If he isn't, why does he spend 70% of the game avoiding it? Blah blah pro bowls blah blah. I said earlier I don't get it. This guy couldn't sniff the field for most teams. I challenge all Bears fans to cut themselves off after 10 beers and wipe the sausage grease from their eyes and actually watch this joke play. If you really watch him you will see what I mean. It's undeniable.
How is reggie bush on there? That's like saying Vince Young is overrated, but worse. How can a guy be overrated when 99% of football fans don't think he is good also, wrong section
Although waning I think there is still too much Reggie love out there, especially from the media. You are right about the wrong section. Sorry about that. Hopefully, it will get moved.
I wanted to go there. I really did, but it is hard to argue with his production every stop he's made. He's a bad guy, and he destroys team morale, and he seems to have lapses of concentration, but the dude makes a ridiculous amount of plays. Man, it hurts to admit such things.
Jay Cutler overrated? You're going to give Ric a stroke..... You can say Eli is overrated due to his underwhelming stats but you absolutely DO NOT want to see him in the 4th quarter. That counts for something in my book. P.S. About Urlacher..... <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fa1TSaKmG2o&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fa1TSaKmG2o&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Eli played well during the playoff run but he is average. I don't know if I would say he's overrated, i think most people realize he is there not to make mistakes his career rating is 76 and his best was last season at 86, playing in ny for a superbowl winner, and being peyton's little brother isn't a bad gig
to put that in perspective, everyone really thinks vick won't play qb as a starter again and his career rating is 75 and he's only a year older
I always felt that Champ Bailey was a little overrated. He never looked THAT good to me. Still a #1 corner, but not at the level he gets rated at. Keyshawn Johnson is another guy when he played.
I completely disagree with the writer on Jay Cutler. I think the Bears are going to be quite dangerous this year now that they have him. He is legit, and if anything, it's the overrated Denver Broncos that have held him back so far. Urlacher on the other hand, absolutely. I've seen this guy get trucked over TWICE by the same running back in the same QUARTER this PRESEASON. Terrible.
this is quite possibly one of the silliest things ever posted on this or any other board. it's interesting to me cutler has to carry the blame for the late season collapse (and he did play poorly) but he gets no credit for them being in position to collapse. they were 8-5 last year and were a perfect 8-0 in games in which cutler posted a 93.3 rating or better. he posted a 102.7 or better five times. i mean, it's not like their defense got bad suddenly overnight.... he's among a handful of great, young QBs in football.
I agree that he is overrated, at this point he is a very average player. In fairness to most Bears fans, they don't think he is that great any more. In fact, (I live in Chicago), the talk for the last 1.5 years has been that Urlacher has lost his ability after back surgery.
I think the question of how much he benefitted from the system is still there. The team was also 0-8 in games where he had a QB rating under 80, so he had a lot of games where he wasn't very good. And his overall season QB rating (mid 80's) was very similar to what Brian Griese and Jake Plummer were putting up in the several years before him. What makes Cutler unique is that he's done it early in his career - but it's still an open question whether he'll progress further or not, especially without quite the same level of offensive talent surrounding him in Chicago.