With the NFL currently in the dead zone prior to training camps opening around the league, several of the major media outlets are scratching and clawing for topics to discuss. NFL.com is currently going team-by-team and listing the all-time players from each that they consider to be either overrated or underrated.
As far as the Pittsburgh Steelers go, Dave Dameshek, who, by the way, is a huge fan of the black and gold, chose safety Troy Polamalu as the teams\’ most overrated player.
“I\’m going to go here with Troy Polamalu, because, yes, I think he is nearly a dead lock for the Hall of Fame in a few years, but in the last couple of years, he has significantly tailed off,” said Dameshek. His gambling ways have been exposed by some of the savvier QBs. You can watch Tom Brady dupe him with some play-action at least once a game, and beyond that, he just hasn\’t been on the field very often.
“He\’s spent a lot of time in street clothes on the sidelines in big games. Troy Polamalu, one of the great defenders on a franchise known for great defense, but like I said, the last couple years a big drop off there. We\’ll see if 2013 if he can turn it around, or if it might be his last season.”
Now, Polamalu has certainly had injury problems over the course of his career that has resulted in him missing 29 regular season games in total, but is that enough to list him as an overrated player, let alone the most overrated player all-time on the Steelers? Keep in mind that Polamalu only missed eight regular season games over the course of his first six years in the league, and he admitted recently that his calf problem has been ongoing for the last four seasons.
As far as Polamula getting duped by the play-action of Tom Brady, I think we can safely say that any safety that has played considerable snaps against the New England Patriots shares in that same experience.
Below is the list of overrated and underrated all-time Steelers players, that according to the article, Bob Labriola of Steelers Digest contributed to. Do you agree with the names on the list? Also, are there any former Steelers that need to be added to either list?
On the Thursday edition of The Terrible Podcast, I suggested that former Steelers safety Donnie Shell perhaps belongs on top of the underrated list, and my co-host David Todd threw out former Steelers linebacker Levon Kirkland as a candidate for underrated as well.
Chime in with your thoughts below in the comments.
Underrated
L.C. Greenwood — DE, 1969-81
Lynn Chandnois — HB/TB/KR, 1950-56
Jon Kolb — LT, 1969-81
Aaron Smith — DE, 1999-11
Larry Brown — TE/RT, 1971-84
Overrated
Troy Polamalu — S, 2003-present
Mike Wallace — WR, 2009-2012
The offensive linemen from the four Super Bowl teams in the 70s-80s
Cliff Stoudt and Mark Malone — QBs, 1977-83, 1980-87
NOT Lynn Swann — WR, 2005-10
