Jump to content

Jets All-Time Underrated / Overrated


Bleedin Green

Recommended Posts

Looks like we missed this one with it getting put on there on the 4th, so I figured I'd pass it along.

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000209342/article/new-york-jets-alltime-underrated-overrated-players

 

New York Jets: All-time underrated, overrated players

 

When my wife and I were trying to pick out names for our yet-unborn child, we had a ton of girls names we liked, but for boys? It was pretty difficult. But she wanted at least five of each so we would be able to whittle it down to the right one for both. So let's just say listing the most over-rated Jets of all-time was like picking out girls names and finding the under-rated ones was like choosing ones for boys.

 

Underrated

0ap1000000209329.jpgBruce Harper -- RB, 1977-84
Hey, there's a reason Fireman Ed wore a Harper jersey for most of his reign as Caesar of the Meadowlands. The running back was a truly electrifying, do-everything type player. The all-time leader in kickoff returns for the Jets, he was their regular punt returner as well. He also averaged nearly five yards-per-rush and 11 yards-per-reception out of the backfield for his eight-year career. Harper played in an era (1977-1984) where teams didn't throw the football nearly as much as they do now, but if I had to compare him to anyone currently, he'd be Darren Sproles.



0ap1000000209336.jpg

Lance Mehl -- LB, 1980-87
It's hard getting noticed when you're a linebacker in New York if you wear No. 56 and your name isn't Lawrence Taylor. The majority of Mehl's career overlapped with LT's, so he flew under the radar for basically all of his professional life. But Mehl was a big playmaker. He had two huge playoff performances against Cincinnati and Oakland in 1982 as the Jets made it to the AFC Championship game. He led the Jets in interceptions in 1983 with seven, and he made the Pro Bowl in 1985. A knee injury helped end his career early, but that didn't stop him from being voted to the All-Time Jets team. If he had played 10 healthy seasons, he'd be viewed as one of the one or two best Jets defensive players ever - even ahead of guys like Mark Gastineau and Joe Klecko.

 

0ap1000000209332.jpg

James Hasty -- DB, 1988-94
I can still recall Bills wide receiver James Lofton saying throughout the 1990s how he consistently voted James Hasty for the Pro Bowl (he finally made it twice later on in his career with the Chiefs). The Bills were on their magical yearly Super Bowl runs but Buffalo had the utmost respect for the Jets cornerback. Hasty was an in-your-face player whom no wideout liked to go up against. He intercepted 24 passes in six years with New York, and continued his success when he went to Kansas City. If Darrelle Revis is the best defensive back in franchise history, Hasty is the second best.

 

0ap1000000209338.jpg

Rob Moore -- WR, 1990-94
Poor Rob Moore. A phenomenally talented receiver who was saddled with a horrendous group of quarterbacks to play with: Ken O'Brien (whose career was ending), Browning Nagle, Boomer Esiason and Jack Trudeau. Still, Moore was able to average over 60 catches a season from 1990 to 1994. He went on to have the same type of success in Arizona, where he played with: Dave Krieg (whose career was ending), Boomer Esiason (Again! Stop following me!), Kent Graham, Stoney Case, Dave Brown and Jake Plummer. I'll flip you for which team had the better list of quarterbacks. I'm just glad Moore's career will be forever remembered on the silver screen - as it was him catching passes from Krieg in the movie Jerry Maguire during the climactic scenes. And no, he is not Hootie.

 

0ap1000000209330.jpg

Chad Pennington -- QB, 200-07
I don't think Jets fans really appreciate everything he brought to the table in his injury-plagued career. In his healthy years, he got the Jets: a division title and a playoff win (2002), within a Doug Brien field goal of the AFC Championship game (2004), and to the playoffs again (2006). So in three healthy seasons he took them pretty far - and that's dealing with decreasing arm strength in every passing season. But that's only part of his story. It's hard to play quarterback in New York and do everything right, but he found a way. From renegotiating his contract for salary cap relief to knowing how to deal with the media to being an inspiration to his teammates by playing through pain, Pennington was special. He knew how to lead. I'm bummed he was robbed of what could have been at the least a Hall-of-Very-Good career. And there's no way he would ever wear a thin green headband to talk to reporters.

 

Overrated

0ap1000000209331.jpg

Freeman McNeil -- RB, 1981-92
Full disclosure: I still own his throwback jersey. And he had a good career. But for someone drafted number three overall, you expect a little more. OK, a lot more. He played 16 games in a season once. He ran for 1,000 yards twice. And he started more than nine games in a season four times in his 12-year career. Early on, the Jets realized he could never be the mail-carrying superstar he was projected to be, so he became part of a two-headed rushing attack with Johnny Hector. In the schoolyard when we played football, everyone wanted to be Hector and I was the only one who wanted to be McNeil. I was way behind the curve back then, but his jersey still looks nice.

 

0ap1000000209337.jpg

Marvin Jones -- MLB, 1993-03
I jumped up and down when the Jets took him with the fourth overall pick in 1993. Man, was he something to watch at Florida State. It seemed like he was the only guy on the field at times for the Seminoles, roaming sideline to sideline to make virtually every tackle. But instead of a dominant monster in the middle of the Jets defense, they got a solid player. It's nice to have those guys, but you can get them anywhere. At number four overall you want someone a little more special (see above: McNeil, Freeman). Jones was generally banged up for most of the first half of his career, and when he finally made All-Pro in 2000, he was 28-years-old. The most damning piece of evidence against Jones is that when the Jets released him he was only 31. You should still have a lot left in the tank at that point as an inside linebacker. However no team signed him after that and his career was over.

 

0ap1000000209335.jpg

LaMont Jordan -- RB, 2001-04
Curtis Martin was winding down his Hall of Fame career and the Jets had Jordan waiting in the wings to take over. He was young, hungry and a bowling ball out of the backfield. In limited responsibility, Jordan made Jets fans' mouths water with visions of Earl Campbell-type runs when the top job was his. When he would score touchdowns he would pretend to cut down the goalpost with an electric saw. The buzz surrounding him from Jets fans was tremendous. But, in his first four years he was never able to forge his way into more playing time. Then you started to wonder: was he only good in small doses? In a smart move the Jets - and how many times can you ever say those six words in a row - let him go to Oakland as a free agent for a five-year, $27.5 million contract. He did finally run for 1,000 yards and catch 70 passes in 2005, but after a knee injury he never again topped 600 yards on the ground in a season.

 

0ap1000000209334.jpg

Kerry Rhodes -- DB, 2005-09
If there were no playbooks in the NFL, and teams just drew up plays in the dirt ("You're the bottle cap and I'm the piece of glass...") Rhodes would have been the greatest safety who ever lived. He was a ballhawking player who freelanced way more than he should have, thus holding him back from true greatness.  I must have said at least five times in every game he played "Where was Rhodes on that one?" His stats always looked good, but they overshadowed his true value. He also upset plenty in the Jets organization by seeming to be just as interested in an entertainment career as he was in football. Seriously, check out his Wikpedia page. They list nine achievements he had with the Jets during his five seasons and 27 combination TV shows/magazines he was featured in. Considering how Rex Ryan, who has a fierce loyalty to his players, got tired of him and traded him after coaching him for just one season, that should tell you something.

 

0ap1000000209327.jpgBart Scott -- LB, 2009-12
It didn't take four years and him being released to see Scott was overrated. Sometimes a player gets out of the shadow of a superstar like Ray Lewis and shows how he's a true star in his own right. That didn't happen. When it was time for him to be the man, we saw he wasn't the player he was signed to be (six years/$48 million). I can't tell you how many times in year one in New York I watched Scott be out of position and unable to make the plays he was supposed to. And it never got better. By the last two years his spot on the team was in jeopardy. When you give someone that much money, you expect at least one Pro Bowl out of him, but the only game in Hawaii he was selected to play in during his career came in 2006 when he was with Baltimore. Scott is entertaining, smart and has a great TV career ahead of him. But on the field for the Jets his bark was worse than his bite, except for his "Can't Wait" sound-byte that I used to have as my ring tone.

 

 

The overall list is interesting, but with it being so far into the offseason and us running out of things to argue about, I'll just go ahead and say it:  Chad ******* Pennington?  Are you sh*tting me?  Clearly this douche nozzle is not just a Jets fan, but a former Penningtologist who still can't go over the fact that his idol sucked balls in nearly every important game of his career that featured an opponent with some degree of talent.  That he actually tried to use the 2004 Steelers game as some sort of evidence of anything but Pennington's complete uselessness in big games is proof positive of that.

 

Keep in mind, this is the same dipsh*t who rated also Montana as one of the 9ers all-time overrated players.  What a douche.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 182
  • Created
  • Last Reply

The Jets just haven't had that many great players to even consider for lists like this.

 

Guys who could go either way-  Mo Lewis, Chrebet, Keyshawn, Shuler, Gastineau, Johhny Johnson(really? yeah its the Jets), Richie Anderson, Victor Green, Marcus Coleman, Aaron Glenn, Randy Thomas(actually def underrated), Ryan Thomas, Jumbo.

 

We suck. IDK if these guys are either..or just irrelevant. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure I get this list. I've knocked Scott. But really he was productive for the first 2 years. He didn't perform up the his contract., but does that make him underrated or merely mean the front office was foolish to give him that contract. And it's kinda hard to knock guys like Jones and McNeil who had productive but not HoF careers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A few notes:

1. Anyone who recognizes as, and will refer to Boomer Esiason as "horrendous" is alright with me.

2. Rob Moore was tissue-paper soft. Hard to blame him, having watched Al Toon's brain melt down.

3. Bart Scott criticism is based on his contract. If you exclude that factor, he was a really nice acquisition. Why Bart will be remembered poorly is because of 1. the contract and 2. He had a big mouth even as he declined. They'll get you for that.

4. It's harsh to criticize Kenny O. That dude got the living hell beat out of him. Put him on the 49ers and put Montana here and those two legacies could be reversed. Maybe.

5. My list--

Most Overrated Jets Ever:

1. Santonio Holmes-- because of the Super Bowl MVP, and because he was a Steeler, many Jets fans get hardcore revisionist when talking about him. In seven seasons, he's had one 1,000 yard season, and has never had 80 catches, yet he's talked about like he was elite at any point. Mike Wallace was instantly better than him.

2. Kerry Rhodes-- A few nice picks and 4,000,000 missed and deferred tackles. The amount of delusion amongst his backers was borderline creepy.

Most Underrated Jets Ever:

1. Lavernues Coles-- Tough as balls, played hard for bad QBs, and competed like a mofo.

2. James Hasty-- Same as Coles.

3. Jerricho Cotchery-- Same as Hasty and Coles.

4. Mickey Shuler-- See above.

5. Brett Favre-- As much as you hate him, he's the second best QB to ever wear the uniform.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3. Jerricho Cotchery-- Same as Hasty and Coles.

 

People spent Cotchery's entire career talking about how underrated he was, either directly or through euphemism. I think he's actually among the more properly rated players in our history--everyone likes him, but he's nobody's favorite player. Pennington's properly rated, too, though that has more to do with the last few years of his career revealing that his physical limitations and not Paul Hackett were the reason he never won anything of note.

 

Sanchez should hold the #1 spot on the overrated list, and no one else should be within a mile. By traditional numbers, advanced metrics, and the eye test, he's been among the worst quarterbacks in the world since he entered the league, and yet legions of fans and media people still think he's a receiver or two away from multiple championships. It remains unfathomable to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cotchery was probably underrated by everyone besides Jets fans. Give him a better QB- hell put him on the Colts in the 2000's and who knows. He caught everything, attacked the ball in the air, great balance on the sideline and solid run after the catch ability for a non burner. He always reminded me of Anquan Boldin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Point of discussion:  Would you consider Vinny Testaverde overrated, underrated or properly rated by Jets fans?

 

I was actually thinking about this earlier, and it's definitely a tough one given the ridiculous range of his performances in his time here.  In his later years here I always felt he was quite overrated due to people still looking back on one partial season in 1998 that he never came close to replicating.  I'll freely admit I was one of the people who wanted him nowhere near the Jets when he returned in 2005.  With that said, looking at the garbage QBs that have played for this team ever since his departure, I've come to realize I probably didn't appreciate Vinny as much as I should have.  Bottom line, I think there could be arguments made in both directions when it comes to Vinny, which makes me think that overall, when you average it all out he was probably pretty properly rate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How is Dustin Keller not on that overrated list?  

 

Why would he be?  He may not have lived up to what many hoped for when he was drafted in the first round, but he was still the Jets best receiving TE in a very long time, was repeatedly the Jets' leading receiver, and yet Jets fans still endlessly bitched and moaned about him.  It's not like he ever came close to a Pro Bowl or managed to get himself some huge contract this offseason, so in what way has he ever been particularly highly rated?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess when you're the Jets, and have had such awful QB's since Namath, its hard to properly rate them.  They're almost all terrible but for a little while we think they're good by comparison to the other QB's we've had. 

 

Meanwhile, the Colts get Peyton and Luck, the Broncos get Elway and Peyton, the Packers get Favre and Rodgers, and the Giants get Simms and Eli.  We're also the only team in the division that hasn't had a HoF caliber QB in the last 4 decades (Brady, Marino, Kelly), unless you count that 1 season of Favre.  

 

We suck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Because this is BG's thread of course I have to go with Pennington as the most underrated

 

:)

 

 

And I mean it

 

Let the games begin. :P

 

Chad was the Patriots' personal bitch for his entire career, and was a complete joke in just about every game that mattered most.  For the love of God, Mark freakin' Sanchez has been more useful to the Jets both in the postseason and against their biggest rival, even accounting for the buttfumble.  In spite of all of this, Chad was constantly praised for everything the team did right no matter how little he contributed to it, while everyone else was made a scapegoat for all of his pathetic failures (his own infuriating weekly self-evaluations included amongst this).

 

There is no more perfect example in the world for this than anyone actually trying to use that 2004 Steelers game as somehow proof of him being anything other than completely useless in that game.  I mean, even if Brien hits one of those kicks, the Jets offense still would have only scored 6 freakin' points in the game.  That still isn't enough to offset the fact that he threw an interception that put the Steelers in scoring range and led to a TD, which means Chad's contribution to the game was anywhere from -4 to -1 points depending on how generous you want to be.  Bottom line, Chad was the #1 reason the Jets lost that game, followed closely behind by Herm, with Doug Brien a distant third, considering even with those misses he still contributed more to the game than either of those dipsh*ts.  If anything, Chad is MASSIVELY overrated, as he was really just an awful QB who played like too big of a pussy for his stats to get as bad as a guy like Sanchez's.

 

Ah, that felt good.  It had been way too long.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let the games begin. :tongue:

 

Chad was the Patriots' personal bitch for his entire career, and was a complete joke in just about every game that mattered most.  For the love of God, Mark freakin' Sanchez has been more useful to the Jets both in the postseason and against their biggest rival, even accounting for the buttfumble.  In spite of all of this, Chad was constantly praised for everything the team did right no matter how little he contributed to it, while everyone else was made a scapegoat for all of his pathetic failures (his own infuriating weekly self-evaluations included amongst this).

 

There is no more perfect example in the world for this than anyone actually trying to use that 2004 Steelers game as somehow proof of him being anything other than completely useless in that game.  I mean, even if Brien hits one of those kicks, the Jets offense still would have only scored 6 freakin' points in the game.  That still isn't enough to offset the fact that he threw an interception that put the Steelers in scoring range and led to a TD, which means Chad's contribution to the game was anywhere from -4 to -1 points depending on how generous you want to be.  Bottom line, Chad was the #1 reason the Jets lost that game, followed closely behind by Herm, with Doug Brien a distant third, considering even with those misses he still contributed more to the game than either of those dipsh*ts.  If anything, Chad is MASSIVELY overrated, as he was really just an awful QB who played like too big of a pussy for his stats to get as bad as a guy like Sanchez's.

 

Ah, that felt good.  It had been way too long.

 

Amen, bro....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most Overrated Jets Ever:

1. Santonio Holmes-- because of the Super Bowl MVP, and because he was a Steeler, many Jets fans get hardcore revisionist when talking about him. In seven seasons, he's had one 1,000 yard season, and has never had 80 catches, yet he's talked about like he was elite at any point. Mike Wallace was instantly better than him.

 

 

 

This about Holmes x1000. Every time someone starts talking about how great Holmes is and how Sanchez is holding him back, I want to punch them in the face. Sanchez isn't holding Holmes back THAT much, he was never THAT good. If he was, the Steelers wouldn't have let him go for a fourth rounder no matter how many character issues he had.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most underrated:

Mark Gastineau. But for a Brett Favre belly flop he's the all time single season sack leader. Look at the old games on youtube. Gastineau was a guy every offense had to game plan for and he still crushed QBs. And it was not just sacks, but hurries and hits as well. Mark made many a QB crawl into a shell. He's underrated because he was a douche. But his play on the field was exceptional. Not even Lawrence Taylor could touch his pass rush (though Taylor could do everything else...no debating that). I'll never be a Gastineau fan because he quit on us in his comeback season while leading the league in sacks. But he's the most underrated Jet of all time.

L. coles, Mickey shuler, ken Schroy, Aaron glen and Jason ferguson, marvin powell, and randy rasmussen all belong on that list as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most overrated is hands down Curtis Martin (just as he was his entire career).  He's not at all the best player in franchise history and gets treated by 90% of Jets fans as though he was awesome.  And on top of that, the Jets TWICE made him the highest-paid RB in NFL history.  Makes zero sense.

 

Fixed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most underrated is hands down Curtis Martin (just as he was his entire career).  He's the best player in franchise history and gets treated by 90% of Jets fans as a JAG.  Makes zero sense.

 

cuz he was a Woody Hayes special - 3 yards and a cloud of dust.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let the games begin. :tongue:

 

Chad was the Patriots' personal bitch for his entire career, and was a complete joke in just about every game that mattered most.  For the love of God, Mark freakin' Sanchez has been more useful to the Jets both in the postseason and against their biggest rival, even accounting for the buttfumble.  In spite of all of this, Chad was constantly praised for everything the team did right no matter how little he contributed to it, while everyone else was made a scapegoat for all of his pathetic failures (his own infuriating weekly self-evaluations included amongst this).

 

There is no more perfect example in the world for this than anyone actually trying to use that 2004 Steelers game as somehow proof of him being anything other than completely useless in that game.  I mean, even if Brien hits one of those kicks, the Jets offense still would have only scored 6 freakin' points in the game.  That still isn't enough to offset the fact that he threw an interception that put the Steelers in scoring range and led to a TD, which means Chad's contribution to the game was anywhere from -4 to -1 points depending on how generous you want to be.  Bottom line, Chad was the #1 reason the Jets lost that game, followed closely behind by Herm, with Doug Brien a distant third, considering even with those misses he still contributed more to the game than either of those dipsh*ts.  If anything, Chad is MASSIVELY overrated, as he was really just an awful QB who played like too big of a pussy for his stats to get as bad as a guy like Sanchez's.

 

Ah, that felt good.  It had been way too long.

 

 

Truth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most underrated is hands down Curtis Martin (just as he was his entire career).  He's the best player in franchise history and gets treated by 90% of Jets fans as a JAG.  Makes zero sense.

Besides his 14 yds rushing in the Denver AFCCG he avg 7 td's a year and 4 ypc.. TJ avg more td's a year as a Jet and a better ypc avg.. If we didn't have 2 overtime games in 04 he doesn't win the rushing title by 1 stinking yd.. If it wasn't for his old college coach Paul "3rd and long" Hackett he doesn't make the HOF as a compiler.. HIs first 6 years in the league he avg under 4 ypc half the time. It was only when Hackett became the OC did he keep his avg 4 or better.. He cost the Jets a 1st and a 3rd pick plus a huge contract.. Worth it?? I think not..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Besides his 14 yds rushing in the Denver AFCCG he avg 7 td's a year and 4 ypc.. TJ avg more td's a year as a Jet and a better ypc avg.. If we didn't have 2 overtime games in 04 he doesn't win the rushing title by 1 stinking yd.. If it wasn't for his old college coach Paul "3rd and long" Hackett he doesn't make the HOF as a compiler.. HIs first 6 years in the league he avg under 4 ypc half the time. It was only when Hackett became the OC did he keep his avg 4 or better.. He cost the Jets a 1st and a 3rd pick plus a huge contract.. Worth it?? I think not..

 

Two huge contracts.  Pay attention, old man.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Besides his 14 yds rushing in the Denver AFCCG he avg 7 td's a year and 4 ypc.. TJ avg more td's a year as a Jet and a better ypc avg.. If we didn't have 2 overtime games in 04 he doesn't win the rushing title by 1 stinking yd.. If it wasn't for his old college coach Paul "3rd and long" Hackett he doesn't make the HOF as a compiler.. HIs first 6 years in the league he avg under 4 ypc half the time. It was only when Hackett became the OC did he keep his avg 4 or better.. He cost the Jets a 1st and a 3rd pick plus a huge contract.. Worth it?? I think not..

 

bwhahahaha - knew you wouldnt be able to resist and you'd crawl out from your miserable hole to respond. 

 

Greatest.  Jet. Ever.

 

#h8r

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...