Top 10 - Most Underrated Athletes

[mavsfanforever]

Link

The List: Underrated current athletes
By Jeff Merron
Page 2 staff


They're the athletes we, as fans, don't think about as much as we should. They're better than we think they are. Or they've accomplished, over long careers, more than we've realized. These days, with so much information floating around, with fantasy leagues and big money riding on every game, nobody flies under the radar screen. So we can't say that any of these players are completely unappreciated, or unknown. But they are the most undervalued players in sports.


Francis has been ripping apart opposing defenses since 1981.


1. Ron Francis, Carolina Hurricanes
The 40-year-old center will soon start his 23rd season in the NHL, but has spent all of it in small markets Hartford, Pittsburgh and Carolina, meaning he's gone largely unrecognized. In 1,651 games, he's scored 536 goals and assisted on 1,222 others, for a total of 1,758 points, fifth-highest all time. He's an ironman, playing 82 games last season and compiling an impressive 57 points. He won the Selke trophy in 1995, awarded to the best defensive forward. He won the Lady Byng three times.

A couple of other nuggets to chew on, next time you see Francis: He's No. 3 on the all-time games played list, only 20 players have scored more goals and he's No. 2 on the all-time assists list (only 741 behind Gretzky).

Francis is the NHL's "most underrated player of all time," said ESPN's Barry Melrose. Wrote Tom Jones of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "When the game's greatest players are discussed rarely does Francis' name come up. Maybe that's because Francis never brings it up."

2. Jeff Bagwell, Houston Astros
Year after year, Bagwell puts up big numbers -- his worst season at the plate, his rookie year, he hit 15 homers and drove in 82, batting .294. He's had two 40 HR/30 SB years, displaying speed that few first basemen can boast. He's won a Gold Glove (in 1994) and an MVP Award. Bagwell is on his way to the Hall of Fame, one of the best first basemen of all time (Bill James has him at No. 4, just behind Mark McGwire and just ahead of Eddie Murray), and one of the greatest hitters of our era, despite playing his prime years in the pitcher-friendly Astrodome.

3. Craig Biggio, Houston Astros
"Craig Biggio is the best player in major league baseball today." That's from The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, copyright 2001. James compares Biggio to Ken Griffey Jr. (back when Junior was the man), makes a good case that Biggio is better and adds, for good measure, that Biggio is "tremendously underrated." We agree with James, even if the comparison to Junior doesn't carry the same weight as it did a couple of years ago.


Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks usually get all the attention ... but not Johnson.


4. Brad Johnson, Tampa Bay Bucs
Johnson had the highest passer rating in the NFC last season -- 92.9, and threw 22 TD passes, a Tampa Bay record. But he still got little notice on a team with lots of big names. It seemed his primary job as QB was, to put it bluntly, not to screw things up. "He is very underrated," Tampa Bay wide receiver Keenan McCardell said before the Super Bowl. "Brad is a guy that people say didn't have everything, but he just overachieved. A lot of people say the talent level has to be unbelievable, but when you're a hard worker and a playmaker, you can always play in this league."

And Johnson proved lots of doubters and naysayers wrong last season. He can play, and he made a huge difference for the Super Bowl champs. Perhaps it's because he's relatively quiet, or, as the Orange County Register put it, "Understated and underrated."

5. Matt Harpring, Utah Jazz
The 6'7" forward, picked up by the Jazz as a free agent, had a terrific season in 2002-03, averaging 17.6 ppg and shooting 51 percent from the floor, the eighth-best percentage in the league (he also hit 41 percent of his 3-pointers, seventh best). In just five seasons, Harpring has gone from Orlando to Cleveland to Philadelphia and now to Utah, where it looks like he'll stay a while. "He fits in great here," said John Stockton in the middle of last season. "He looks for ways, whatever they might be, to make us better. He just keeps battling. He's a tough competitor."

6. Doug Christie, Sacramento Kings
Christie doesn't score a lot of points (he averaged 9.4 in 2002-03, below his career average of 11.9), but he's key to every other part of Sacramento's game. He averaged 2.25 steals a game, fourth in the NBA. He dished 4.7 assists and pulled down 4.3 rebounds a game. And often, as he did in the first round of the playoffs last season, he shuts down the opponent's shooting guard. Christie is "the key to Sacramento's pressure defense, is an effective three-point shooter and one of the league's best finishers on the break," wrote David DuPree in USA Today. "Yet, when anyone talks about the Kings, Christie's name isn't usually mentioned until after Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic, Vlade Divac, Bobby Jackson, Jim Jackson, Hedo Turkoglu and Keon Clark."

7. Vernon Wells, Toronto Blue Jays
Who did we miss?
You've seen our list, think we forgot somebody? Here's your chance to set us straight ...
Send us your most underrated athlete!
The Blue Jays' center fielder, only 24, didn't make it into the All-Star starting lineup, even though he leads all AL outfielders in HR and RBIs. Last year, his first full season in the majors, he drove in 100 runs. "Wells, a bright, well-spoken son of a football-playing artist, has quietly become the most productive center fielder in the American League -- and is only getting better," wrote Alan Schwarz recently on ESPN.com.

8. Mike Brown, Chicago Bears
Brown, 25, begins his fourth pro season having scored few honors, but NFL head coaches still consider him one of the most underrated players in football. The Bears' safety has never been in a Pro Bowl, but means so much to Chicago's future that he just scored a six-year, $17 million deal, which included a $5 million signing bonus. "We feel from coaches to players and personnel, everyone is in agreement Mike is very much a catalyst for what we have done and what we want to do, and that's win football games," said Chicago GM Jerry Angelo said. "He's the quarterback on our defense, and we can't minimize what he brings to our team intangibly."


9. Brian Giles, Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates' outfielder only seems to get publicity when his name is mentioned in trade talks. But he's been one of baseball's very best hitters for a long time now. For example, Bernie Williams is a great hitter, but Giles is better -- that's how great he is. Check out the last five years of OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage):

Giles Williams
1.032 1999 .971
1.026 2000 .957
.994 2001 .917
1.072 2002 .908
.955 2003 .767

10. Jamal Mashburn, New Orleans Hornets
Mashburn, a 10-year NBA veteran, does it all -- he averaged 21.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game, and put in a lot of minutes -- more than 40 a game, eighth in the NBA. "I don't know why (Mashburn doesn't get more credit)," Hornets coach Paul Silas said last season. "I'm certainly going to start talking him up -- for the All-Star Game, the Olympic team and so forth. He makes everyone around him better and I think he belongs right up there with any guy that plays this game."

Silas' talking must have worked. Mashburn was named an All Star for the first time in 2003.

[Chiwas]

Where is Najera?

[Dirk41= konsesjonen]

how are bagwell and biggio underattedBoth use to alway's get voted into the all-star game and bagpipes has 2 MVP's. He is no underatted the frank who has put up near identical stats, except a better career OPS for frank.

[Fah Q]

How Bout Michael Young

[Dirk41= konsesjonen]

Originally posted by: Chiwas
Where is Najera?

You want the Top 10 Most Overratted Chiwas [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[Nash13]

1. Ben Wallace
2. Hadeki Matsui(in the likely case i spelled his name wrong, he's the rookie on the Yankees)
3. Antawn Jamison
4. Drew Bledsoe
5. Allan Houston
6. Brett Boone
7. Luis Castillo
8. Richard Sexon
9. Caron Butler
10. Dimitri Young(i butchered his first name, but he plays for the Tigers)

[Dirk41= konsesjonen]

Oh man, Matsui is soooooooooooooo overrated.

[ames7]

Wallace & Matsui? Not underrated. Couple of the kids in the Rangers infield. Niko Kapanen w/the Stars. Really agree about Harpring though. He's probably going to get some more recognition this year though, what w/that team getting screwed in the offseason & all.

[Nash13]

As a rookie, Matsui is underrated compared to Dontrelle Willis and Brandon Webb. And as a top 10-15player, Wallace is underrated. He is what every player, coach, GM, owner, and analysis say a team needs the most.

[Big Boy Laroux]

matsui had ridiculous hype coming into the league. now the pitchers are getting the hype. now, dontrell is a tommy john surgery waiting to happen, but the season he is having is amazing.

i wouldn't say matsui is underrated at all, with all the hype he has gotten... certainly shouldn't be #2 on your list.

so are you saying underrated by fans, media, coaches, what? cause wallace is certainly not underrated by the media or coaches or players, etc. possibly by the fans, but i don't think so there, either.

[Nash13]

BBL, when you hear the media talk about which guys are in the top 10 in the league, how many times do you hear Ben Wallace's name mentioned? none.

[Chiwas]

Griffin is underrated.

[ames7]

True, you don't hear Wallace's names when you talk about top ten players or whatever, but when you say Pistons, you think Wallace. He certainly isn't overrated & he probably isn't talked about enough for what he is, but I wouldn't consider him underrated.

[reeds]

In football...
#1 Curtis Martin..this guys is always good, sometimes great, but we dont hear much about him.
#2 Rich Gannon..them man is old, but still gets it done with the best of them..
#3 Jake Reed...In his Viking Days, he was quietly awsome
#4 Tiki Barber...great burst, potential to take it all the way whenever he touches it
#5 Amani Toomer...great year last year, not much hype about him

Basketball..
#1 Ron Harper always comes to my mind first..97 & 98 finals, he was awsome at the little things..a few points..a few blocks..a few steals...never hurt you, always found the open man ...
#2 Dough Christie...i know i know..he is a King...so what..
#3 Baron Davis...this guy is good...dont hear his name when the best players are mentioned...

Baseball..
#1 Garrett Anderson...consistently very very good..
#2 Brian Giles...

That adds up to ten...

[OutletPass]

Al Harrington, please.

[nashtymavsfan13]

Wow, this thread is really old. My how times have changed.

[nikeball]

lol grave digger. haha

[left texas]

Not to tell how old and senile I am, but at first glance I thought good list. Then I put my cursor over the time in my taskbar and it says March 27, 2007.

[nikeball]

at first i was confused why all these retired people were on the list. ...if it was "underrated retired players of all time"...they still wouldnt be on the list

[u2sarajevo]

Originally Posted by OutletPass

Al Harrington, please.