The National Football League does a terrible job of hiding it. If the league has a favorite division, it is undeniably the NFC East. As the most visible division in the league, the NFC East gets a lot of eyes on it on a weekly basis. One of the unfortunate ripple effects from this is that players within it can sometimes be overrated since they are seen by so many.
Brandon Lee Gowton and I discussed the most overrated players in the NFC East on the latest episode of the NFC East Mixtape. You can listen to the episode above and make sure that you subscribe to the Blogging The Boys podcast network on Apple devices right here or on Spotify right here.
Ultimately we each picked one offensive player, one defensive player, and a legacy player for each team. Here is one player from every team that we discussed.
Philadelphia Eagles: Jason Kelce
The term “overrated” can sometimes be taken in a strictly negative connotation, but my thought process is that it is literally that, someone who is being rated higher than they should.
Eagles center Jason Kelce has been among the best centers in the league throughout his career, but it feels like his performance has dipped a bit at this current moment in time. He is obviously still very good, but he is still mentioned in that truly elite range and the test of time may have knocked him down slightly.
Dallas Cowboys: Ezekiel Elliott
This choice was not made to incite the running backs actually do matter crowd, it was just an acknowledgment of where we are in our current moment. Zeke is often mentioned among the truly elite running backs in the game right now and the reality is that he simply isn’t there anymore.
There is no doubt that paying a running back what the Cowboys did Elliott is not the wisest of investments and that is a reality that they have to live with. Part of the “overrated-ness” is the attention that big-time contracts bring and there is no lack of attention when it comes to Elliott’s game.
Washington Football Team: Curtis Samuel
Terry McLaurin is one of the best overall players in the NFC East, but it sort of feels like his team signing Curtis Samuel this offseason has made people forget about him.
Curtis Samuel presents a different weapon for Washington’s offense and that is certainly interesting in the overall game; however, Samuel has never even hit 900 yards receiving in a single season to this point.
Signing another wide receiver to make plays opposite of Terry McLaurin could be the thing that Washington’s offense needs, but making a big to-do about it might be unnecessary.
New York Giants: Saquon Barkley
In talking about Ezekiel Elliott, we mentioned contracts as part of what goes into making a player overrated, well so does draft stock.
While Saquon Barkley hasn’t exactly had a fair shake of an opportunity to prove himself in the NFL he has hardly justified the New York Giants spending the second overall pick on him in 2018. The pressure is really on him in 2021 to deliver and carry his team to legitimate success, but as a running back even if he puts forth a Herculean effort it might not necessarily be enough.
There is no denying that Barkley is the best running back in the NFC East, but overall he is certainly someone who is hyped up just a little bit too much.