Which Steelers Player is Most UnderValued and OverValued?

[flippy]

Which guys do you think we give too much credit and which not enough?

I'd say this team has 3 stars - Ben, Troy, and Harrison, so one of them has to be the most overrated. I'll go with Troy because for all the great plays he makes that no other player in the history of the game could make, he's a little weak in coverage.

Undervalued could be just about everyone else on the roster. I'll pick Larry Foote. Everyone wants to replace him, yet he still is a pretty good LB. He's smart. Always in place to make plays. Even though he's not the biggest or fastest guy on the field, he seems to make very few mental mistakes. And I sometimes wish every Steelers defender had his instincts.

[Oviedo]

I think Harrison is a star in decline. I don't think we see him completely healthy again. His bullrush style was going to take a toll as many here pointed out a couple of years ago.

Over-rated:
Wallace-the Madden crowd loves his speed because it is gereat for highlights but not a complete WR
Foster and Legursky-their inability to open holes in the middle was part of our short yardage problems.

Under-rated:
Timmons-no matter how well he performs fault will be found. Most consistent performing LB we had last year. Will never get credit
Kiesel-Almost as good as Aaron Smith. Outstanding at getting pressure on the QB even though the scheme makes it hard.
Curtis Brown-the kid should have been on the field last year. Best cover corner we have. Will become a star.

[DBR96A]

Overrated: Mike Wallace. This has nothing to do with his contract situation, and everything to do with the flaws in his game. Yes, he really does have flaws. I'm perfectly aware that he's very fast and can blow the lid off a defense, but are you aware that he's killed a few drives with critical drops, or that his route-running is still sloppy at times? He doesn't seem to be a very physical WR either, because he plays poorly in traffic, loses focus when the coverage is tight, doesn't muscle the ball away from defenders, and never jumps or puts his body on the line for a catch.

Underrated: Heath Miller. He rarely makes mistakes, and he seems to have the softest hands on the team. Not that anybody knows, though, because he's spent the last five years either having to stay back and block because the offensive line was terrible, or just being misused altogether. The good news is, if Todd Haley could make household names out of Leonard Pope and Tony Moeaki, then I can't wait to see what he can do with the most complete and underrated TE in the NFL. I look forward to great things from him in 2012.

[D Rock]

Overrated: Mike Wallace. This has nothing to do with his contract situation, and everything to do with the flaws in his game. Yes, he really does have flaws. I'm perfectly aware that he's very fast and can blow the lid off a defense, but are you aware that he's killed a few drives with critical drops, or that his route-running is still sloppy at times? He doesn't seem to be a very physical WR either, because he plays poorly in traffic, loses focus when the coverage is tight, doesn't muscle the ball away from defenders, and never jumps or puts his body on the line for a catch.

Underrated: Heath Miller. He rarely makes mistakes, and he seems to have the softest hands on the team. Not that anybody knows, though, because he's spent the last five years either having to stay back and block because the offensive line was terrible, or just being misused altogether. The good news is, if Todd Haley could make household names out of Leonard Pope and Tony Moeaki, then I can't wait to see what he can do with the most complete and underrated TE in the NFL. I look forward to great things from him in 2012.

Unfortunately, Todd Haley never made household names out of Leonard Pope (best season: 23 catches, 238 yards, and 5 TDs) or Tony Moeaki (47 for 556 and 3 TDs). Heath Miller has had basically the same or better numbers every year of his career.

Leonard Pope is a known name because he is 6' 8" and Tony Moeaki is a known name because he did this:

[Oviedo]

Overrated: Mike Wallace. This has nothing to do with his contract situation, and everything to do with the flaws in his game. Yes, he really does have flaws. I'm perfectly aware that he's very fast and can blow the lid off a defense, but are you aware that he's killed a few drives with critical drops, or that his route-running is still sloppy at times? He doesn't seem to be a very physical WR either, because he plays poorly in traffic, loses focus when the coverage is tight, doesn't muscle the ball away from defenders, and never jumps or puts his body on the line for a catch.

Underrated: Heath Miller. He rarely makes mistakes, and he seems to have the softest hands on the team. Not that anybody knows, though, because he's spent the last five years either having to stay back and block because the offensive line was terrible, or just being misused altogether. The good news is, if Todd Haley could make household names out of Leonard Pope and Tony Moeaki, then I can't wait to see what he can do with the most complete and underrated TE in the NFL. I look forward to great things from him in 2012.

I'd agree with both your choices. Great reasons provided. My only concern about Miller is Haley may have come two years too late for him to really emerge as a star. Heath has alot of hard, physical miles on those tires.

[SteelAddicted]

Underrated- Lawrence Timmons! he was asked to move around a lot last year and play out of position. I think he gets back to his 2010 numbers and makes the probowl.

Overrated- Rashard Mendenhall! he's average IMO and costs us yards by dancing around when he doesn't need to be. Nothing like a running back that turns his back into a tackle trying to "spin", lower your head and pick up some yards.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

The funny thing is that many of the same names should be put on this list - depending on the poster you are listening to. Based on general consensus though, I would say:

Over - Charlie Batch - Home guy who has stuck around to hold a clipboard but should have been out of this league three years ago. Nobody will say too much about him but the fact that he is still here and we aren't calling for his complete release makes him overrated.

Manny Sanders - Anyone who says that they feel comfortable without Wallace because we have Brown and Sanders waiting is truly delusional. He has 664 yards in two seasons and can't stay healthy. I like his potential but there is no way that I feel comfortable handing a starting job to him.

Mendenhall - I know that he has been stuck behind a suspect line for most of his career, but I have never seen him having what it takes to be a starting RB in this league.

Under - Hampton - I just don't think that his value to this consistently excellent D is truly appreciated. His kind may become extinct now anyway as the league moves towards the aerial game, but he has been the anchor for many years, eating up multiple blockers, and allowing our OLBs to pressure the QB, and out ILBs to come in clean on ball carriers.

Taylor - The only thing that kept this guy out of the conversation of "top 5" is the rocks that he has at the end of his arms. Talk about his coverage ability and all you will hear about is the 80 yarder he gave up against Thomas in Denver to end the season. In reality, this guy has blanketed almost every #1 WR in the league ever since Cowher once benched him (ironically, also after a Denver game). When Chad Johnson had his list of CBs who could not stop him, Ike did. He routinely holds top receivers around 50 yards in games, and without much extra help and all we remember is the dropped ints.

James Harrison - Yes, I know, and I know that he is on the decline, but hear me out. For the last three years or so, JH has been maybe the most complete 3-4 OLB I've ever seen. There are four things that you can look at from a 3-4 OLB - pass rush, coverage, run at him, run away from him. To put it into context, Ware was voted as the top OLB by the players. To me it seems that he only ever does one of these four things, and is in my opinion the most overrated non-QB in the league.

First off, how many times have you seen JH taking on two blockers on a run to his side and he takes on both and still makes the tackle either behind the line or close to the line? I'd say enough so that they stick out. I can't think of another LB who does it like that. He is also a beast who not only will make the play on runs up the middle, but will fly down the line to pull down a ball carrier across the field. And when he does reach that ball carrier, he hits him with all the ferocity that he can - ask Mr. Cribbs. By comparison, Ware is practically a non-factor against the run. He gets eaten up regularly by one blocker, and that blocker does not even have to be a lineman. If you look at tackling numbers, and take out 2011 for JH, Harrison had 378 tackles over the four year period from 2007 - 2010 since he became a starter. In the last four years, Ware has 265 tackles - but he does sack the QB a lot. Add to that the fact that Ware is almost always rushing the QB while JH drops into coverage way more often and you can easily see why the disparity in sack numbers. It is not his strength, but JH can contribute when he does fall into coverage (ask Kurt Warner) Ware is almost never asked to do so. My reasons why that although he was held in high esteem by Steeler faithful, JH is still underrated by the fans.

[grotonsteel]

Interesting thought Flippy regarding Over-rated player as Troy. I think Troy is what Ben is to offense. Both are not your conventional players. Both take chances and when it works it looks great and if it fails they look bad. Troy is all over the place and sometimes he is way out of position in coverage because of that. I think Troy and Ben are once in a lifetime players and i enjoy watching them both play. They bring excitement to the game.

Over-Rated: D Johnson. Well Steelers FO has him over-rated.

Under-Rated: Mike Wallace and Lawrence Timmons.

[Oviedo]

Interesting thought Flippy regarding Over-rated player as Troy. I think Troy is what Ben is to offense. Both are not your conventional players. Both take chances and when it works it looks great and if it fails they look bad. Troy is all over the place and sometimes he is way out of position in coverage because of that. I think Troy and Ben are once in a lifetime players and i enjoy watching them both play. They bring excitement to the game.

Over-Rated: D Johnson. Well Steelers FO has him over-rated.

Under-Rated: Mike Wallace and Lawrence Timmons.

D. Johnson is more than overrated. He is an embarassment to actually hold a roster spot. Hopefully with Arians gone that gets fixed.

[Shoe]

Overrated: Mike Wallace. This has nothing to do with his contract situation, and everything to do with the flaws in his game. Yes, he really does have flaws. I'm perfectly aware that he's very fast and can blow the lid off a defense, but are you aware that he's killed a few drives with critical drops, or that his route-running is still sloppy at times? He doesn't seem to be a very physical WR either, because he plays poorly in traffic, loses focus when the coverage is tight, doesn't muscle the ball away from defenders, and never jumps or puts his body on the line for a catch.

Underrated: Heath Miller. He rarely makes mistakes, and he seems to have the softest hands on the team. Not that anybody knows, though, because he's spent the last five years either having to stay back and block because the offensive line was terrible, or just being misused altogether. The good news is, if Todd Haley could make household names out of Leonard Pope and Tony Moeaki, then I can't wait to see what he can do with the most complete and underrated TE in the NFL. I look forward to great things from him in 2012.

How is Heath Miller UNDERRATED? Watch any game, and whenever they talk about him, they say he is among the best at his position. Go on here, and Heath Miller is some tremendous unused quantity. It's ridiculous.

Listen, I like Heath too: He's a great guy, good presence, all-business, good player, good (not "great") hands, strong blocker, dependable... but he is in no way underrated.

[Slapstick]

How is Heath Miller UNDERRATED? Watch any game, and whenever they talk about him, they say he is among the best at his position. Go on here, and Heath Miller is some tremendous unused quantity. It's ridiculous.

Listen, I like Heath too: He's a great guy, good presence, all-business, good player, good (not "great") hands, strong blocker, dependable... but he is in no way underrated.

The original topic was undervalued, not underrated...

Heath is not underrated, but he was undervalued in this offense in '10 and '11...

[Oviedo]

The original topic was undervalued, not underrated...

Heath is not underrated, but he was undervalued in this offense in '10 and '11...

Completely agree. Arians biggest failure was not using the TEs like he promised he would when hired. Heath Miller should have 75+ catches every season that Ben is QB. Arians failed because he became too fixated in a vertical attack emphasizing deep, long to develop routes when he had a goldmine in Miller open and waiting.

[Slapstick]

Completely agree. Arians biggest failure was not using the TEs like he promised he would when hired. Heath Miller should have 75+ catches every season that Ben is QB. Arians failed because he became too fixated in a vertical attack emphasizing deep, long to develop routes when he had a goldmine in Miller open and waiting.

Miller may not be a game-changing freak like Gronk, but he sure as hell would have helped in the red zone...

[BURGH86STEEL]

Completely agree. Arians biggest failure was not using the TEs like he promised he would when hired. Heath Miller should have 75+ catches every season that Ben is QB. Arians failed because he became too fixated in a vertical attack emphasizing deep, long to develop routes when he had a goldmine in Miller open and waiting.

Health Miller isn't the type of TE that gets open enough to average 75+ catches per season. Miller is a good all around TE. He is no where near the receiving threat of some other TE's around the league. He doesn't posses the speed or athleticism to get open like several other TE's around the league.

Arians sent Heath and the other TE's out on pass patterns plenty. The WR's on this team were better options. As a result, Ben choose to throw the ball to the WR's. It doesn't matter how the OC designs plays for players to get open because the QB makes the decision where to throw the ball based on the defense. If you saw Miller open and waiting, how come Ben didn't throw him the ball?

I bet that Miller doesn't produce any more under Haley then he did under Whiz or Arians. That's because Miller's value isn't what some believe it is as a receiver. Miller's true value is the ability to play as a true TE and not as a WR playing TE.

[Crash]

Unfortunately, Todd Haley never made household names out of Leonard Pope (best season: 23 catches, 238 yards, and 5 TDs) or Tony Moeaki (47 for 556 and 3 TDs). Heath Miller has had basically the same or better numbers every year of his career.

And whats hilarious is that Arians gets blamed for "not using Miller" while Haley gets "praised" for how he used Moeaki in 2010 in Kansas City.