With the NFL season inching closer to the midway point, it’s time to start looking at the most overrated NFL players in 2022.
We’re not necessarily talking about the players with the worst NFL contracts ever, at least not yet. But these are the players who are getting too much credit for their team’s success or have NFL MVP odds that are way too short.
Overrated NFL players 2022
Granted, it always seems a little unfair to brand a player as being overrated, especially if he’s on one of the league’s most overachieving teams in 2022. It doesn’t mean he’s not a good player but rather that he’s not as good as he might seem.
Of course, in other cases, it’s clear that a player is being paid way too much or being graded way too high for what he’s actually contributing to his team. With that in mind, here is our list of the 10 most overrated football players right now.
Keenan Allen
By the numbers, Keenan Allen has had a lot of success in his career, all of which has been spent with the Chargers. If he had just eight more receiving yards in 2020, he’d have five straight seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards. While that productivity has led to five straight Pro Bowl selections, Allen isn’t necessarily feared by opposing cornerbacks the way that top-flight receivers are.
He’s certainly not in that class, nor has he helped the Chargers get over the hump and become serious contenders. With Allen missing most of the first half of the 2022 season with an injury, Justin Herbert hasn’t missed him that much, as he’s still among the league leaders in passing yards, indicating that Allen is at least a little overrated.
Frank Clark
Frank Clark was a part of some quality defensive teams in Seattle and has helped the Chiefs do a lot of winning since coming to Kansas City in 2019. Obviously, he was on the team that won the Super Bowl. but it’s becoming clear that his best days are behind him, turning Clark into one of the most overrated NFL players in 2022.
During his tenure in Kansas City, Clark has never had a double-digit sacks season. In fact, his productivity dropped all the way down to 4.5 sacks in 2021. His performance early in the 2022 season hasn’t been much better, although he’s had a few bright moments.
Ultimately, Clark is a well-known player with a good reputation, but he’s on the decline and plays for a team that isn’t that good defensively.
Robbie Anderson
The Cardinals giving up two draft picks for Robbie Anderson is good evidence that he’s among the most overrated NFL players in 2022. Most of his career has been spent playing for bad teams, racking up yards in garbage time.
In the only season that he had 1,000 receiving yards, Anderson caught just three touchdowns. He’s a viable deep threat, but that’s about it. Anybody who views Anderson as anything more than a complementary piece who will occasionally get behind the defense is giving him too much credit.
Kyler Murray
Nobody is doubting Kyler Murray’s athleticism or his ability to influence games with his legs. But based on his play during the first half of the 2022 season, his passing abilities may have been over-exaggerated a little during the first few seasons of his career.
After seven games, Murray is averaging under six yards per pass and is on pace to finish with fewer than 20 passing touchdowns. To be fair, Arizona’s struggles early in the season aren’t all on Murray’s shoulders. But he’s starting to look like a quarterback who’s good in fantasy leagues but won’t win games, especially after the Cardinals collapsed late in 2021 and have gotten off to a sluggish start in 2022.
Kenny Golladay
Even on the heels of a disappointing 2020 campaign in which he only played five games, the Giants signed Kenny Golladay to a serious four-year, $72 million contract. But he’s come so far from actually living up to that contract that he has to be considered one of the most overrated football players right now.
Ordinarily, he might get a pass for having Daniel Jones as his quarterback. But the fact is Golladay had just 37 catches in 14 games in 2021 and has fallen far down the depth chart this season. He’s rarely seeing the field with the Giants having five or six wide receivers outperforming him, so based on his salary, he’s clearly overrated.
Mac Jones
Allowing himself to be pulled into a quarterback controversy with Bailey Zappe is a clear sign that Mac Jones has quickly gone from having a promising rookie year to one of the most overrated NFL players in 2022.
The thing to remember with Jones is that he wasn’t that good as a rookie; he simply outperformed the other rookie quarterbacks in the class who struggled or rarely saw the field. He’s little more than a game manager, and he hasn’t even been able to do that this season, throwing just two touchdowns and six interceptions in his first four games while allowing Zappe to threaten his job security.
Chase Claypool
The fact that Chase Claypool is sometimes utilized in the running game has led many to think that he’s better than he actually is. While that’s a useful skill, he’s clearly underperformed as a receiver during his NFL career.
Rookie George Pickens and tight end Pat Freiermuth have passed him in Pittsburgh’s hierarchy of receiving threats. Also, Claypool only found the end zone twice in 2021, which isn’t enough for a former second-round pick who’s supposed to be a serious playmaker for the Steelers.
Jadeveon Clowney
Even with three Pro Bowl selections, Jadeveon Clowney hasn’t come close to living up to the expectations that come with being the top overall pick. Even with a slight uptick in his production after collecting nine sacks for the Browns in 2021, Clowney remains overrated.
That season got him a new one-year deal worth $11 million and gave him a little bit of redemption. But Clowney hasn’t been able to follow it up in 2022. More importantly, he’s not helping the Browns, who have been one of the worst defensive teams in the NFL this year. Even if he has good numbers, Clowney isn’t doing enough to help his team win.
Laremy Tunsil
Before the 2020 season, the Texans made Laremy Tunsil the highest-paid offensive lineman in the NFL in terms of annual value. But while he made the Pro Bowl that year, he hasn’t done much to live up to that contract or the promise he had as a first-round pick.
Tunsil has failed to elevate the performance of Houston’s offensive line over the past couple of seasons, which is a big reason why the Texans have been non-competitive. His performance in Houston just hasn’t matched his contract or the fact that some still consider him a top-flight offensive lineman.
Jameis Winston
The Saints actually began the 2022 season with Jameis Winston as their starting quarterback. Clearly, there are some folks in the NFL who think he’s worth being a starter when that’s not the case.
At this point, we know that Winston has the arm talent to stay in the league but is too careless with the ball to be a starter. The New Orleans offense has been much better with Andy Dalton starting, which tells you that Winston was overrated, at least by the Saints, heading into the 2022 season.
