Each week sports reporters Matthew Lambert and Sam Thiel will face off on a hot topic in sports. The world of sports is changing quickly and constantly, but we want to slow it down and take a better look at the juiciest gossip, scandal, rumor or issue that is making headlines this week. Lambert and Thiel will take different sides and battle it out, telling you why you they are right.
This week’s topic: Which NFL player is overrated?
Matthew Lambert/Winonan
As the NFL season continues, some players have been playing at an above-average level. However, there have been other players who haven’t lived up to their team’s expectations. This week, Matthew Lambert and Sam Thiel voice their opinions about which NFL players is considered to be overrated. Let’s talk about it… (Recap by Sam Thiel)
In my mind, the quarterback position is the most difficult position in sports. They are in charge of knowing every position on the field, plus he needs to read the defense and change the play at the drop of a hat.
This position is insanely difficult, so is it fair for me to hate Jay Cutler as much as I do? To label him the most overrated player in sports?
Now, it’s no secret, I’m a Vikings fan, but in this sense, I remain neutral. I dislike Cutler as a player with his inferior numbers in relation to his massive contract he’s received from the Chicago Bears.
Cutler is currently on a seven-year, $126.7 million contract. That is the largest contract out of any quarterback in the NFL. In his contract he has $38 million guaranteed. What does the contract say about him? He has to play like an All-Pro, make the playoffs, and win Super Bowls. What has he done in his career? Nothing even close.
Cutler has never made a All-Pro team, he’s barley made the Pro Bowl; only once in 2008. In 2010, Cutler made his one, and only, trip to the playoffs, playing two games. In those two games, he had 354 yards, two touchdowns and three turnovers. That’s bad.
Look at his regular season stats. Here’s the good: In 124 games, Cutler has thrown for 28,980 yards and 190 touchdowns. Here’s the bad: 134 interceptions and 47 fumbles. That’s 190 touchdowns to 181 turnovers. How does a quarterback keep his job for playing mediocre football, never winning in playoffs, and publicly fighting with his teammates?
Still, he’s rewarded with one of the most lucrative deals in sports history. I don’t get it. If I’m the Bears, I bite the bullet, deal Cutler, and become a cellar-dweller for the next three seasons, in hopes of finding another franchise quarterback. Cutler is overrated and an enigma for any team.
Sam Thiel/Winonan
Growing up as a Minnesota Vikings fan, I learned at a very young age to hate the Vikings’ division opponents: the Green Bay Packers, the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions.
And if there is one player on one of those teams I have grown up to hate the most, it is Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Ever since arriving in Detroit in 2009, Stafford has posted average numbers with the exception of 2011, where he tossed 41 touchdowns and just 16 interceptions and led the Lions to the playoffs.
The first reason why Stafford is overrated is because of his lackluster statistics. Since 2009, Stafford has averaged 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in his seven-year career. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want a quarterback who throws as many interceptions as touchdowns in a season.
Second, Stafford is overrated because he hasn’t led his team anywhere. In his seven seasons under center, the Lions have only made the playoffs twice and they only played one game each time. In those two playoff games, Stafford has thrown just four touchdowns and three picks, solidifying my case for the fact that Stafford probably couldn’t lead the Lions out of a corn maze.
Third, Stafford has made his teammates worse, statistically. Take his top wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, for example. This season, “Megatron” has only hauled in three touchdowns and 48 catches in eight games and has had only one season (in 2011) where he scored more than 12 touchdowns.
Stafford is just a horrible quarterback and has made Lions fans cringe season after season. But at least he has made my Thanksgivings a little more enjoyable with the Lions losing and Stafford playing like he has one arm tied behind his back.
