Who Are The Most Overrated, Underrated Vikings?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – NFL training camps get underway across the country in less than a month and many new faces will be joining several teams.
The Minnesota Vikings will be bringing in several draft choices, including first-round picks Anthony Barr and Teddy Bridgewater, as well as several undrafted free agents looking for a shot with an NFL team. It prompted Pete Prisco of CBS Sports to take a look at each NFL squad and determine who the most overrated and underrated players are in the NFL.
When it comes to the Vikings, his choices might surprise you, or they might come as no shock at all.
Prisco says the team's most overrated player is wide receiver Greg Jennings, who is in his second year with the Vikings after signing with Minnesota as a free agent last year. The hope was that Jennings would come on and become the clear-cut top wide receiver on the team.
Whether it's his fault or the guy who tries to get him the ball, Jennings fell well short of expectations last season. He led the Vikings in receiving, but the numbers leave something to be desired. He finished a non-playoff season with 68 catches for 804 yards and four touchdowns.
With a new head coach in Mike Zimmer and a new offensive coordinator in Norv Turner, Jennings is hoping for much bigger results this year.
The most underrated player is also on the offensive side of the ball, and it's also one of the toughest positions to judge on a football field. Prisco says offensive lineman Phil Loadholt is the team's most underrated player.
Loadholt helped anchor an offensive line that led the Vikings to an average of nearly 345 total yards of offense per game last season. Minnesota averaged 130 yards per game on the ground, and the offensive line allowed 41 quarterback sacks over 16 games.
Loadholt's durability has been his biggest asset over his five-year career with the Vikings. He's started all 78 games over five years and only missed two due to injury. He started all but one game in his first season.
Here is a link to the rest of Prisco's most overrated and underrated players around the NFL.