SSOG, great post, and I appriciate the insight. I actually quoted your post on Champ Bailey in another forum recently.
Since you seem to know a ton about your team, let me ask you this: Its clear that you're higher than most on Plummer and Bailey. Which players on the Broncos do you think are overrated by the general public and why?
Overrated-Tatum Bell. People have been saying for years that he was the most talented back on Denver's roster, when in reality he was probably the worst "Denver Back" since Olandis Gary. I think he'd look pretty good in another uniform, but Anderson and Droughns started over him for a reason, and Dayne/MBell were listed ahead of him for a reason. I'm still reserving judgement on him this season- supposedly he's improved, but he's been pretty much the same TB as always so far (money on 2nd and 3rd down, but very inconsistant on 1st down). Of course, that's come against two defenses that normally give Denver fits, so I'm giving him a pass in both games and am eagerly awaiting seeing him in action against Oakland. Don't get me wrong- TBell is incredibly talented... he's just not the best of fits for Denver's system.
Javon Walker. Sure, he's flashed some big-play ability so far, but he's also shown a lot of big drops so far. It might just be rust and all that, and he's looked a lot better in the last two games than he did in the first two games, but I'm not ready to start calling him an elite WR until he starts showing me that he can hang on to the ball. People like to ooh and ahh about the big plays, but Denver's offense is all predicated on consistantly moving the chains. Drops are not a good way to consistantly move the chains. Still, he missed all of last year, so I'm giving him a pass so far.
Brandon Marshall. Darius Watts, Adrian Madise, Kevin Kasper, Scottie Montgomery, and Chris Cole have three things in common. 1) They were all, at one point this century, potential WR3s for the Denver Broncos. 2) They were all absolute media darlings during training camps with countless fluff pieces written about them. 3) A couple from years from now, they'll all cause you to scratch your head, furrow your brow, and say "Who???". Let's see Marshall do something on the field before we start comparing him to Rod Smith, kay?
Tony Scheffler. Good camps are one thing, but he's looked positively BRUTAL on the field. Had a pass hit him in the freakin' helmet. He's only caught 10% of the balls that have been thrown his way. He may one day be a good TE, but anyone thinking that that day might come this year has another think coming.
Steven Alexander. Some people think he's a low starter-caliber TE. Those people, I would contend, are mistaken.
John Lynch. People say that he always was a liability in coverage, but he actually went something like 8 years without a TE catching a single pass on him. It's only recently that he's become a liability in coverage. He's a smart guy and makes some smart plays, but he's a pretty average safety at this point in his career, and Ferguson is a lot better.
D.J. Williams. He's a man among boys and a real disruptive force, but the reality is he's only the third-best LB on his own team. Granted, he could be the first-best LB on a lot of other teams...
George Foster. Perception is that he's pretty good. Reality is that he's probably the weak link on the line, and might get benched later on this season if Adam Meadows shows anything. He's very quietly being outplayed by unheralded who-dat Cooper Carlisle, who waited 6 years before he got his first career NFL start.
Accurately Rated
Champ Bailey. He's the consensus best CB in the league. That's pretty accurate. People tend to underrate CBs in general, but they understand where Champ falls in the list of CBs.
Al Wilson. Again, considered one of the best at MLB in the league. Columnists call him underrated a lot, and he doesn't get the pub of an Urlacher/Thomas/Lewis, but I believe that if people call you underrated often enough, you aren't underrated anymore. Still, his coverage skills are definitely underappreciated, and a lot of people see his low tackle numbers and think he's overrated, so let's call it all a wash.
Lang/Brown/Ekuban/Myers. Generally viewed as players who came over from Cleveland and played solidly. Seems like a pretty fair assessment, personally.
Rod Smith. Reliable veteran on the downside of his career who is still a tremendous worker, player, and leader. Check, check, and check.
Darrent Williams/Dominique Foxworth. Great rookie DBs who are entering their sophomore campaign and who get picked on a lot as opponents avoid Champ.
Cooper Carlisle. Not great, not terrible, just solid. He doesn't do a lot worth mentioning, and he doesn't get mentioned a lot, but he's reliable.
Underrated-
Jake Plummer. Not this year, mind you, but in general. Since he's come to Denver, he's consistantly been a top-10 QB. People saying that Denver can't win with Jake is ludicrous, seeing as Denver *HAS* won with Jake a remarkable 75% of the time. Also, he got lambasted for his 20-INT season, but meanwhile Trent Green has a 17-int campaign the same year and people talk about how underrated he is? Trent Green threw a left-handed INT that year, too, but somehow everybody remembers Jake's lefty and not Trent's. I don't get it. People hold his time in Arizona against him too much, yet for some reason give Archie Manning a pass for posting worse stats in New Orleans, saying "his team was horrible" and calling Archie the best QB ever on a bad team.
Ian Gold. Really, really, really disruptive. Second most likely guy, outside of Champ Bailey, to absolutely destroy a play that the offense executed to perfection.
Gerard "Big Money" Warren. Only Bailey and Wilson are more important to the defense than Big Money, and even Al Wilson is possibly arguable.
Nick Fergeson. I'll agree that a Denver safety deserved a trip to the pro bowl last year. I'll disagree that Lynch was that safety. Nick Ferguson didn't miss a tackle until something like week 10 last year. That's ridiculous. He's also better in coverage than Lynch is (although he's definitely more of an in-the-box safety).
Ben Hamilton. According to Dr. Z, the third best guard in the league last year. Hamilton is an absolute mauler, can play guard and center equally well, and has a good 6+ years left in his career.
Tom Nalen. If there's any justice in the world, Nalen is a first-ballot HoFer. The most dominant center of his era, with a pedigree like no one else in history, in his 12th season and still playing at a pro-bowl level. According to Dr. Z, who charted every play by the elite centers, nobody in the league was better than Tom Nalen last year... which is saying something, given that Dr. Z doesn't like Tom Nalen.
Matt Lepsis. The most underrated player on the entire squad. According to Dr. Z again, Lepsis was the #1 tackle in the entire NFL last year (yes, better than Walter Jones, Pace, Ogden, or either of the Cincinatti tandem)... yet Lepsis has never been to as much as a single pro-bowl. If you aren't drafted high as an OL, you pretty much never get any recognition (Lepsis was undrafted), but Lepsis is clearly one of the elite tackles in the entire NFL- and the contract he signed last year proves it.
