Most people did not understand the New York Jets’ motivation behind trading for Tim Tebow this past offseason, and it sounds like a number of NFL players agree with those people. In a recent survey conducted by Sports Illustrated, Tebow was voted the most overrated player in the league by his NFL peers, receiving 34% of the vote. If it’s any consolation for Tebow, his teammate Mark Sanchez came in second with 8% of the vote.
When you finish laughing at the Jets for managing to have two players who play the same position voted the two most overrated players in the game, let’s examine this a bit further. Tebow taking home the top spot is hardly a surprise. He’s a backup quarterback who plays a handful of snaps per game, yet the media can never get enough of him. There are future Hall of Famers around the league who don’t receive 1/100th of the attention Tebow gets, so you can understand why the players would be annoyed by the hype.
But what about Sanchez? Who overrates him, Rex Ryan? Sanchez is not very good and his play has reflected that this season, but aside from Ryan’s constant reassurances that the team is sticking with Sanchez as their starter I don’t hear many good things being said about him. He probably shouldn’t be an NFL starter at the moment, but I don’t know if I would call him overrated.
Rounding out the top five were Tony Romo, Michael Vick and Ray Lewis. The Jets may be below .500 and looking up at the AFC East division lead, but at least they’re holding down the fort with something.
H/T Pro Football Talk
Photo credit: Ed Mulholland-US PRESSWIRE
