Overrated/Underrated: Divisional Breakdown

by CypherSimile | 3 years ago | 6 Comments

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, children of all ages….I bring to you…the Overrated/Underrated list - Vol 1!

What up everyone? This is Steps and I have a great article for you all. Recently, Q had set up a podcast for a handful of members and we got to talking about overrated and underrated users in the SFL. The response to this discussion had various responses so I wanted to give everyone a chance to cast a vote on who they believe is the most overrated in each division and who the most underrated is in each division. Didn’t think I’d get as many votes but we got 15 total voters that voted on each division (shoutout to y’all). 

These votes were done anonymously and no one but myself is aware of who voted for who and I don’t plan to reveal anything so please don’t waste time in asking. If you were voted most overrated in your division or most underrated in your division, I’ll try to explain why in a short response. Everyone that falls under that will have their name and vote next to their name to show how many people voted for them in that particular category of Overrated and Underrated. Also, some people only wanted to vote for underrated users in each conference, some people only wanted to mention underrated users in each division, some people didn’t feel comfortable voting at all and all of that is okay. I thank each of you for your consideration despite voting in a different way. 

Okay, without further ado…here are how the votes were casted by division!

 

Underrated

 

AFC North – Zach/Pittsburgh Steelers (7 votes)

Zach was the easy choice here in the AFC North as both LB and Ed have had a lot of success within this division and Zach hasn’t as of yet. That doesn’t have anything to do with his overall ability as he’s an above average user but is just stuck in a division with not one but two users who routinely contend for a title.

Receiving votes:

LB/Baltimore Ravens – (1 vote)

Ed/Cleveland Browns (1 vote)

Gabe/Cincinnati Bengals (0 votes)

 

AFC South – Julian/Indianapolis Colts (5 votes)

Julian was my top choice for most underrated in the SFL. He plays much better now that he has Aaron Rodgers to use and his ground game is really good as well. Figured Julian would eventually ascend to the above average tier. He’s well on his way, in my opinion.

Receiving votes:

Ark/Jacksonville Jaguars (4 votes)

Chan/Tennessee Titans (1 vote)

CPU/Houston Texans (0 votes)

 

AFC West – Mike/Los Angeles Chargers (4 votes)

Mike is good but just like Zach, he’s stuck in a division with two users who routinely contend for titles. He’s one of the better roster builders (he’s on my top 5 of roster builders) and still has moments of offensive brilliance that shows he’s still one of the best users in the SFL. 

Receiving votes:

AC/Denver Broncos (3 votes)

Kale/Las Vegas Raiders (1 vote)

Q/Kansas City Chiefs (0 votes)

 

AFC East – Codie/Buffalo Bills (4 votes)

Codie has won himself a title after all these years in the SFL and people still don’t show the man enough respect. His first season this cycle may not have been the best but he was definitely tanking as evidence of his current success. He’s easily one of the more underrated users in the SFL, in my opinion.

Receiving votes:

Gharl/New York Jets (3 votes)

GoonSquad/New England Patriots (3 votes)

Byrd/Miami Dolphins (1 vote)

 

NFC North – Marv/Detroit Lions (7 votes)

Marv has returned after a brief hiatus and it seems as though his peers are taking notice. Respectfully, his division doesn’t have too many world beaters but he has proven that the difference between season 1 and this season is that he was definitely “trusting the process” in an effort to build up a good roster from his self-proclaimed “worst roster in the league”. In totality, Marv is a good user despite not being the juggernaut this former champion used to be.

Receiving votes:

OG Walker/Minnesota Vikings (3 votes)

Turk/Chicago Bears (1 vote)

Guy/Green Bay Packers (0 votes)

 

NFC South – Steps/Atlanta Falcons (6 votes)

It’s kind of difficult to talk about myself so I’ll keep it short and sweet. We definitely are underperforming, for sure and we’re better than we have played. Chasing prompts and trying a new playbook out has hindered the progression from last season (my fault, entirely). We plan on righting the ship but this season is probably already lost after this 5-game losing streak.

Receiving votes:

Mark/New Orleans Saints (4 votes)

Crim/Carolina Panthers (1 vote)

Matt/Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0 votes)

 

NFC West – Jesse/Arizona Cardinals (8 votes)

Jesse easily received the most underrated votes in the NFC and it’s pretty easy to see why. He’s currently undefeated and last season, he had a really successful run with the Cardinals and has made relative unknown players until dangerous threats. He’s going to contend for a title very soon, in my opinion, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were this season.

Receiving votes:

Castro/Los Angeles Rams (4 votes)

Bryce/San Francisco 49ers (0 votes)

Kasen/Seattle Seahawks (0 votes)

 

NFC East – Gomes/Dallas Cowboys (5 votes)

I actually wasn’t surprised to see Gomes come out with the most votes here. Gomes plays a really good brand of football. Smash mouth running and a really good defense/usering of the linebackers. If he could figure out his passing offense in-between coke snorts, he’d be in the upper echelon of Madden users.

Receiving votes:

Jason/Football Team (3 votes)

Brad/Philadelphia Eagles (1 vote)

Malek/New York Giants (1 vote)

 

Overrated

 

AFC North – Ed/Cleveland Browns (6 votes)

Okay, so let’s get into the overrated users. Ed, to me, is a bit overrated but that doesn’t make him a bad user or anything. On the contrary, Ed is a very good user. I think where the overrated-ness comes into play and what someone quoted to me is “the brokenness of Nick Chubb and the advantages that Ed takes over the coverage logic gives him an advantage”. Most of the league does this so it isn’t a knock on Ed by any means. To his credit, he’s the best team in the AFC despite juggernaut users such as LB, Q and Byrd roaming the conference. 

Receiving votes:

Zach/Pittsburgh Steelers (3 votes)

LB/Baltimore Ravens (2 votes)

Gabe/Cincinnati Bengals (0 votes)

 

AFC South – Chan/Tennessee Titans (9 votes)

Chan is a multi-champion but is he still up to that level of ability in the SFL? Some say yes, a lot of you say no as evidence of his leading 9 votes. I think Chan is good but he’s on a downward trend versus being as good as he used to be. I think Derrick Henry has made every user who has used him post-ability implementation into Madden a notch greater than they actually are. Personally, I think Chan is close to where he used to be but I can definitely see where he has regressed some.

Receiving votes:

Julian/Indianapolis Colts (2 votes)

Ark/Jacksonville Jaguars (0 votes)

CPU/Houston Texans (0 votes)

 

AFC West – AC/Denver Broncos (8 votes)

I wasn’t surprised at this vote but I do disagree with it. This is a by-product of several things that I won’t get too deep into but one of the things that someone mentioned is that “in this division, everyone is rated right where I think they should be but AC”. I think the elder statesmen of the league know and understand what AC is capable of while other users may see how he wins and be put off by it (some hate the way he rushes the passer). AC is a multi-champion and for good reason and, to me, has only gotten better as this cycle has gone on but I can see why others may feel he’s overrated since they don’t love his style of play.

Receiving votes:

Mike/Los Angeles Chargers (2 votes)

Q/Kansas City Chiefs (2 votes)

Kale/Las Vegas Raiders (1 vote)

 

AFC East – Byrd/Miami Dolphins (5 votes)

One of the very first things I heard about Byrd was “wait until he has a squad with a low rating and see how he does”. I think he’s been fine this cycle but I see that the champion has had his share of struggles with his favorite NFL team the Miami Dolphins. I think Byrd will be fine and I’m not surprised to see the vote as split as it was in this division. He just needs to get the talent in place and he’ll be back to dominating like he did when he first joined the SFL.

Receiving votes:

Codie/Buffalo Bills (4 votes)

GoonSquad/New England Patriots (4 votes)

Gharl/New York Jets (1 vote)

 

NFC North – Turk/Chicago Bears (3 votes)

I was surprised at this vote but I know, for sure, that I personally think Turk is much better than his records always reflect. He’s knowledgeable about football and always gives me problems whenever him and I play and if it weren’t for those one or two mistakes he makes in his games, he’d be one of the better users in the league. You definitely can’t sleep when you play Turk because he runs a really solid defense and can make you pay if you aren’t paying attention. A lot of people didn’t want to rate this division but to me, the order of the voting should be flipped for the overrated users list.

Receiving Votes:

Guy/Green Bay Packers (2 votes)

Marv/Detroit Lions (1 votes)

OG Walker/Minnesota Vikings (0 votes)

 

NFC South – Matt/Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6 votes)

This, to me, was the most surprising vote in the NFC. Matt, for all intents and purpose, has been nothing but consistently good. Rarely does he have a bad season and rarely does he have a run that doesn’t look like how he typically is. Perhaps that’s why he received the most votes for overrated in this division? Honestly, not sure but I think most see him as Mr. Consistent and nothing spectacular. Jesse is personally jealous over Matt’s plethora of players with abilities and maybe that’s what a lot of people feel looking at Matt, his team and his recent run of success. 

Receiving votes:

Crim/Carolina Panthers (4 votes)

Steps/Atlanta Falcons (2 votes)

Mark/New Orleans Saints (0 votes)

 

NFC West – Bryce/San Francisco 49ers (9 votes)

I figured Bryce would have the most votes for overrated here in the NFC West. Bryce is a champion, through and through, but from what one user shared with me “he just isn’t the guy that he or others think he is”. I personally think Bryce is a solid user and he definitely is a champion and plays like one. I think he could play better than he has but I, personally, think he is rated fairly and accurately compared to other users on the overrated list.

Receiving votes:

Castro/Los Angeles Rams (3 votes)

Kasen/Seattle Seahawks (1 vote)

Jesse/Arizona Cardinals (1 vote)

 

NFC East – Malek/New York Giants (6 votes)

I honestly thought Malek would get the most votes for overrated but Jason took a ton of overrated votes away from Malek before he departed the SFL. Malek, to me, is elite and I think that’s why he garnered so many of the overrated votes due to others not believing that Malek is at that elite level yet. That’s respectable since he hasn’t been in the SFL long but you can tell that it’s only a matter of time before Malek gets a title by his style of play and his consistency within the regular season and playoffs.

Receiving votes:

Jason/Washington Football Team (5 votes)

Gomes/Dallas Cowboys (2 votes)

Brad/Philadelphia Eagles (1 vote)

 

Well, there you have it! That is the Overrated/Underrated list and the votes to go with it. It was fun to put this together in-between newborn diaper changes and running around after a toddler. I’ll look to do a big article like this again where I’ll inquire about the best offense and defense in each conference and the users who are most likely to win a championship in the near future. But that’s it and that’s all. Catch y’all on the next poll vote and article!