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The Most Overrated And Underrated Players On The Roster

Kevin C. Cox

Okay, I'll take Pete Prisco's bait. Just this once!

The CBS Sports columnist ran down the players he believes are most overrated and underrated for each team. For the Falcons, he selected Osi Umenyiora as his most overrated, based on his declining numbers in recent years. His most underrated? Sam Baker.

Let me be clear: Baker did a good job last year. It was arguably his best season as the team's starting left tackle, and he got a nice fat contract for it. I would actually argue that Prisco is overrating Baker, who is about a league average left tackle when everything balances out. We can be too harsh on him, but unless this is the start of a greatly improved

Overrated

Give me Justin Blalock. The Falcons have a few candidates for this, from the slightly overrated Asante Samuel to Harry Douglas, who gets a lot more credit than he should for being an average slot receiver and all-around good guy. Only Blalock combines a fat contract with slightly above average play. Falcons fans know that Blalock is a good guy to have around, but hardly an elite left guard. On the national level, he gets quite a bit of credit he probably doesn't deserve, and I say that as a Blalock fan.

Underrated

Last year's injury hurts his case, but Corey Peters would be my choice. He's an effective defensive tackle who has been criminally underrated, being called one of the worst in the league over and over again for reasons unclear.

You could also make a reasonable and quite persuasive case for Sean Weatherspoon, Matt Ryan and Robert McClain, among others. Heck, the Falcons in general are a bit underrated.

Who is your most overrated and underrated player?