Top 10 most underappreciated NFL careers since 2010

Hundreds of players will never reach the Hall of Fame but will be recognized in the Hall of Very Good. Some of these players I will list have the career accolades to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and are more underappreciated than they are underrated. Let’s get into my top ten most underappreciated NFL careers since 2010.

Matt Forte, RB (2008-2017)

Let’s begin with the offensive side of the ball. Forte was one of the most underrated ball carriers of the 2010s. His peak was never as high as his league-wide counterparts, but he was as consistent as any running back during his time.

From 2008 to 2016, Forte would accumulate 1,000-plus scrimmage yards each season. His career year came in his age 28 season, where he rushed for 1,339 yards and nine touchdowns on top of adding 74 receptions for 594 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

Forte earned two Pro Bowl selections in 2011 and 2013 with the Chicago Bears, never earning any All-Pro selections before ending his decade-long career with the New York Jets.

Even with the running back position being as dominant as ever in the early 2010s, Forte was talented enough to set himself apart as a difference maker for a Bears team already led by the wide receiver duo of Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery.

Jordy Nelson, WR (2008-2018)

Continuing with a skill position, Nelson’s career will always be stacked up against the number of great Green Bay wide receivers. Him, Greg Jennings, Davante Adams, Donald Driver, James Jones. He’s at the top of the list more than he’s near the bottom.

In 2014, Nelson registered a career-high 1,519 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, earning his one and only Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections. However, he couldn’t contribute at that level the following year as he tore his ACL before the start of the 2015 season.

The setback wouldn’t limit him from putting together another career season in 2016, where he won AP Comeback Player of the Year and led the NFL in receiving scores with 14. Nelson’s career was littered with bounce-back seasons while he became one of Aaron Rodgers' most trusted targets.

Delanie Walker, TE (2006-2019)

The final skill position on the list, Walker was a fan favorite in his time in San Francisco, while breaking out into a star for the Tennessee Titans later in his 14-year career.

In San Francisco, he became one of the best glue guys on offense, helping the 49ers dominate in the run game for years. However, he never received a real opportunity to thrive as a receiving threat behind star tight end Vernon Davis.

Once he arrived in Tennessee in 2013, his role changed for the better as his production skyrocketed, becoming one of the top tight ends in the NFL. In 2015, he reached 1,088 yards, surpassing the 1,000-yard receiving barrier for the first time in his career while earning three straight Pro Bowl selections.

Brent Grimes CB (2007-2018)

Moving to the backend of the defense, Grimes provided consistent production for several teams, including the Falcons, Dolphins, and Buccaneers, throughout his career.

In 2009, Grimes collected six interceptions, breaking out as a star cornerback in the NFC. The next season for Atlanta, he would earn his first Pro Bowl selection, tallying five interceptions and truly cementing himself as one of the best shutdown corners of the 2010s.

Grimes would move to the AFC, earning Pro Bowl selections in each of his three seasons in Miami while adding a second-team All-Pro selection as well, earning the name Optimus Prime due to his performances against Calvin Johnson. Grimes would collect 33 total interceptions and 140 pass breakups over his 12-year career.

Now the list will be leaning into players who were at the top of their positions during their careers and have a real case at a HOF induction, but remain underrated when it comes to the top tier of their respective positions.

Joe Staley, LT (2007-2019)

The San Francisco 49ers' 2007 draft class will go down as one of the most impactful in team history. Along with Staley late into the first round, the 49ers selected linebacker Patrick Willis earlier with their top-10 pick.

Unlike Willis, Staley’s career started slowly. However, in 2011, the entire team changed things around, making the NFC title game. Staley started racking off five consecutive Pro Bowl and three straight second-team All-Pro selections from 2011 to 2015.

He experienced multiple dark ages in San Francisco over his 13-year career. His final great years were wasted on some terrible teams, displaying how the 49ers didn’t appreciate Staley’s service enough as a top left tackle in the NFL.

Eric Berry, S (2010-2018)

Talking about a success story, Berry went through some setbacks over the course of his career. After a Pro Bowl-caliber season in his rookie year with the Chiefs, where he recorded 92 tackles and four interceptions, he would follow it up with a 2012 first-team All-Pro selection.

Berry would face a cancer diagnosis in 2014, missing the majority of the season. However, he would overcome his cancer diagnosis quickly, earning AP Comeback Player of the Year and returning to the league where he left off as an All-Pro the very next season.

His career would be short-lived, only playing in three games in his final two seasons, but he was a key reason Kansas City’s defense sat near the top of the NFL during Berry’s prime.

NaVorro Bowman, LB (2010-2017)

Bowman has to be one of the most overshadowed defensive players in NFL history. It isn’t his fault that he had to play second fiddle to one of the best linebackers of all time in Patrick Willis. However, Willis’ talent and impact are a main reason many overlook Bowman as one of the best linebackers of his era.

From 2011 to 2013, Bowman earned three straight first-team All-Pros. San Francisco’s linebacker tandem developed into the best the NFL had seen in quite some time. The combination would earn six first-team All-Pro selections together, becoming the center of arguably one of the most formidable defenses of the early 2010s.

After missing the 2014 season, Bowman proved he was a one-man show, bouncing back in 2015 without Willis, earning yet another first-team All-Pro and registering an NFL-leading 154 total tackles.

Cameron Wake DE (2009-2019)

Before his NFL career even began, Wake was a game wrecker throughout his two-year CFL career, recording 39 total sacks, including a 23-sack season in 2008.

The 27-year-old edge rusher signed with the Dolphins to start his career, making an immediate impact by becoming the NFL leader in tackles for loss and earning an All-Pro selection within just two seasons.

Wake would collect five Pro Bowls and four All-Pro seasons, including a first-team All-Pro in 2012, where he recorded a career-high 15 sacks. Even with a late start, Wake would last 11 seasons in the NFL, accumulating 100.5 sacks.

Charles Tillman DB (2003-2015)

Although his career would begin before 2010, Tillman’s most impactful seasons came during his early 30s in the 2010s, where he got the nickname Peanut for his infamous “Peanut Punch.”

In 2011, he earned his first Pro Bowl selection, and in 2012, he would one-up his 2011 season, earning first-team All-Pro honors. Tillman led the NFL in forced turnovers in 2012, recording 10 forced fumbles and 3 interceptions, truly emphasizing his improved impact later in his career.

Derrick Johnson LB (2005-2018)

To end the list, I want to recognize one of the most underrated linebackers of the 2010s. Similarly to Tillman, his impact with the Chiefs didn’t peak until the 2010s, when he truly broke out into a top-tier linebacker in the NFL.

In 2011, at the ripe age of 29, he began his breakout, reaching 100 solo tackles for the first time and earning first-team All-Pro.

Over the rest of his 14-year career, he would remain in the stardom, collecting four Pro Bowls to his name. By the end of his career, his 1,152 tackles in Kansas City would place him as the leading tackler in Chiefs history.

So many great players could qualify for this list, but these are some of the names that came to mind.

Owen Daszko is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email him at opd5073@psu.edu.