The San Francisco 49ers have some good players, but anybody with seriously high expectations is probably getting ahead of themselves. The 49ers have some great players, even, but are there any who might not be as good as we think?
Over at CBS Sports, Pete Prisco picked one underrated and one overrated player from all 32 NFL teams, and his picks for the 49es are interesting. First, we’ll start with overrated: wide receiver Pierre Garcon.
He calls Garcon a “good, solid player,” but points out the fact that Garcon is one of the highest-paid receivers in the league coming off a three-touchdown season with Washington.
“He’s good, but he’s not what some think,” Prisco writes.
Personally, I feel Garcon is a good fit in Kyle Shanahan’s offense and that will work plenty in his favor. He will turn 31 years old in August, as Prisco points out, and that’s significant. But I also don’t think there is any suggestion that he is an incredible player. In other words, I’m not sure how he’s overrated.
Overpaid? Perhaps. But those are slightly different terms.
As far as underrated, Priso is drinking the Rashard Robinson kool-aid.
He calls Robinson “perfect” for the new defensive scheme run by Robert Saleh. He said that Robinson was inconsistent as a rookie, but that he will take a “big step forward’ in 2017. It’s interesting that he calls Robinson underrated given the hype that the cornerback has received this season.
Then again, much of that hype comes from local media and 49ers fans, and on the national level few are aware of who Robinson even is. Will a whole lot more people know his name by the end of the 2017-18 season?