In his most recent piece, provocative CBSSports.com football columnist Pete Prisco picks one player from each NFL team who he feels is overrated and another who is underrated.
He chooses left tackle Matt Light for the "overrated" category and cornerback Leigh Bodden as his "underrated" choice, picks that I could envision generating some solid debate.
The first picks that came my mind were Brandon Meriweather in the "overrated" category and Kevin Faulk in the "underrated" slot.
It always sounds harsh to place the "overrated" tag on a player, and here was what I was thinking about with Meriweather: He now has "Pro Bowl" on his resume and at times, he flashes Pro Bowl skills (e.g. last year's Jacksonville game). But at other times, he takes risks or fails to wrap up tackles, making mistakes that Pro-Bowl safeties generally avoid (e.g. last year's second Buffalo game).
I think Meriweather could be a Pro Bowl-caliber safety, one of the top playmakers at his position. I just don't think he's quite there yet in terms of doing it consistently.
As for Faulk, I don't think he gets enough credit as an all-around back -- pass-catching, blocking, even running out of the standard two-back set (which we saw late in the season).