The LA Chargers have one of the most talented rosters in the league that is geared up for a Super Bowl run. Regardless of how you look at the Chargers' roster, it is clear that they are one of the most talented teams on paper and perhaps the most talented in the AFC.
That being said, the Chargers still need to prove it by winning games in the 2022 season. The Bolts have not made the playoffs since 2018 and the team is much different now than it was back then. With LA getting preseason hype in previous years, some NFL analysts are doubting what the Bolts have.
It is one thing to doubt that the team will put it all together and actually be a top team in the AFC. It is a completely different thing to doubt the individual players on the team, especially when they are proven. That did not stop ESPN analyst Chris Canty, who thinks the Chargers have not one, but two of the five most overrated players in the NFL.
.@ChrisCanty99 ranks his top-five most overrated players in the NFL 👀 pic.twitter.com/cDB4GsyaKm
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 15, 2022
The worst part about this is that Canty actually has a point about the top three players on this list. Dak Prescott is a good quarterback but he has fallen down the totem poll with all of the young talent in the league. Christian McCaffrey cannot stay healthy and Saquon Barkley is not the same guy he was from his rookie year.
But Derwin James and Khalil Mack? C'mon man.
Saying these Chargers players are overrated is absolutely absurd.
I can at least see the point about Khalil Mack as he is not the same prime Mack that he was four years ago. However, nobody is really expecting him to be that or saying that he is going to be a First-Team All-Pro. Heck, he is the second-best edge rusher on his own team.
Mack is undoubtedly still productive and can play at a Pro Bowl level. Calling him overrated feels like a strawman considering not many people actually think he is this top-five edge-rusher in the league anymore. He is properly rated in the league.
James being overrated 100% has to do with his injury history and I understand that. You can dissect his injury history all you want but it is impossible to sit there and say that he is overrated as a talent. Anyone that watches the Chargers knows just how important he is to this defense.
James is the quarterback of the defense and he can do things that no other safety in the league can do. His versatility, leadership and playmaking ability are unmatched in the league. If James didn't get hurt for those two years he would probably be the consensus best safety in the league. He is that talented.
Want to talk about overrated safeties? I'd put Jamal Adams over Derwin James on this list 100 times out of 100.