San Francisco 49ers: Which players did Madden overrate and underrate?

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SANTA CLARA, CA – DECEMBER 09: Richard Sherman #25 of the San Francisco 49ers warms up before the game against the Denver Broncos at Levi’s Stadium on December 9, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

Overrated: CB Richard Sherman

Richard Sherman is a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer and one of the greatest cornerbacks to ever play the game. And even at age 31, Sherman is still playing some very good football.

But he’s simply not the player that he used to be. At least he wasn’t last year.

Sherman spent all of last season playing less-than-100% as he recovered from his torn Achilles the previous season. The Stanford product failed to record an interception for the first time in his career and graded out as Pro Football Focus’ 50th ranked cornerback.

It’s not as if Sherman isn’t still a No. 1 cornerback, because he most certainly is. And another year removed from his Achilles injury should only help his play improve again this season. But he also isn’t getting any younger.

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Simply put, Sherman wasn’t the best player on the 49ers last year. That honor should have gone to either Kittle, left tackle Joe Staley, or even defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. Instead, it was Sherman who had a comfortable three-point led over any other player.

Sherman was given a 93 overall which ranked him as the No. 3 cornerback in the game. Even the strongest 49ers defenders will be hard-pressed to say that Sherman is a better cornerback at this stage in his career than a player like Patrick Peterson.

It seems that Madden based this rating a little too much on prior success and reputation as opposed to actual results and recent play.