San Francisco 49ers: Which players did Madden overrate and underrate?
By Justin Fried
Underrated: C Weston Richburg
But while Sherman was given the benefit of the doubt for his recent play, the same definitely cannot be said for center Weston Richburg.
Richburg saw his overall rating drop significantly to a lowly 70 overall this year after struggling through an injury-riddled first season in San Francisco. The former New York Giants lineman started 15 games but was evidently playing through a nagging knee injury.
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That knee injury would drastically hurt his overall play as his Pro Football Focus grade dropped from 72.7 in the year prior to a dreadful 51.9 in 2018.
Given that Richburg had been a very solid, well-rounded center throughout his career prior to that season, it’s easy to see that the injury played a role in his struggles.
But it doesn’t seem that Madden sees it that way.
His rating places him among the likes of Baltimore’s Matt Skura, Houston’s Nick Martin, and Dallas’ Joe Looney — none of which have the years of solid play that Richburg has. Docking him a little seems fair given his struggles, but a drop all the way to 70 seems unreasonable.
If Madden isn’t going to penalize Sherman for his decreased production last season in spite of an injury, it seems hypocritical to do so for Richburg. The thought-process is reasonable, but the execution here is just all over the place.