10 NFL's Most Overrated Signal-Callers of the Past Decade

The phrase, "overrated", is perhaps the most overused and abused term in the world of sports today.  

Everyone and everything will be considered overrated at one time or another—it's just a simple fact of life. 

When Aaron Rodgers lost to the Giants in the second round of the playoffs? Overrated.

When Kentucky lost to Indiana in college basketball this year? Overrated.

When the Miami Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals last season? Overrated.

That one time, when Albert Pujols struck out? Overrated.

LSU football? Overrated.  

Well, this one might actually have some truth to it after witnessing that 21-0 beatdown at the hands of the Alabama Crimson Tide a couple weeks back. (Gunner Kiel seems to think so, anyway.)

But you get the point—everyone and everything will be deemed overrated by someone, at some point in time.

However, in this slideshow, we are going examine 10 quarterbacks of the past decade who were truly overrated (and some still are today).

Let's take a look...

10. Jake Plummer

Jake "The Snake" Plummer was an over-hyped prospect out of Arizona State who was drafted in the second round (42nd overall) of the 1997 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.

Plummer never lived up to the hype and fittingly completed his decade of mediocrity with 161 touchdowns and 161 interceptions. His career 57.5 completion percentage and 74.6 QB rating lend further credence to the overrated tag forever attached to his name.

9. Drew Bledsoe

In 1994, Drew Bledsoe was considered one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, throwing for a league-high 4,555 yards.

What often goes unnoticed is the fact that he threw 25 touchdown passes versus a league-leading 27 interceptions in 1994 as well.

Bledsoe led the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl in 1996, but threw four interceptions en route to a 35-21 defeat to Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers.

In reality, Bledsoe was a volume quarterback who threw a lot of passes, but was rather inefficient during his 14-year career. This is further evidenced by a career completion percentage of 57.2, a QB rating of 77.1, 206 interceptions in 193 starts and just 6.6 yards per pass attempt.

Drew Bledsoe finished with a career record of 98-95 and will forever be remembered as the man who lost his job to Tom Brady.

8. Steve McNair

Steve McNair died tragically on July 4, 2009 when his mistress shot and killed him right before taking her own life.

McNair was beloved by his teammates and fans, and I want to make sure we don't lose sight of that in spite of his place on this list.

McNair finds himself on here mostly because he failed to live up to the sky-high expectations that were placed on him after being selected with the third overall pick by the Houston Oilers in the 1995 NFL Draft. He averaged just 194.4 yards passing per game and never quite seemed comfortable as pocket passer in the NFL; he never reached 3,500 passing yards or 25 touchdown passes in a single season.

This QB's career was ultimately undone by numerous injuries, as he was well known for always playing hurt.

7. Chad Pennington

The New York Jets drafted Chad Pennington with the 18th overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft.

Although Pennington was known as an extremely accurate passer, having led the league in completion percentage twice, he only managed 81 starts over his 11-year NFL career.

Pennington averaged just 200 yards passing per game during a career that was unfortunately derailed by injuries.

6. Mark Sanchez

Nine years after drafting Chad Pennington in the first round, the New York Jets selected Mark Sanchez with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Yes, we know Sanchez helped lead the Jets to back-to-back AFC Championship Games during his first two seasons in the NFL.

But let's be realistic here, Sanchez fans—the Jets made it that far based on the strength of their defense.

Sanchez has a respectable 27-20 record as a starter over his first three years in the league, but let's take a closer look at some more meaningful data.

He has a 55.3 completion percentage, 51 interceptions in 47 career starts, 6.5 yards per pass attempt, 195.9 passing yards per game and a 73.2 QB Rating.

Two words for you:

Over. Rated.

I guess technically that's one word, but you get the picture.

5. Jake Delhomme

Jake Delhomme was on top of the world in 2004 when he nearly led the Carolina Panthers to a Super Bowl win before ultimately losing 32-29 to Tom Brandy and the New England Patriots.

Delhomme had a monster game, throwing for 323 yards and three touchdowns, and finishing with a 117.1 QB rating.

Unfortunately for Delhomme, it's been all downhill from there.

In 96 career starts, he's thrown 101 interceptions while completing just 59.4 percent of his passes.

Delhomme's decline was a rapid one, as he's thrown just 11 touchdowns versus 25 interceptions over his last 15 starts.

4. Jason Campbell

Yet another first-round pick, Jason Campbell was selected 25th overall by the Washington Redskins in the 2005 NFL Draft.

In 70 NFL starts, Campbell has posted a career record of 31-39, while completing just 60.8 percent of his passes. He's averaged just 203.1 yards passing per game and is unlikely to be signed as a free agent by his current team, the Oakland Raiders.

3. Carson Palmer

The reason why the Oakland Raiders aren't going to re-sign Campbell is because they traded for the third-most overrated quarterback of the last decade—Carson Palmer.

Palmer was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals with the first pick of the 2003 NFL Draft after winning the Heisman Trophy at USC in 2002. He seemingly peaked in his second season, when he posted a 101.1 QB rating while leading the NFL with 32 touchdown passes.

Palmer led the league with 20 interceptions two years later and only started four games the following season due to an elbow injury. Since then, he has thrown 60 touchdowns to 49 interceptions over the last three seasons while posting an 18-23 record.

2. Kerry Collins

The Carolina Panthers selected Kerry Collins with the fifth overall pick of the 1995 NFL Draft.

Over an 18-year career, Collins has started 180 games while posting a record of 81-99. He's thrown 196 interceptions in 197 games with a completion percentage of just 55.7 percent to go along with his 73.8 career QB rating.

Collins did lead the New York Giants to the Super Bowl in 2000 before putting on one of the worst performances in NFL history on the grandest of stages. He went 15-of-39 for 112 yards and four interceptions while posting a QB rating of 7.1.

Yes, 7.1.

1. Tim Tebow

Come on, who else could it be?

But all the guy does is win!

Really?

The guy is 8-6 in 14 career starts—come on.

Tebow's numbers are the real eye-opener, though:

• 47.3 completion percentage
• 6.8 yards per attempt
• 103.6 passing yards per game
• 75.1 QB rating

Now, ask yourself, does the above stat-line justify all the hype surrounding "Tebowmania?" 

Quite simply, Tim Tebow is not only the most overrated quarterback of the least decade but he's also the most overrated quarterback of all time.