Who's the most overrated GT football player of all-time?

Yooperbuzz said:
I know I'm going to get pilloried for this but it has to be.....

George Godsey

No arm. No speed. Won games because of the Fridge and the talent around him. The only good thing you could say about him was that he didn't lose to many games. Everybody thinks he was wonderful. May have been a great guy but at best a below average QB. Just think how many games we could have won with a good QB.
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Using MTrain's definition, I would say that Godsey was very underrated. He played much better than his athletic ability might suggest. With all due respect to Fridge, it helps a whole lot when your QB has a good head on his shoulders.
 
lonestarjacket said:
Let me spell it out for you a little differently.

There are no right or wrong answers, but many are answering the wrong question.
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People may be answering the wrong question, but The Champ gave 100% the RIGHT answer. K Scott was a highly rated recruit so many people thought was a great player, and he was average. He defines overrated.
 
MTrain said:
massive reading/reasoning comprehension fail in this thread. not even arguing the choices, as everyone is entitled to an opinion. but the lack of understanding of the point of this thread is pretty bad. it isn't the most touted to not pan out, or the least touted to become great.

it's who is remembered for being better than they actually were.

i guess another misinterpretation is "who was overhyped for a post-gt professional career that didn't pan out", though that somehow at least relates back to how "good" they really were in college, though the nfl is obviously a different game.
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Going by this, I would suggest perhaps Ken Swilling. But we had a 3-time All-American who may possibly qualify for this dubious distinction.
 
The question is the most overrated GT football player of all-time? I will have to substitute all-time with mid-70's to present.

IMO, The GT player who probably wasn't as good as he is remembered would be Ken Swilling.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1140742/index.htm

Excerpts from SI article dated August 26, 1991:

Sometimes Swilling is all of the things he is supposed to be, and sometimes he is not. Although he returns to the national co-champion Yellow Jackets (11-0-1) and to a defense that did not allow a touchdown for the first 19 quarters of 1990, there is the slightest suspicion that he is overrated. Also, he will be playing an unfamiliar position; hoping to take better advantage of Swilling's linebacker size, Ross is moving him from free safety to strong safety.

Despite the five games in which he amassed tackles in double digits, Swilling's 1990 season included mediocre performances in a couple of Georgia Tech's biggest games. Swilling has on occasion been too slow to anger and too burdened by the weight of his publicity. "With a mean Ken Swilling we could be something," defensive back Willie Clay says wistfully.

For the first five games of 1990, Swilling was a whirling, swooping presence who made four interceptions and 34 tackles. But he severely sprained his right ankle on the opening kickoff of the fifth game, against Clemson, and while he went on to make 11 tackles that day, he sat out the next two games. Tech team physician Jay Shoop told him the ankle would require six to eight weeks to heal, but Swilling suited up early, for the team's pivotal game against Virginia. While Georgia Tech won, 41-38, Swilling was embarrassed before a national television audience by Virginia receiver Herman Moore, who made nine catches—five of them while covered by Swilling—for 234 yards.

Swilling's confidence eroded noticeably as he dealt with public criticism for the first time in his career. He uncharacteristically began making mistakes in practices and allowing catches in games that previously he might have intercepted or broken up. His opportunity for redemption, when Georgia Tech beat Nebraska 45-21 in the Citrus Bowl, was unsatisfactory. Swilling was hardly a factor.

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Ken Swilling to me was a very good player at times --a few times-- but I do recall most of the excepts I pulled from the article, particularly the Citrus Bowl vs Nebraska where he was burned for one long TD in the first half prior to GT putting the game away.
 
BarrelORum said:
People may be answering the wrong question, but The Champ gave 100% the RIGHT answer. K Scott was a highly rated recruit so many people thought was a great player, and he was average. He defines overrated.
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Scott was a big time recruit and the most physically gifted corner we have had in the last 10 years. He came on strong getting lots of playing time as a tFR a SO but never really developed into what he could have been. He had one impact game against Clemson in 05, other than that he never really had that much impact. Many people mention him as one of the top CB's of the last 10 years (which may say more about the talent we have had at CB than how good KS was), but for a "top" player he was very average on the field.
 
Usually 'overrated' means 'highly touted coming in, but amounted to nothing.'

Assuming that's the criteria, I don't see how anyone tops I Perfection Harris.
 
beej67 said:
Usually 'overrated' means 'highly touted coming in, but amounted to nothing.'

Assuming that's the criteria, I don't see how anyone tops I Perfection Harris.
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I already offered up I-Perfection, and apparently he doesn't qualify for this thread's definition of overrated.
 
Can't/won't disparage Derrick Steagall from Newnan (we did have two Derrick Steagalls back then). Injuries really hampered him. I saw him in high school — saw Tony Hollings, too — and they both floored me with their talent.
The linemen loved, and I mean loved, blocking for PJ Daniels.
I have a special place, and it ain't in my heart, for Donnie Davis and Tommy Luginbill.
Most overrated? Pains me to say it, but I gotta say Ken Swilling.
 
The Champ said:
Scott was a big time recruit and the most physically gifted corner we have had in the last 10 years. He came on strong getting lots of playing time as a tFR a SO but never really developed into what he could have been. He had one impact game against Clemson in 05, other than that he never really had that much impact. Many people mention him as one of the top CB's of the last 10 years (which may say more about the talent we have had at CB than how good KS was), but for a "top" player he was very average on the field.
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Yep I agree totally.

Bilbo is a very very very close second for me. Steagall is a distant third and Crenshaw deserves a mention as well.
 
hobie holiday by a mile! a *****who's committ was front page new's on the ajc. stop the fight...NO CONTEST!
 
wasnt marvius hester supposed to be a baller?


Eric Henderson doesnt belong here.. didnt he only play freshman and sophmore years before getting kicked out due to grades?
 
killerbuzz42 said:
wasnt marvius hester supposed to be a baller?


Eric Henderson doesnt belong here.. didnt he only play freshman and sophmore years before getting kicked out due to grades?
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Both players started for 4 years.

Henderson was injured for good portions of his JR and SR seasons, his best year was as a SO.
 
Some of these picks are beyond loony. To even mention Little Joe in the same sentence as overrated is ridiculous. Joe was in fact underrated since he deserved the Heisman Trophy and didn't win it.

Godsey was underrated - jeepers, he has the second highest career passing rating in GT history (behind Little Joe, of course) and the highest completion percentage. He was a nearly flawless QB once he got a few starts under his belt.

PJ Daniels? Jonathan Smith? These guys exceeded expectations, and it's not like they were picked as All-Americans or anything.


Ken Swilling is probably one of the better answers given. He had a great year in 1990 but was a pretty big bust his senior year.

He's certainly more in line with the VPI and Bama choices that started the thread.
 
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