Well, here's a look at some of the players who are considered underrated by local and national writers and, yes, an offensive lineman is one of the players named.
RB LeSean McCoy
Recently, Pat Kirwan of NFL.com wrote that McCoy was snubbed from the list of the NFL's Top 100 Players of 2011. Pete Prisco from CBS Sports listed an underrated player for each NFL team. He echoed Kirwan's sentiment by naming McCoy as the Eagles' most underrated guy.
"With all the attention given to Mike Vick and DeSean Jackson, McCoy didn't get the due he deserved last season," Prisco wrote. "He averaged 5.2 per rush. He's special."
C Jamaal Jackson
ESPN's NFC East blogger Dan Graziano and CSNPhilly.com's Reuben Frank each cast a vote for center Jamaal Jackson, who has been stymied by injury in each of the past two seasons.
"The Eagles don't give Jackson much help, trusting him to block opposing defensive tackles one-on-one almost all the time. As a result, he wears down. But when healthy, he's strong and athletic enough to handle the assignment," Graziano wrote. "The offense simply runs better when he's in there than it does when he isn't. Jackson plays a position where it's almost impossible to get noticed unless you mess something up, and when he's on the field, he doesn't."
Frank noted that Jackson doesn't get the praise he deserves because he was anonymous when he first signed with the Eagles as a rookie free agent out of Delaware State in 2003.
"Jackson has never gotten his due as a big-time center. But he is one. He's big and smart and powerful and athletic enough to handle the unusually high amount of 1-on-1 blocking the Eagles demand from their center," Frank wrote. "Although the Eagles did a better job replacing Jackson in 2010 when he got hurt again - Mike McGlynn was an upgrade over Nick Cole - his absence certainly showed again in the playoffs, when the Eagles managed only 16 points against the Packers. Since 2006, the Eagles have averaged 24 points in playoff games with Jackson and 15 points in playoff games without him."
SS Quintin Mikell
Frank is ranking the Eagles' all-time most underrated players at each position. While he hasn't finished the series, one current player who is also listed is strong safety Quintin Mikell. The two-time All-Pro should epitomize the type of player that Eagles fans love, wrote Frank.
"It's been amazing to hear the contempt Eagles fans have for Quintin Mikell, who has been nothing but a consistent, physical, durable, productive safety since finally earning a starting spot at strong safety in 2007," Frank wrote. "Q should be the kind of player Eagles fans truly appreciate. He went undrafted in 2003 but made the roster as a ferocious special teams player and was a force on special teams for four years before his sheer hard work and tenacity propelled him into the starting lineup early in 2007."
The issue is that, as Frank pointed out, Mikell once played alongside a Hall of Fame safety in Brian Dawkins and spent the 2009 season working through a myriad of players who are nowhere near Dawkins' level. To the Eagles' credit, they found a more-than-capable safety in Nate Allen to pair with Mikell in 2010. Mikell is going to be a free agent once the work stoppage is over and the team did draft Temple's Jaiquawn Jarrett in the second round back in April.
Who is the Eagles' most underrated player? Cast your vote in the poll above.
