Chicago Bears: Every NFC North rival’s most overrated player

For decades, it’s been a favorite pastime for fans to talk smack about their team’s rivals. Chicago Bears fans can take it to a whole new level, at times, especially when referring to a certain green and gold franchise.

Looking around the NFC North, it’s a division that could be wide open this coming season. There are some wild card scenarios, a few x-factor type players that could determine each team’s fate, along with some highly-overrated players on each roster.

Which players around the NFC North fit that overrated label? Let’s look at the Bears’ three rivals and try to narrow down a trio of overrated names.

Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs is already overrated as a rookie

The situation Jahmyr Gibbs is in is a pretty unfair one, to be honest. He was pegged as a safe bet to get drafted in the second round, but was selected 12th overall by the Lions in this year’s draft. It was a big surprise, to say the least.

This is not to say he isn’t a good player, because he is. But, based on his draft stock and who else the Lions could have drafted, he is already overrated. Detroit’s defense is on the rise, and they could have added the likes of Lukas Van Ness to pair with Aidan Hutchinson, or a cornerback like Christian Gonzalez to add to their secondary.

The options available, at the time, were aplenty. Taking a running back, that high, especially when you already had a capable starting running back in David Montgomery, seemed foolish. So, until Gibbs proves he can be a top-5 back in this league, taking him 12th overall automatically means he is going to be a highly-overrated player on this roster.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is overrated, especially due to prime time woes

We remember how the Vikings’ season ended in the playoffs, right? It was Kirk Cousins throwing short of the sticks on a do-or-die down which ultimately sent them packing. That pretty much sums up Cousins as well as anything could.

Cousins has been, statistically, one of the better quarterbacks in football over the past several years. He’s thrown for over 4,000 yards in seven seasons during his career, including four out of five with the Vikings. Cousins is a 4-time Pro Bowl selection and has enjoyed plenty of success.

Last year, Cousins earned $40 million. This season he will earn $35 million. Despite his regular season successes as a whole, though, he remains incredibly overrated simply because of the fact that he doesn’t win on the biggest stages.

Over his lengthy career, Cousins owns a record of just 2-10 on Monday Night Football, with seven of those losses coming by double digits. For those who remember most of Tony Romo’s career, Cousins is now bordering a similar career trajectory. He’s a great regular season player, but when it counts and on the bigger stage, he folds.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is overrated by most fans

If you scour social media for Packers fans, you’ll find plenty of Jordan Love hype. Love has a tough job ahead of him, as he looks to take the reins from Packers legend Aaron Rodgers, who took the reins from another Packers legend in Brett Favre.

The pressure on Love is enormous, but Packers fans are becoming as delirious as any fan base across this league today. Sadly, it’s not just the Packers’ fan base. The players, themselves, are drinking the Kool-Aid. If you ask second-year wideout Romeo Doubs, Love can do the “same exact thing” as Rodgers.

We’re talking about a guy who has one career start, zero career wins and has only thrown 83 regular season passes since being drafted three years ago.

Does everyone realize how silly this sounds by Doubs? If you’re most Packers fans on social media, you’d agree with the wide receiver. Any throw made by Love during this offseason and put up on social media has been glorified as if it’s one of Rodgers’ last-second Hail Mary miracles, even those that are simple, routine passes that any NFL quarterback should be able to make.

It is safe to say that Green Bay fans need to settle down and allow this thing to play out, because chances are, Love isn’t as great as they believe he is. He was a reckless quarterback in college, and has made similar style throws so far during OTAs. Let’s calm down, shall we?