Alabama football: 5 most overrated players in program history

Alabama is a great program but there has been a ton of overrated Alabama football players to come through Tuscaloosa. These are the five most overrated.

When discussing the greatest programs in college football history, it is impossible not to mention the Alabama Crimson Tide at the very top of it. Alabama football is more than a way of life in the Yellowhammer State; it’s everything! While the state is without a major professional team, Crimson Tide football is dripping with more NFL talent than their rivals know what to do with.

Whether you grew up during Paul “Bear” Bryant’s heyday, saw Gene Stallings win a national title in 1992 or relish in the continued excellence of the Nick Saban era, one thing is certain with Alabama. The Crimson Tide are never down for long because they usually have more talent than you. However, that talent may be glorified in a way that actually overstates it.

Though Canton is littered with former Crimson Tide standouts, Alabama has had more than its fair share of first-round busts at the NFL level. Of course, there are varying reasons for why a top prospect doesn’t pan out. Sustaining injuries, being drafted into a bad organization, or not having the toughness for the rigors of the NFL are all too common reasons for busting.

But what the common thread there with these type of players is they may have been overhyped coming out of college. Admittedly, you have to be special to get ample playing time at a school like Alabama. However, that doesn’t mean one player can’t be considered overrated. Here are the five most overrated players in the history of Alabama football.

Foley High School in Foley, Alabama produced three outstanding Crimson Tide football players. While Ken Stabler won a Super Bowl and earned a posthumous bronze bust in Canton, D.J. Fluker will only be known as the third-best player from his high school alma mater. A year after his high school teammate Julio Jones went to Alabama, Fluker followed suit in 2009.

While he won three national titles in four years at Alabama, taking home First-Team All-American honors as a redshirt junior in 2012, we had a feeling Fluker was being propped up by the wide array of talent around him. He played on the same offensive line that featured Barrett Jones and Chance Warmack in 2012. Fluker and Warmack would end up being first-round picks in 2013.

Fluker went No. 13 overall to the then-San Diego Chargers, where he had good initial success, but nothing worth the draft hype. The Chargers made the playoffs during his rookie season, but he was released by the Chargers ahead of their first season in Los Angeles. Fluker played one year with the New York Giants and then two with the Seattle Seahawks. He is now on his fourth team.

Billed as an incredibly strong right tackle in college, he wasn’t long enough to be an effective edge-setter in the NFL. The 6-foot-5 offensive lineman kicked inside to guard in the NFL, but never achieved the success he did in college. Though more talented than Jones, Fluker always felt to be in Warmack’s shadow. Even with a seven-year NFL career, Fluker was a tad overrated in college.