Auburn football: 5 most overrated players in program history

Brent Fullwood played at Auburn during arguably the program’s greatest era. Though the Tigers didn’t win a national title in the 1980s under legendary head coach Pat Dye, they dominated the SEC like Steve Spurrier did at Florida in the 1990s and Nick Saban did at Alabama in the 2010s. Naturally, Auburn was dripping with talent, especially at the running back position.

Fullwood played in 1985 Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson‘s shadow for much of his time on The Plains. Once Jackson decided to pursue a professional career in baseball as opposed to on the gridiron, Fullwood became the featured back in the 1986 Auburn offense. He went over 1,300 yards and ran for 10 touchdowns in his All-American season for the Tigers.

Interestingly enough, four former Auburn running backs were drafted in the 1987 NFL Draft, including Jackson and Fullwood, who went No. 4 overall to the Green Bay Packers. Though he led Green Bay in rushing in 1989 and made it to the Pro Bowl, Fullwood’s NFL career was short-lived. He only played four years in the NFL before retiring as a member of the Cleveland Browns in 1990.

What typically happens for a player to become overrated is he has to be a product of a great system in place at his position group in college. Fullwood was just that as a running back for the Tigers. While his senior season was a fantastic one, it didn’t merit him being the No. 4 overall pick by the Packers. Then again, Green Bay was poorly run until Brett Favre arrived in 1992.