<
>
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Get ESPN+

Matt Forte is overrated

Matt Forte has had a good career so far for the Bears, but he has struggled at the goal line. Ed Szczepanski/USA TODAY Sports

In conjunction with the release of the #NFLRank rollout on ESPN.com, Football Outsiders will provide an audit of the list, selecting the most overrated and underrated players revealed each day of the countdown.

Here are the most overrated and underrated players from those ranked 50-41 on offense or defense:

Overrated

Matt Forte, RB, Chicago Bears (No. 48)

Forte

Yes, we have to see Forte's performance in the context of his situation: He plays behind a poor offensive line, and opposition game plans were entirely built around stopping Forte until Brandon Marshall showed up last year. He's a very good receiver whose receiving stats would look better if Jay Cutler weren't forced to use him as a dump-off valve so often. Still, it's strange that a running back so widely seen as a superstar had more than 4.5 yards per carry in just one season out of five (4.9 yards per carry in 2011) and scored above average in Football Outsiders' DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) metric in just one season out of five (3.6 percent DVOA in 2012).