There’s a common post that floats around ‘X’, the app formerly known as Twitter, that becomes an engagement farm for football fans.
Typically, the post is a photo with two bars. One is filled all the way up and labeled ‘talent’. The other is hardly filled and labeled ‘recognition.’
Yeah, those posts.
Most fans will name a second wide receiver or a linebacker, a player that doesn’t garner a lot of discussion in NFL circles but is still putting together solid performances.
And while they might not be wrong, their answer is still not always correct because the real answer is boring.
The most underrated position in football is punt gunner.
Most fans know the name Chris Godwin, but the same people often do not know Matthew Slater, a highly-decorated punt gunner and special teams ace who has made ten Pro Bowls and two All-Pros because of his ability on special teams.
While the Minnesota Vikings do not have Slater, undrafted free agent NaJee Thompson has flashed enough in this role, drawing comparisons to Slater.
”He flashes. We knew his ability as a special teams player in that Matthew Slater-esque quality of speed, power, smarts, toughness, all those things,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said after the preseason opener. “We’re trying to figure out if a player like NaJee can fit in a really competitive room and ultimately how he shows his best effort”