Is Bob Sanders Now Officially Overrated?

I already know this is going to get me in trouble with those crazy Colts fans in Middle Indiana. You know what? I don’t care.

If there’s one player Colts fans refuse to let people rag on aside from Peyton Manning it has to be the oft-injured Bob Sanders. They love him. He can do no wrong. He’s their little safety.

But guess what? He’s really, really overrated. I’m not kidding.

Don’t give me any defensive statistics about how much better the Colts defense is when Sanders is on the field. It’s a moot point because…the dude is hardly ever on the field!

Think about it.

Sanders was the defensive player of the year in 2007. Three years ago. Since then he has played in exactly nine games. And that’s counting this year’s season opener against the Texans, during which he played one series before tearing his biceps tendon. He could be done for the year.

In 2008, Sanders played in six games with a variety of injuries. Last season he played in two games, missing the rest with knee and biceps injuries.

There’s a staggering stat floating around in all the stories about the latest injury to knock Sanders out — he’s played in 48 career games and missed 49 with injury, a number that will only go up with this latest torn biceps tendon. That’s a brutal, brutal stat.

The bottom line is this: You can’t be one of the game’s best defensive players if you’re never on the field. You just can’t. Why is Ray Lewis so good? He plays all the time. He stands the test of time. Sanders doesn’t.

And don’t get me wrong, I feel bad for the guy. A lot of these injuries are just bad luck. He is really fun to watch when he plays.

But I also don’t want to hear how great he is when he never plays. He’s not the Hall of Fame difference maker Colts fans would make you think he is. He’s a good player that gets injured a lot, too much. It’s not his fault, it just is.

At some point the question will become, how much longer can the Colts keep him on the roster if he never sees the field?