NFL.com’s Rosenthal: Calais Campbell among NFL’s most underrated players

You kind of wonder how much longer this will hold true.

If someone is consistently recognized as being underrated, at some point do they become properly rated?

We may soon find out with Arizona Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell.

The former Miami Hurricane is entering his seventh year in the NFL — all with the Cardinals — coming off a season in which he notched a career-best 9.0 quarterback sacks.

With 36.5 sacks to his name, the 27-year-old is one of the cornerstones of a defense that finished sixth in the NFL in yards allowed last season.

Yet, for as much good as he’s done, Campbell has yet to make the Pro Bowl.

Thus, he’s underrated, as NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal notes in a piece listing some of the game’s least appreciated stars.

There isn’t another player in the NFL quite like Arizona Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell. Checking in at 6-foot-8 and 300 pounds, Campbell requires double teams at all times. He’s too big to move in the running game, yet he’s an incredible pass rusher. He can play in any defensive formation, inside and out. He should be a superstar.

Campbell and the Cardinals agreed to a five-year contract worth $55 million — with $31 million guaranteed — before the 2012 season, so it’s clear the organization understands what it has in the defensive end.

At some point, perhaps the rest of the country will take notice as well.

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