The impact of a star player on a football defense isn’t what it is on a basketball court. It’s watered down; you’re one person among 11 instead of one person among five. At least on the offensive side of a football field a team can offset the numbers disadvantage by putting the ball in the hands of its best player as much as possible, consciously maximizing the star’s impact. That’s how Eli Manning carried a group of otherwise moderately talented players to a Cotton Bowl victory.
No, that’s not the case on defense, where one man can only cover so much ground (even if he covers more ground than was thought humanly possible).