I polled my Twitter followers and found that 42.6% of voters thought Rivers was a Hall of Famer. Suggs logged 139 sacks, good for eighth all-time. Likely (70% to 99%): WR Michael Thomas. If that seems surprising after what he accomplished last season, remember that it was his first season with either a Pro Bowl or an All-Pro nod. He looked to be firmly on a Hall trajectory at that point, but over the ensuing five seasons, he has just one Pro Bowl appearance. But as a running back who has been above average or good seemingly forever, he's getting in. Skeptics will point out that Rivers was 5-6 in the postseason and only made it as far as one AFC Championship Game, but he's also sixth in NFL history in passing yards and passing touchdowns. Watson is one of the best quarterbacks in football, although he might struggle to earn first-team All-Pro nods when stuck in the same time frame as Mahomes. Rockets great and championship coach Rudy Tomjanovich was only inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021. Things would be different if he had actually won the MVP award or been the quarterback who ran the Eagles through the playoffs in 2017. He figures to have a strong case for first-ballot election. He has now made three consecutive Pro Bowls, although his only first-team All-Pro nod came in 2017. Whitworth was criminally underrated during his time in Cincinnati, earning just one Pro Bowl nod during his first nine seasons with the Bengals. The closest comp is Ken Anderson, who had a similar peak and won an MVP award but didn't last quite as long and hasn't been able to get in. Left and right arrows move across top level links and expand / close menus in sub levels. 2 with 6,103 yards. Of the seven players eligible for the Hall of Fame who made it to the Pro Bowl in their age-21 campaign, six are in the Hall. Only two full-time kickers Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen are in the Hall of Fame, but it would be hard to see Vinatieri shut out given his accomplishments. to put up the accumulation stats often needed to bolster a Hall-of-Fame case. DISCLAIMER: This site is 100% for entertainment purposes only and does not involve real money betting. Peters might look better in the long term than he does now. Do you have a blog? He also earned two major awards: Defensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year the following season. The former Philadelphia Eagles great and St. Louis Rams star will become the 28th and 29th wide receivers to be honored with a place in Canton, OH. Watt, with his three Defensive Player of the Year awards with the Texans, will for sure give Houston another Hall of Famer. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. He joined the Chronicle in January 2015 as the online sports editor. Wide receiver, Arizona Cardinals Larry Fitzgerald's career stats: 1,432 receptions for 17,492 yards and 121 touchdowns One of the greatest wide receivers of all time, and certainly among the most dominant of his era, Fitzgerald will likely be a first-ballot Hall of Famer sometime around 2026. He played 16 seasons, but never led the league in any notable statistical category other than interceptions. Early in a player's career, I'm also comfortable using draft status as an estimate of talent until they establish themselves as pros, which will lead to some very inexperienced players making this list. In the running (40% to 69%): DT Ndamukong Suh. Jarrett made his first Pro Bowl last season, but his disruptiveness hasn't yet led to a gaudy sack total, which is what you need to get in as a defensive lineman. Inductees Nominees Induction Weekend Induction Process Landmark Award Squier-Hall Award Blue Jacket & Class Ring. You probably dont need me to tell you that in 2018 Moss became the most recent receiver to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Gurley was a first-team All-Pro in 2017 and 2018, but he wasn't able to clinch a rushing title and didn't look like his old self last season. Longtime teammate Jeff Bagwell, meanwhile, had to wait until his seventh year on the ballot before gaining enshrinement to Cooperstown. Joe Fortenbaugh breaks down why Julio Jones is the safer bet over DeAndre Hopkins to lead the league in receiving yards. Graham's case is interesting. If you want to know why people are excited about the Cowboys' offense in 2020, consider that they could have as many as five future Hall of Famers lining up when everyone's healthy. After being retired for five years, players maintain modern-era eligibility for 20 years, after which their cases go to the seniors committee. Rodgers is a three-time All-Pro, a member of the 2010s All-Decade Team and so much more. He has eight Pro Bowl appearances, but he has never been a first-team All-Pro, never really been a viable pick as the best quarterback in football and has a total of four MVP votes across 14 seasons as a starter. McCaffrey could turn into LaDainian Tomlinson, but what if he's more like Shaun Alexander, who won league MVP at his peak and never really got serious Hall of Fame consideration? Jaguars won't spend big, but here are five players they could target in free agency, 2023 NFL franchise tag tracker: Raiders tag Josh Jacobs, the NFL's rushing leader. Heyward reminds me a lot of Campbell; they're prototypical five-technique ends who upped their pass-rushing performance when given more opportunities to get after the quarterback. Naturally, now seems like a good time to look forward. You could make a case Jones belongs in the Likely category based on his 2017 and 2019 seasons, although I'd argue there's a significant gap between those two campaigns and the rest of his career. 1 min read. Gronk has five first-team All-Pro appearances. Hilton, DE Justin Houston, DT DeForest Buckner, CB Xavier Rhodes. Marcedes Lewis has been in the NFL for a long time. Adams has two Pro Bowls and an All-Pro nod across his first three seasons, putting him in a group with safeties such as Kenny Easley, Steve Atwater, Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu. In one of Coach Saban's press conferences, he spoke about some of the questions asked by the players to . Jones now has five consecutive seasons with at least 10 sacks. Everyone but Hill is either a lock or extremely likely to make it in. A candidate must get 80 percent of the vote to be elected. He needs to have a second act and have another selling point -- either winning a Super Bowl, competing for another MVP award or making it to a handful of Pro Bowls -- to have a viable path to a gold jacket. Most importantly: This is my opinion of who is likely to get in given current rsums, not who belongs in. In recent years Seattle has gained somewhat of a reputation as being the last stop for future Hall of Fame wide receivers. The Saints have the best tackle combination in football, but Armstead went underappreciated before picking up steam over the past couple of years and Ramczyk raised his game in 2019. Locks have a 100% chance of making it. In both cases, I'm looking mostly at the historical output for first overall picks. Work to do (10% to 39%): C Alex Mack, DT Grady Jarrett. He's an easy Hall of Famer. With Anthony Harris hoovering up interceptions and Jamal Adams and Minkah Fitzpatrick emerging, 31-year-old Smith probably needs to earn that nod in the next year or two. His PFR Hall of Fame score of 94.2 ranks ahead of several wide receivers already in the Hall of Fame, including Michael Irvin, Art Monk, Andre Reed and Lynn Swann. Most Approximate Value (AV) in a receiver's best sets of five and seven consecutive seasons, 1960-2019. Jets, Browns tapped for 2023 NFL Hall of Fame Game originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. Ingram wasn't very good for extended stretches of time until his fourth season in the league in New Orleans, and while he has made three Pro Bowls since, he hasn't had a top-five season in terms of production or won a Super Bowl. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Graham has five Pro Bowls to his name, but I don't think he has done enough to earn a gold jacket. Hunter just needs more individual recognition to raise his chances. Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon both expect Frank Gore to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but do not see him as a lock to get into Canton. In fact, a future Hall of Fame wide receiver recently revealed that Rodgers tried to recruit him over to the Packers. Pro Football Reference's Hall of Fame monitor ranks Edelman 110th among wide receivers, and that gives him credit for winning three Super Bowls. The shrine in Canton, Ohio, is one that hasnt been easy to gain membership in through the years. Try selecting a different location. Quarterback Drew Brees and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald are the two prominent ballot newcomers. Unless he turns things around dramatically this season, he would fall out of the "Work to do" category altogether. Just nine tight ends are enshrined, and Kelce's game leans more toward receiving than any of them. (1:43). The players listed below are the top 250 HOFm-rated players who played WR starting in 1955 or later for at least 50 career games. How Antonio Brown is hurting his Hall of Fame future, and what the volatile wide receiver needs to do to fix it Brown's continued off-field distractions have cast doubt on when -- and if -- he . Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Warren Moon played until he was 44. So this is really a list of 15. In the running (40% to 69%): RB Christian McCaffrey. Work to do (10% to 39%): RB Derrick Henry, OT Taylor Lewan, DE Vic Beasley Jr., S Kevin Byard. White got his just due last season and was named a first-team All-Pro while tying for the league lead in interceptions (six). The Hall is forgiving of running backs, and Bell's versatility should age well, but he has missed a lot of time through injuries, suspensions and his 2018 holdout. McCaffrey is still only 24 and has a relatively sterling health history, so it's on him to buck history. While Tucker would be the overwhelming choice as the best kicker in football, the Hall has elected just two full-time kickers in its history. Bosa's case is trickier, in part because he missed four games in 2016 and nine games in 2018 with injuries. Byard was a first-team All-Pro in 2017 when he led the league with eight picks, but despite playing at an upper-echelon level over the ensuing two seasons, he hasn't received the same consideration. Wentz's injury history this early in his career also doesn't bode well for his chances of playing deep into his 30s. Roy Williams is the lone Hall-eligible safety who didn't follow his early success to Canton. Find out more. March 25, 2020 9:36 pm ET. you might say Moss, Larry Fitzgerald and DeAndre Hopkins. While he has made six Pro Bowls, that's not typically enough for interior linemen to make it into the Hall. He repeated that feat in 2019, but he'll need to have Campbell's longevity and continue at this level into his mid-30s to have a viable path to the Hall. Williams made seven consecutive Pro Bowls before sitting out the 2019 season and forcing a trade to the 49ers. David has been supremely underrated during his career, but after earning a first-team All-Pro nod in 2013, he has made it to a lone Pro Bowl over the ensuing six seasons. From 2000-2003, Randy Moss put up video game numbers: 376 receptions, 5,649 yards and 49 touchdowns. Troy Aikman, John Elway and Roger Staubach won multiple Super Bowls. Mosley. If you need something more, Fitzgerald's 2008 playoff run is probably the best postseason from any receiver in league history. Nelson is one of seven players to start his career with two consecutive first-team All-Pro nods, a group that includes four Hall of Famers, Devin Hester and Keith Jackson. Evans and Godwin might end up hurting each other's chances by preventing the other from getting a 185-target season like the one Michael Thomas enjoyed in 2019. Cooper has made four Pro Bowls in his first five seasons. You could also make the argument that Murray should be up a level after being taken with the No. podcast, future Hall of Fame wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, aware of the Raiders and Jets being interested in trading for the always-grumbling MVP. Published: August 24, 2021. Work to do (10% to 39%): S Tyrann Mathieu. I worry a little about Atkins because he plays in a small market and in an era in which he's second fiddle to a better version of the same player (Aaron Donald), but history suggests Atkins is in.