The suspension hurts Peterson's chances, but with eight Pro Bowls and three All-Pro appearances across his first eight seasons, his prior track record was impeccable. Likely (70% to 99%): QB Matt Ryan, WR Julio Jones. 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. Collins was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in 2016 and has three Pro Bowls across his first five seasons. When a group consists of you and Jerry Rice, you've done something right. Cowboys News: Potential WR trade target off the board, Michael Irvin update Itll be interesting to see if that stellar stretch is good enough to get him in Canton. That might bode well for Suggs case, especially with the premium placed on pass rushers in the modern NFL. 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. The content on this page is for informational purposes only. 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? As he enters the league, Young's chances of making the Hall of Fame on draft status alone sneak him into consideration. He was nearly a lock after making four Pro Bowls and three first-team All-Pro nods across his first five seasons, but injuries have cost Thomas 20 games over the subsequent four years. Since 1980, there have been 23 Modern-Era Wide Receivers honored by the Hall of Fame, with an average Legends Score of 29. He will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Regardless of age, Evans has had an impressive start to his career. Mike Evans is on pace to be a Hall of Fame caliber wide receiver Edelman has never made a Pro Bowl, but the only player with more receiving yards in the playoffs is Jerry Rice. It's not too late to play with friends and family. I think Rivers probably gets in, but it might take a while. Most importantly: This is my opinion of who is likely to get in given current rsums, not who belongs in. In the running (40% to 69%): QB Dak Prescott, WR Amari Cooper. Wilson hasn't missed a game as a pro, so as long as he plays another five or six seasons and continues to rank among the better quarterbacks in football, he should be fine. 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Larry Fitzgerald Says Aaron Rodgers Should Play for the Dallas Cowboys Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) hands off. Pro Football Reference Hall of Fame Monitor, Frequently Asked Questions about the NFL and Football, Pro-Football-Reference.com Blog and Articles, Subscribe to Stathead Football: Get your first month FREE. Leonard, with one All-Pro spot and a Pro Bowl appearance last year, is right behind. 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. He also came up with an interception while winning his first Super Bowl, which helps his case. Kiper's draft grades for every team While guys like Franco Harris and Champ Bailey managed to make it to the Hall with similar starts to their careers, standouts like Chris Hinton, Ricky Watters and Donovan McNabb have come up short without getting to that next level. While he has made six Pro Bowls, that's not typically enough for interior linemen to make it into the Hall. Whether Johnson will be there to welcome Watt into the Hall of Fame will be interesting. White got his just due last season and was named a first-team All-Pro while tying for the league lead in interceptions (six). But history tells us that's a lot to ask. Lock (100%): DT Aaron Donald. But playing on so many bad Eagles teams delayed his entry into the Hall of Fame. . The future of Tampa Bay's tight end room. Since there have been only 346 people elected to the Hall of Fame (some of whom aren't even players), we don't always have great measures or estimates for what players at each given position have to do to make it. Julio Jones (2011-17): 8,076, two-time All-Pro, will be a Hall-of-Famer Jerry Rice (1985-89): 7,370, Hall-of-Famer, greatest receiver of all time Randy Moss (1998-2003): 7,258, Hall-of-Famer Torry Holt (1999-2004): 7,147, most yards through five years in NFL history Mahomes' rsum -- a league MVP and Super Bowl MVP -- is usually enough to get a player into the Hall of Fame, let alone doing it over two seasons as a starter. Since 1970, 55 players who are eligible for Canton have hit that 8+2 mark, and 52 of them earned enshrinement. will Evans play and how productive will he be? The only wide receiver from Carmichael's era who had more TD catches was Paul Warfield, who had 85. In the running (40% to 69%): DE Joey Bosa, S Derwin James. Of the nine corners who have debuted since the NFL-AFL merger and made the Hall of Fame, just two had been a first-team All-Pro by their third season, which puts White in good company alongside Rod Woodson and then-corner Ronnie Lott. Jets, Browns tapped for 2023 NFL Hall of Fame Game 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. Matthew Freedman (@MattFtheOracle) November 4, 2019. Lattimore has two Pro Bowl appearances in his first three seasons; if you throw out early-career players like Lattimore, Jalen Ramsey and Marcus Peters, eight of the 11 corners to pull that off since the merger are either in the Hall of Fame or going there. Edelman's case rests entirely on playoff and Super Bowl production. Stanley was a first-team All-Pro last season, which was his first serious recognition as a superstar. 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. Tight ends have relatively short careers, which makes projecting their Hall chances exceedingly difficult. While Pro Bowls and All-Pro awards are hardly gospel, they're the best measure we have of how league observers valued a particular player in his time. Finish reading this entire article absolutely FREE in our app. 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. Five of the 40 defensive players chosen among the top three picks of the draft since 1970 who are eligible for the Hall are enshrined, a percentage that will rise as players like Julius Peppers and Von Miller eventually become eligible. Ranking the top outlier contracts Moving to a higher-profile, more successful team will help Ramsey's chances of drawing national attention, although he wasn't close to Stephon Gilmore or Tre'Davious White a year ago. Larry Fitzgerald won't be suiting up for the Arizona Cardinals for the start of the season, but the future Hall of Fame wide receiver stopped just short Friday of announcing his retirement. In recent years Seattle has gained somewhat of a reputation as being the last stop for future Hall of Fame wide receivers. Given his style, I worry about his aging curve versus that of tight ends who are basically glorified wide receivers. Work to do (10% to 39%): WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, G David DeCastro, DE Cameron Heyward, S Minkah Fitzpatrick. Unlike Gurley, McCaffrey didn't win Offensive Player of the Year or make a deep playoff run. Unless Evans has a Powell-esque decline or gets radically overshadowed by a teammate la Holt with Isaac Bruce, then Evans seems to have a good chance to get into the Hall eventually. Lock (100%): DE J.J. Watt. 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. Lock (100%): QB Ben Roethlisberger. Watt, with his three Defensive Player of the Year awards with the Texans, will for sure give Houston another Hall of Famer. What will the Buffalo Bills do without defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier? We present them here for purely educational purposes. 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. Hall of Fame Wide Receivers | Pro Football Hall of Fame - pfhof Mack is entering what is likely to be his final season with the Falcons. As good as third-year receiver Chris Godwin has been for the Bucs this season, its hard to say that hes anything more than the Anquan Boldin to Evans Fitz. Seymour made it to seven Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams and hasn't made it to the Hall of Fame, but Thomas was more conspicuous at safety and was a key member of a legendary defense. With five consecutive first-team All-Pro appearances, he could retire tomorrow and get in without any questions. Future Hall of Fame wide receiver hosted as guest speaker this - Yahoo! Only nine players have done that in league history; outside of Green, the only player of the bunch who isn't in the Hall of Fame or a lock to get in is offensive tackle Richmond Webb, who played a much less notable position. I had Wagner as a lock when I first compiled this list. 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. Adams hasn't been able to break through the Julio Joneses of the world to earn a first-team All-Pro spot, which is probably where he needs to get. More NFL coverage . Gronkowski dominated at his position, played a key role on four Super Bowl winners, was on the all-2010s team and a first time All-Pro on four occasions. Interior OL | Edge In Week 9, he led the league with 180 yards receiving, and for the year, hes No. I'll do a little bit of projecting here and there, given historical aging curves and what we know about each player's injury history, but this is almost entirely about what each player has done so far. In related news, the Cowboys also have a running back likely bound for the Hall. Unfortunately, Houston fans have had to wait through the years to see their stars get inducted. Guy earned six Pro Bowl nominations and three All-Pro picks before turning 30. Erica Farber and Bill Siemering, prominent figures in U.S. commercial radio and public radio, respectively, are among eight new members of the Radio Hall of Fame. I would put Gronkowski's chance somewhere around 99%. The End of In-Person Voting for Future Hall-of-Fame Classes? Maybe Not A score of 100 is around the average modern-era inductee. In his other two seasons, he racked up a combined 23 sacks and made a pair of Pro Bowls. Hall of Famers | NASCAR Hall of Fame Every two-time winner got in easily, so while Watt might not have the longevity he hoped for, the Houston icon could retire tomorrow and get in. He needs only three more years to get to 60,000 passing yards, and if that gets Philip Rivers in, Ryan shouldn't have much trouble. Julio or Hopkins: Who's the better bet to lead in receiving? The only eligible player with that sort of rsum who hasn't made it to Canton is Webb, and while Webb was also a left tackle, he didn't make a single Pro Bowl after turning 30. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports. 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. Work to do (10% to 39%): RB Mark Ingram, OT Ronnie Stanley, DE Calais Campbell. Likely (70% to 99%): OT Jason Peters. As long as Willis gets in, Wagner could retire tomorrow and follow his former rival right through the front door. Hightower has made huge plays in two Super Bowls, having stuffed Marshawn Lynch at the 1-yard line and strip-sacked Matt Ryan, but he has rarely gotten the regular-season attention he deserves. Lock (100%): QB Drew Brees. Left and right arrows move across top level links and expand / close menus in sub levels. Players with that sort of injury history early in their careers typically don't have the sort of lengthy peak needed to become a Hall of Famer. If Murray breaks out in Year 2, he'll be on the fast track. Graham has five Pro Bowls to his name, but I don't think he has done enough to earn a gold jacket. Everyone but Hill is either a lock or extremely likely to make it in. Sensing that many people might disagree with me, I decided to post a poll on Twitter. Gore is third in career rushing yards, which owes much to the fact that he also ranks third in carries. Bell's case as a scheme- and personnel-transcendent back fell apart in an ugly 2019 season, with the former Steelers playmaker averaging just 3.2 yards per carry. We may be compensated for the links provided on this page. But Thomas rsum with six first team All-Pro selections and 10 Pro Bowl trips helped overcome any shortcomings with team success. While Hunter's chances are probably somewhere in the 65% range, Smith is closer to the lower end of the spectrum in the 40% zone. At the same time, Green has missed 23 games over the past two years with injuries. Jackson and teammate Kyle Fuller both slipped last season, but each earned Pro Bowl nods, and that's going to matter more to voters 15 years from now than how either player actually performed in 2019. He rarely gets the public attention he deserves, but the Pro Bowl voters haven't ignored the interior disruptor, who has earned eight Pro Bowl nods and a pair of first-team All-Pro votes. Kelce is difficult to judge because tight ends aren't well represented in the Hall. All rights reserved. Jets, Browns tapped for 2023 NFL Hall of Fame Game originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago. In the running (40% to 69%): DE Danielle Hunter, S Harrison Smith. Or write about sports? The former Panthers quarterback has two other Pro Bowl nods besides that 2015 season, although he hasn't received a nomination since. Hekker's case is interesting. That's just about a magic formula for getting into the Hall. Work to do (10% to 39%): QB Kyler Murray, S Budda Baker. James Harrison was a backup for four seasons, started regularly for the first time at 29, and probably won't make the Hall of Fame despite a pretty spectacular peak. It's an extremely small sample, and Collins is another example of a player who had an early All-Pro appearance before taking a step backward, but Adams projects as a superstar. Lock (100%): QB Aaron Rodgers. Browns, Jets to open 2023 NFL preseason in Hall of Fame Game Some players draw more attention after getting traded or signing a big extension, and Buckner did both this offseason. Work to do (10% to 39%): WR Adam Thielen, LB Anthony Barr. The site navigation utilizes arrow, enter, escape, and space bar key commands. I'll start with the two young players. Smith needs a similar sort of run over the next few years to have a shot. Barr made four consecutive Pro Bowls from 2015 to 2018, but it'll be tough for him to get the first-team All-Pro votes he'll need for Canton without racking up significant sack totals. Hunter just needs more individual recognition to raise his chances. He has been phenomenal while winning one Super Bowl, and came within an interception of winning a second, but he has also never been considered the best quarterback in football or garnered a single MVP vote. Watson has earned Pro Bowl nods in each of his first two full seasons as a starter, which is easier for quarterbacks than it is for most other positions.