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Greg Rajan is the senior editor for Texas Sports Nation, the Houston Chronicle's sports website, and also curates the daily TXSN newsletter and writes about sports media. Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens are two of the greatest players to ever catch a football, ranking first and second, respectively, in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in NFL history. ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN Work to do (10% to 39%): QB Jared Goff, OT Andrew Whitworth, P Johnny Hekker. Williams needs a couple of high-profile seasons as the best left tackle in football, which is tough with Tyron Smith around. Wait, Joe Burrow? Six of the seven men ahead of him are in the Hall, with the exception of Peppers. Exhibits Interactive Experiences Gear Shop Pit Stop Caf Accessibility Champ the Cheetah. You can't make the Hall of Fame while you're still in pads, but Mike Evans has been making his case over the past six seasons. Only Campbell is in the Hall of Fame. Edelman has never made a Pro Bowl, but the only . With the onset of COVID, the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year moved its annual board-of-selectors meeting from an in-person session the day before the Super Bowl to a virtual communication . He was a Pro Bowler in 2017 and has 37.5 sacks over his first four pro seasons, but he was overshadowed a bit by Campbell over that time frame. Likely (70% to 99%): TE Rob Gronkowski. Minnesota Vikings | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site Of all the young receivers, Moss is the only one to accomplish more through the first five seasons of his career. Graham has five Pro Bowls to his name, but I don't think he has done enough to earn a gold jacket. Tight ends have relatively short careers, which makes projecting their Hall chances exceedingly difficult. Meanwhile on offense, receiver Allen Robinson's three-year, $46.5 million contract (signed last spring) comes with $15.2 million guaranteed in 2023. White got his just due last season and was named a first-team All-Pro while tying for the league lead in interceptions (six). All of these guys have something in their favor, but it isn't enough to propel them to meaningful consideration as of yet. Hes No. Rams' best draft class featured two Hall of Fame wide receivers - NFL 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. "Nuk" has been a first-team All-Pro in each of his past three seasons, which is the sort of run that earns skill-position players a trip to Canton on their own. Brees could have retired five years ago and comfortably made the Hall of Fame. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Likely (70% to 99%): LB Khalil Mack. One issue: Five of those six are running backs, with Randy Moss as the only exception. Work to do (10% to 39%): WR Keenan Allen, G Trai Turner, DE Melvin Ingram III, CB Chris Harris Jr. Turner has made five consecutive Pro Bowls, but interior linemen typically need multiple first-team All-Pro nods to draw significant Hall interest. Mike Evans is on pace to be a Hall of Fame caliber wide receiver 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. Edelman's career as a starter really didn't begin until he was 27, so while his case is built on postseason performance, I still don't think he has the regular-season production needed to supplement a case. He has been one of the five best players at the second-most lucrative position in football over the past five years, and the fact that he was traded for two first-round picks and then delivered a wildly successful season with all of that attention in 2018 helps him. From 2000-2003, Randy Moss put up video game numbers: 376 receptions, 5,649 yards and 49 touchdowns. Mosley's case, meanwhile, has stalled in New York. Joe Fortenbaugh isn't picking Odell Beckham Jr. to lead the NFL in receiving yards, but he expects Kevin Stefanski's scheme to improve the wide receiver's numbers in 2020. Allen will have a tougher time (presumably) without Yannick Ngakoue or Calais Campbell around in 2020, but he's off to a great start. Prescott has made two Pro Bowls over his first four seasons, but his best rsum point is winning Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2016. 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. This site .css-110721q{color:#0079F0;}contains commercial content. Work to do (10% to 39%): S Tyrann Mathieu. If Evans goes his entire career without gaining widespread notoriety or making a memorable run in the playoffs even if he has a long and steadily productive career and is regarded as one of the top receivers of his generation his chances to make the Hall of Fame will be materially diminished. More NFL coverage . If McCaffrey can piece together even two more seasons at his 2019 level and add two or three more like his 2018 campaign, that might be enough to make it to the Hall of Fame. Evans was a big-time NFL prospect. Bosa won Defensive Rookie of the Year, which hasn't been quite as big of a boon as you might think. So maybe the best thing for Johnson and Texans fans is to be patient. Once again, its wait til next year for Texans great Andre Johnson when it comes to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Aaron Rodgers Tried Recruiting a Future Hall of Fame Wide Receiver To As I mentioned with Prescott, Barkley's Offensive Rookie of the Year nod gets him in this category alone. What will the Buffalo Bills do without defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier? Beasley won a sack title. The star inside linebacker made his first Pro Bowl last season, which is incredible given that it was his age-21 season. After all, offensive tackle Joe Thomas was elected Thursday on the first ballot despite never playing a playoff game in 11 seasons with the Browns, who were more often than not the NFLs standard for team ineptitude. He has made five consecutive Pro Bowls and has a first-team All-Pro appearance. Joe Fortenbaugh breaks down why Julio Jones is the safer bet over DeAndre Hopkins to lead the league in receiving yards. 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. Work to do (10% to 39%): WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, G David DeCastro, DE Cameron Heyward, S Minkah Fitzpatrick. The former LSU corner was already a star on the field after his 2018 campaign, but getting that first nod is usually tougher than getting invited back. There are four notable first-time eligibles on this ballot: running back Adrian Peterson, tight end Rob Gronkowski, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and wide receiver Antonio Brown. The only Hall-eligible players drafted since 1970 who have five of those and aren't in the Hall are Alan Faneca and Zach Thomas. To use an example, I don't think Eli Manning has the rsum of a Hall of Fame quarterback, but history tells us that most quarterbacks who win two Super Bowls typically get in. A portion of ticket purchases is a tax-deductible charitable donation to the Museum . The only thing Pouncey is missing is a Super Bowl appearance. Sensing that many people might disagree with me, I decided to post a poll on Twitter. After five consecutive Pro Bowl campaigns, I wonder whether Landry actually has a better shot of surpassing his friend and longtime teammate. Assessing Browns' FA needs. Green. Since 1980, there have been 23 Modern-Era Wide Receivers honored by the Hall of Fame, with an average Legends Score of 29. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports. 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. 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. 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. If Brown has a Whitworth-esque autumn to his career, he has a shot. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. No promotions available. Eagles great Harold Carmichael finally gets his Hall of Fame enshrinement In the running (40% to 69%): DE Danielle Hunter, S Harrison Smith. Hekker got a two-season head start, but he has been a first-team All-Pro four times before turning 30 in February. Work to do (10% to 39%): DE DeMarcus Lawrence, DT Gerald McCoy, LB Leighton Vander Esch. I addressed this in my MVP column in July. There could still be a season in which Mike Zimmer needs to use Barr as an edge rusher and he ends up with 10 sacks, but that's not going to be enough. The first game of the 2023 NFL calendar is . Hall of Fame Wide Receivers | Pro Football Hall of Fame - pfhof He is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, joining Lawrence Taylor as the only three-time winners of the award. He ranks seventh all-time in receiving touchdowns (116), 30th in yards (11,841) and 17th in receptions (955). Interior OL | Edge Most Approximate Value (AV) in a receiver's best sets of five and seven consecutive seasons, 1960-2019. Both Bosa and Kittle could make this tier placement look stupid if they have big seasons in 2020. 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. 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. The NFL's 2023 Hall of Fame Game will feature the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets, the Hall announced Tuesday. In the running (40% to 69%): RB Todd Gurley. Both are locks for election. Likely (70% to 99%): QB Russell Wilson, LB Bobby Wagner. Gates, a former college basketball player, had one of the greatest careers for an undrafted player, logging 16 seasons with the Chargers. All but Gronkowski generated controversial off-field headlines, but the Hall voters only debate what is accomplished on the field. 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. He has stayed healthy and productive, so that hasn't been the issue. I think Thomas is a prohibitive favorite to get in. In the running (40% to 69%): DE Joey Bosa, S Derwin James. The Hall of Fame Game, like the rest of the preseason, has been canceled during the coronavirus pandemic. He had a wasted 2019 season, as he went down with a high ankle sprain in Week 3 and averaged 3.2 yards per carry over his next seven games after returning, but 2020 should see Barkley return to form. All HOFm Positions: QBRBWRTEGTCDTDEILBOLBDBKP, Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2:32PM. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. Suggs logged 139 sacks, good for eighth all-time. 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. Hes too similar to other Hall-of-Famers and future Hall-of-Famers not to be taken seriously. Baker was a first-team All-Pro in 2017 and a two-time Pro Bowler, although his 2017 awards were for special-teams work, which isn't valued as highly by voters. Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor. 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. I mentioned the math for quarterbacks in the Bengals section; in Garrett's case, four of 26 non-QBs taken with the first overall pick since the merger have made it to the Hall. In the running (40% to 69%): RB Saquon Barkley. 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 only wide receiver from Carmichael's era who had more TD catches was Paul Warfield, who had 85. 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. Gore isn't quite a lock because he has never been a first-team All-Pro or won a Super Bowl, and he has only one top-five finish in a rushing title race (third in 2006). Work to do (10% to 39%): QB Matthew Stafford, CB Jeff Okudah. What happens next is critical for Gurley, who would have seemed on the road to Canton after taking home Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2015 and adding an Offensive Player of the Year award two years later. Donald clinched his gold jacket when he won his second Defensive Player of the Year award. Five seasons of 100 receptions or more plus a few others that flirted with 100 make Johnson one of the most reliable wide receivers in NFL history. The others are Moss, Keenan Allen and Amari Cooper. 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. The Hall site draws a distinction, interestingly, between wide receivers and ends. In part, that has been driven by health; the only other wideout ranking in the top 100 for receiving yards who has played all 80 games over the past five seasons is Larry Fitzgerald. Members of the Ring of Honor are recognized with a banner on the facade of the Metrodome's upper deck, forever living in Vikings lore. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. I think the PED suspensions could help keep out players like Edelman and Lane Johnson, but it's tough to imagine Peterson not making it. It's not too late to play with friends and family. 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. McShay's favorite pick for all 32 teams There are questions about Roethlisberger's character; he has twice been accused of sexual assault. Inside linebackers generally need to become Defensive Player of the Year candidates and earn multiple first-team All-Pro appearances to get serious consideration for Canton, but Edmunds is off to a great start. The Ring of Honor recognizes Vikings legends for their contributions to the success of the team on and off the field. Join our linker program. In a normal universe, we would be celebrating the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2020 right about now. The only player in the Hall of Fame primarily for his work as a punter is Ray Guy, and you could make a case that Hekker is on that track. I think he'll end up getting in because he has simply racked up numbers year after year without missing much time, although I could also see an argument that he hasn't done enough outside of that one brilliant year. Wilson is somewhere in the 90% range. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Work to do (10% to 39%): DE Yannick Ngakoue. 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. Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans is having himself a season. In the running (40% to 69%): DE Josh Allen. Published: August 24, 2021. Bosa's case is trickier, in part because he missed four games in 2016 and nine games in 2018 with injuries. The only exceptions are a pair of interior offensive linemen (Alan Faneca and Steve Wisniewski) and safety John Lynch. Where does Evans slot in? If he recovers and returns to his 2017-18 form, he still has plenty of time to get back on the Canton track, given that he turned 26 this week. Rent the Hall. Quarterbacks like Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason and Steve McNair won league MVP without earning enshrinement. Heres what those guys did in their first five seasons and where they rank among all receivers in the age-21-to-25 cohort. Heres the top 10 in NFL and AFL history in receiving yardage through 85 games. All seven players who did that and who are eligible for the Hall are in, and the list of ineligible guys includes Hill, Patrick Willis, Joe Thomas, Adrian Peterson, Patrick Peterson, Zack Martin and Aaron Donald. The 2021 Radio Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at the in-person 2021 Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday, October 28, 2021, at Chicago's Wintrust Grand Banking Hall. Roethlisberger won two Super Bowls with the Steelers and spent 18 seasons as Pittsburghs starter. 7 overall in the 2014 draft at the age of 20. Freedman: Mike Evans Will Be in the NFL Hall of Fame Winning an MVP in Year 2 obviously leaps Jackson into consideration on its own, but it doesn't seal it. The content on this page is for informational purposes only. Center Rodney Hudson deserves more attention, but he has been stuck behind Maurkice Pouncey in the AFC and has only three Pro Bowls to show across his seven years as a starter with the Chiefs and Raiders. In the running (40% to 69%): RB Christian McCaffrey. Peters might look better in the long term than he does now. Given his style, I worry about his aging curve versus that of tight ends who are basically glorified wide receivers. Twelve of the 29 Hall-eligible players who have started their careers with three consecutive Pro Bowl nods have made it to Canton. Try selecting a different location. Theyre easily first-ballot selections. Mike Evans is on pace to be a Hall of Fame caliber wide receiver. Also, if a guy enters the league at a young age, he could theoretically have a longer NFL career, which would give him more time in the second half (or post-peak portion) of his career to put up the accumulation stats often needed to bolster a Hall-of-Fame case. When: 1999-2004 These two probably had the greatest four-year stretch in NFL history. He previously worked as the sports editor at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Jimmy Smith's peak was among the best ever. Likely (70% to 99%): CB Richard Sherman. Likely (70% to 99%): QB Matt Ryan, WR Julio Jones. But given the relatively small number of modern-era inductees each year a minimum of three and maximum of five now is a good time to look at the ballot in upcoming years and notable players wholl become eligible for election and may impact Johnsons fate with voters. Work to do (10% to 39%): RB Le'Veon Bell, LB C.J. Subscribe to Stathead Football: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Pro Football Reference Database. In his final college season, he had a nice 69 receptions for 1,394 yards and 12 touchdowns in 13 games as a redshirt sophomore. New Bengals wide receivers coach Troy Walters is excited about his new Jets, Browns tapped for 2023 NFL Hall of Fame Game Matthew Freedman (@MattFtheOracle) November 4, 2019. Work to do (10% to 39%): OT Terron Armstead, OT Ryan Ramczyk. Do you have a blog? Work to do (10% to 39%): OT Duane Brown. 10 Hall of Fame-Worthy NFL Wide Receivers (not named Julian Edelman) Jones should make up some of that difference in 2020, and after Fitzgerald retires, he should be able to challenge the Cardinals great for that second spot. Only Chandler Jones and Aaron Donald have more sacks since the start of 2017. Unlike Gurley, McCaffrey didn't win Offensive Player of the Year or make a deep playoff run. Gilmore wasn't on track to become a Hall of Famer before he joined the Patriots, having made one Pro Bowl across his first five seasons in Buffalo, but he has made back-to-back first-team All-Pro teams and then won Defensive Player of the Year last season. Jones is likely to top 13,000 receiving yards and earn his eighth Pro Bowl nod this season, which should be enough to seal things for the superstar wideout. In the running (40% to 69%): WR Odell Beckham Jr., WR Jarvis Landry. Aaron Rodgers has had a lack of weapons on the Green Bay Packers With three rushing titles, a 2,000-yard season and an MVP award in his trophy room, Peterson will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He doesn't need that sort of individual production to make it to the Hall of Fame, but the guys who made it in without a single first-team All-Pro appearance needed something else. 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 Inductees Nominees Induction Weekend Induction Process Landmark Award Squier-Hall Award Blue Jacket & Class Ring. The superstar edge rusher has made the Pro Bowl every year except 2013, when he was suspended before going down with a torn ACL. The Best Wide Receivers of AllTime. In the running (40% to 69%): QB Philip Rivers, G Quenton Nelson, LB Darius Leonard. 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. The Notre Dame product probably needs a second one to have a viable shot at Canton. McCaffrey is still only 24 and has a relatively sterling health history, so it's on him to buck history. He could roll off a string of these nods in the years to come. 4 overall pick will start his career at left tackle after Nate Solder opted out of this season. He was excellent in his third season, but since then, his production has roughly been in line with that of Robby Anderson. Charley Taylor. 3 pick. As a result, I would expect him to make it to the Hall someday. 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. These NFL wide receivers do not count toward our list of 10 worthy Hall of Famers. The former Panthers quarterback has two other Pro Bowl nods besides that 2015 season, although he hasn't received a nomination since. Landry's hip surgery then looms as a problem; if he can get past it and keep this up, he profiles as a borderline Hall of Famer. The Hall of Fame receiver responded with a $100 million defamation lawsuit. Marriott has since been ordered by a judge to release footage of Irvin and the woman's altercation and the name of the . Naturally, now seems like a good time to look forward. When a group consists of you and Jerry Rice, you've done something right. If the Falcons had held on to their lead and won the Super Bowl, Ryan would have won game MVP, and his 2016 probably would have been enough for a gold jacket. Nelson doesn't play a high-profile position, but he's off to a great start. Just six of 32 Hall-eligible winners made it to Canton, although that's going to rise in the years to come as the likes of Charles Woodson and Julius Peppers win enshrinement. Of the 16 Hall-eligible first-rounders who were first-team All-Pros as rookies, nine are enshrined. The left tackle has seven Pro Bowls and two All-Pro nods before turning 30. The guy who hasn't played a single NFL snap? But lack of team success isnt a disqualifier. 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. 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. Watt's last name and presence on a high-profile defense won't hurt. James was a first-team All-Pro as a rookie, and while he missed 11 games in 2019 with a foot injury, he should get back on track in 2020. In the running (40% to 69%): DT Ndamukong Suh. Finish reading this entire article absolutely FREE in our app. 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. Lock (100%): RB Adrian Peterson. 50 Greatest QB-WR Duos in NFL History - Bleacher Report Art Monk. Goff took a major step backward in 2019 and doesn't appear to be on the same level as the other top quarterbacks in the conference. 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. Three different Cowboys defenders make this list, and you could make a case for Jaylon Smith, too. By Paul Mclane . Itll be interesting to see if that stellar stretch is good enough to get him in Canton. He might not make it on the first ballot, but he should make it eventually. 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. Projecting future Hall of Famers for all 32 NFL teams - ESPN.com Some players draw more attention after getting traded or signing a big extension, and Buckner did both this offseason.