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I've only been watching for 19 years, so there are clearly some guys on here I can't speak towards. I do have some commentary, though:
•Champ Bailey was a Top 3 corner for at least a decade, and I'd say half that time minimum he was the best corner in the game. Charles Woodson was my favorite player but as a freshman in 2003 I was given the nickname Champ by my defensive coordinator because stylistically I mimicked Champ's style. I got Champ tattooed on me at 16 and took my yearbook picture in a #24 Redskins jersey...
•Ronde Barber was one of the better corners of his time as well, but the way I look at this, Bailey and Woodson were basically Moss and Owens for cornerbacks in this era. Barber was great but a level below, he's not getting in before Champ and they aren't putting two corners in, in the same year...
•Tony Boselli will get in this year, because the committee has shown in recent years (Warner, Davis) that there is as much a premium placed on really high peaks as there is on longevity. Boselli was Terrell Davis of O-linemen in his day, this is his year, following Davis and Warner...
•Hines Ward is not a HOFer!
•Isaac Bruce was a really good player for a longer time, but Torry Holt was better. I'm can see Holt getting in before Bruce, but no way Bruce before Holt, and not sure it's either of these guys year...
•LeRoy Butler will get stronger consideration this year but will not get in ahead of Reed, a Top 3 All-Timer. Lynch was really good but I'd be curious to know, was he better than Butler? Neither will get in this year but in the coming years I think they'll be measured against each other...
•I dont know if both Alan Faneca and Steve Hutchison can get in, in the same year. Both deserve it...
•Tony Gonzalez and Ed Reed are no-brainers as first ballot Hall of Famers...
•I'm not sure Edgerrin James is an HOFer, but he was tremendous at his peak...
A picture of Ward would be in the dictionary definition of Hall of Very Good.
I think Edgerin James has an outside shot of making it in in later years. Running backs of the future will be putting up less yards than RBs of the early 2000's because of the changes in the way offenses play now. So in another decade Edge's numbers could look even better. And they are pretty decent numbers now. Has Tiki Barber ever been a semi-finalist? His numbers are very similar to Edge's.
Only seven players in the history of the NFL have had 3 or more seasons with 2000+ scrimmage yards. Four out of the seven are in the HOF. Dickerson, Faulk and Walter Payton have four such seasons. Tomilinson has 3 seasons. The three not in the HOF are Priest Holmes, Edgerrin James and Tiki Barber all with 3 such seasons.
No current active player has more than one season with 2000+ scrimmage yards but Gurley is on pace to have his second such season this year.
I've only been watching for 19 years, so there are clearly some guys on here I can't speak towards. I do have some commentary, though:
•Champ Bailey was a Top 3 corner for at least a decade, and I'd say half that time minimum he was the best corner in the game. Charles Woodson was my favorite player but as a freshman in 2003 I was given the nickname Champ by my defensive coordinator because stylistically I mimicked Champ's style. I got Champ tattooed on me at 16 and took my yearbook picture in a #24 Redskins jersey...
•Ronde Barber was one of the better corners of his time as well, but the way I look at this, Bailey and Woodson were basically Moss and Owens for cornerbacks in this era. Barber was great but a level below, he's not getting in before Champ and they aren't putting two corners in, in the same year...
•Tony Boselli will get in this year, because the committee has shown in recent years (Warner, Davis) that there is as much a premium placed on really high peaks as there is on longevity. Boselli was Terrell Davis of O-linemen in his day, this is his year, following Davis and Warner...
•Hines Ward is not a HOFer!
•Isaac Bruce was a really good player for a longer time, but Torry Holt was better. I'm can see Holt getting in before Bruce, but no way Bruce before Holt, and not sure it's either of these guys year...
•LeRoy Butler will get stronger consideration this year but will not get in ahead of Reed, a Top 3 All-Timer. Lynch was really good but I'd be curious to know, was he better than Butler? Neither will get in this year but in the coming years I think they'll be measured against each other...
•I dont know if both Alan Faneca and Steve Hutchison can get in, in the same year. Both deserve it...
•Tony Gonzalez and Ed Reed are no-brainers as first ballot Hall of Famers...
•I'm not sure Edgerrin James is an HOFer, but he was tremendous at his peak...
Out of the ones you mentioned.
Champ Bailey - no question in. One of the worst moves that the Redskins ever made was getting rid of him.
Ronde Barber - nope. Great but just slightly below my marker for HOF.
Tony Boselli - yes. Think this is his turn.
Hines Ward - absolutely not.
Issac Bruce - no. Definitely not first ballot.
Leroy Butler - no. Reed first, then we will see.
Alan Faneca - I’d make sure he’s first in line over Hutchinson.
Steve Hutchinson - he gets in but probably has a wait coming.
Tony Gonzalez - no debate whatsoever in first.
Ed Reed - see Tony Gonzalez.
Edgerrin James - nope. Short peak followed by mediocre rest of career.
Edgerrin James is undervalued in this thread. He ranks 13th in rushing yards ahead of Marcus Allen, Franco Harris, Thurman Thomas, John Riggins and O.J. Simpson. He ranks 20th in touchdowns ahead of Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Thurman Thomas and O.J. Simpson.
Edgerrin James - nope. Short peak followed by mediocre rest of career.
I wouldn’t say that at all about Edge.
A short peak guy would be like Priest Holmes or even TD.
Only three other players in the history of the league put up more 2,000+ scrimmage yard seasons. In that sense his peak was just as long as any other RB. Those three seasons were over a six year span. And he had an 1800+ yard season after his last 2000+ yard season. Four great seasons over a seven year span. Definitely not a short peak.
James is hurt the most by the fact that when he got to Arizona at only the age of 28 his game fell off a cliff. He should have had at least a couple more good seasons in him. But from what I recall those Arizona teams were pretty bad his first two years he was there. Like McCoy struggling on bad Bills teams now. And by the time Warner started playing and the Cardinals were good, James was 30 and didn’t have much left in the tank.
Most of these folks strike me as deserving HoFers. Yes to:
Tony Gonzalez (7/14/00s)
Champ Bailey (5/12/00s)
Ty Law (2/5/00s)
Isaac Bruce (1/4/none, long career with excellent counting stats)
Torry Holt (2/7/00s)
Ronde Barber (3/5/00s)
Karl Mecklenburg (4/6/none)
Darren Woodson (4/5/none)
Steve Atwater (2/8/90s)
John Lynch (3/9/none)
Ed Reed (7/9/00s)
LeRoy Butler (4/4/90s)
Tony Boselli (3/5/90s)
Kevin Mawae (7/8/00s)
Steve Hutchinson (6/7/00s)
Alan Faneca (6/9/00s)
Edgerrin James (3/4/00s, amassed over 12K rushing yards)
Sam Mills (3/5/none)
Richard Seymour (3/7/00s)
Zach Thomas (5/7/00s)
On the fence with:
Don Coryell (111-83-1 W-L, no SB appearances, gets some innovator credit)
Jimmy Johnson (80-64 W-L, 2 SB wins, gets GM credit)
No on:
Hines Ward (0/4/none, good but not great compiling numbers)
Clay Matthews (1/4/none)
Tom Flores (97-87 W-L, 2 SB wins)
I think Edgerrin James has a good HoF case. For starters, every RB with over 12,000 career rushing yards is in. He would be the only eligible player not in who reached that level. James was also an excellent receiver.
This is Karl Mecklenburg’s last eligible year as a regular candidate. I think he belongs in, and he has made the Semis many times, but never reached the finals. Hope he makes it all the way through, otherwise he falls into the Senior abyss.
This was also Mike Kenn’s (3/5/none) final eligible season, and while he had made the Semis before, he didn’t this year; he officially dropped into the Senior pool. I guess if Joe Jacoby (3/4/80s) was kept out, it’s also consistent to do so with Kenn, though I’d have voted for him.
Edgerrin James - nope. Short peak followed by mediocre rest of career.
Re James, he has a 2-year peak of his first two seasons, but he also has six other seasons not far off that, including two when he made the Pro Bowl and one where he garnered a 1st team all pro selection from Sporting News. He had one season shortened by injury in between these two time clumps, and unfortunately his decline phase was quick, but his strong seasons were good enough to push him over the 12K career rushing mark. He’s arguably the second best RB of the decade after Ladanian Tomlinson, and that should be good enough to qualify him for the HoF. RBs other than him from the period are short career huge peak flameout types such as Jamal Lewis, Shaun Alexander, and Priest Holmes and early retiree Tiki Barber — none of whom have a good HoF case.
Re Butler, would argue that this isn’t the way to go. The best approach is to decide who is and isn’t a HoFer and get as many of them in as you can. Butler best as I can see clears the in-out line unless you’re unrealistically small hall. The problem then is to get him in before his eligibility runs out, and if it means Ed Reed waits a year to accomplish that, so be it. Reed’s getting in anyway, and rightly so, and he has a ton of eligibility left. But time’s running out on guys like Atwater and Butler, and if you don’t get them in now, they fall into the Senior pool where they languish forever — ask guys like Chuck Howley and Maxie Baughan, both highly deserving OLBs from the 60s who are very old and still waiting.
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