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. Hall of Fame Wide Receivers. All HOFm Positions: QBRBWRTEGTCDTDEILBOLBDBKP, Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2:32PM. Graham has five Pro Bowls to his name, but I don't think he has done enough to earn a gold jacket. Browns star left tackle Joe Thomas and Jets greats Joe . Likely (70% to 99%): S Earl Thomas. Author: Nate Greer. An interesting case could be made for Frank Gore, who is third all-time in rushing with 16,000 yards in a 16-season career with five teams, but tied for 19th in touchdowns with 81. 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. 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. Can Baker Mayfield's game be fixed? 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. While injuries have cost Watt 32 games over the past four seasons, his unprecedented four-season peak from 2012 to 2015 locked up things. But history tells us that's a lot to ask. Get started >>. Likely (70% to 99%): LB Khalil Mack. Wait, Joe Burrow? These NFL wide receivers do not count toward our list of 10 worthy Hall of Famers. How Antonio Brown is hurting his Hall of Fame future, and what the Hester was a (great) returner, which typically doesn't inspire the same sort of fervor as other All-Pro nods, while Jackson actually started with three consecutive All-Pro nods before dropping off and retiring after nine years. The Ring of Honor recognizes Vikings legends for their contributions to the success of the team on and off the field. It might seem surprising to put Hill this high, but he has made it to four Pro Bowls and been a first-team All-Pro twice across his first four seasons. Rent the Hall. As long as Willis gets in, Wagner could retire tomorrow and follow his former rival right through the front door. 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. With five consecutive first-team All-Pro appearances, he could retire tomorrow and get in without any questions. (1:43), Barnwell: Projecting future Hall of Famers for all 32 NFL teams, The future of the NFL combine: Is there really a chance it could end forever? While he has made six Pro Bowls, that's not typically enough for interior linemen to make it into the Hall. Hekker got a two-season head start, but he has been a first-team All-Pro four times before turning 30 in February. Often, I'm making an educated guess as to what would get a player in by looking at which accomplishments and plaudits matter more to voters. Henry plays a Hall-friendly position and just won a rushing title. And as much as everyone loves Boldin, he was never dominant enough to keep his former teammate out of Canton. In the running (40% to 69%): DE Chandler Jones. Its not at all random that hes become a big-time NFL player. Work to do (10% to 39%): RB Le'Veon Bell, LB C.J. The Best Wide Receivers of All-Time - Future Football Legends New league weeks start every Thursday with TNF kickoff. Work to do (10% to 39%): DE Yannick Ngakoue. A big individual season and a few MVP votes in 2020 would be enough to push him into the next category. Eagles fans will be furious, but the reality is that Wentz has made one Pro Bowl and hasn't won a playoff game or led the league in a major statistical category (outside of fumbles) during his first four seasons. Work to do (10% to 39%): DE Chase Young, S Landon Collins. 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. Archive: Every podcast from Barnwell . In fact, a future Hall of Fame wide receiver recently revealed that Rodgers tried to recruit him over to the Packers. 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. 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. McCaffrey is still only 24 and has a relatively sterling health history, so it's on him to buck history. The Hall of Fame Game, like the rest of the preseason, has been canceled during the coronavirus pandemic. If Kelce can earn that nod in 2020, that might be enough to get him in. 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. Radio Hall of Fame Announces 2021 Inductees - Radio World 260 players who could win MVP Marriott has since been ordered by a judge to release footage of Irvin and the woman's altercation and the name of the . He might not make it on the first ballot, but he should make it eventually. Martin, who also turns 30 during the season, might not even need another nod. I've split players into four groups. 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. The Hall site draws a distinction, interestingly, between wide receivers and ends. Likely (70% to 99%): QB Matt Ryan, WR Julio Jones. Mosley needs to be recognized as the best inside linebacker in the game at least a couple of times; after missing virtually all of 2019 with a groin injury, he has opted out of the 2020 season over concerns for his family's health. Lock (100%): RB Adrian Peterson. Hes too similar to other Hall-of-Famers and future Hall-of-Famers not to be taken seriously. Six players have done that since the merger: Murray, Cam Newton, Sam Bradford, George Rogers, Billy Sims and Earl Campbell. I think his five-year peak with the Seahawks probably would have been enough to get him in, but earning a sixth Pro Bowl trip with the 49ers last season only helped his chances. Adam Vinatieri will eventually join Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen, but those guys averaged 22 seasons in the league. He led that sports section to three Associated Press Sports Editors top-10 national awards and his work has been honored by APSE and the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors. Even if Hopkins takes a step backward without Deshaun Watson, he's probably just a couple of Pro Bowls from getting in. Andre Johnson: What future Hall of Fame ballots look like As it stands, though, Gurley doesn't have enough on his rsum to get in. What Current NFL Players are Going to the Hall of Fame: NFC North 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. 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. 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 . Lock (100%): QB Drew Brees. Three different Cowboys defenders make this list, and you could make a case for Jaylon Smith, too. Quarterback Drew Brees and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald are the two prominent ballot newcomers. He has made four Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro in 2012, but there are just too many offensive linemen with more impressive rsums who have struggled to get in for Brown to have much of a chance. Suggs logged 139 sacks, good for eighth all-time. We all know what he's capable of, but he needs to put together a first-team All-Pro or Defensive Player of the Year-level campaign soon. Dan Orlovsky denounces the NFL Network's Top 100 players for 2020 for excluding Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz. 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. People in favor of him will point to his stats, which are clearly better than those of Eli Manning, but that ignores the point; Manning isn't getting into the Hall because of his regular-season stats. The former Panthers quarterback has two other Pro Bowl nods besides that 2015 season, although he hasn't received a nomination since. Both are locks for election. 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. Like Hill, if Kelce gets three more seasons with Mahomes, I think he's a Hall of Famer. Former Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, ex-Giants quarterback Eli Manning, ex-Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs and longtime Patriots/Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri are the notables on the 2025 ballot. 4 overall pick will start his career at left tackle after Nate Solder opted out of this season. Smith-Schuster had a down 2019 season amid injuries and terrible quarterback play; he should bounce back to his 1,426-yard form from 2018. Julio or Hopkins: Who's the better bet to lead in receiving? Pictured: Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13). I'll start with the two young players. 1 min read. Garrett has played at a much higher level than Mayfield, but the $125 million man has missed 11 of 48 games thanks to various injuries and his season-ending suspension in 2019. Bosa's case is trickier, in part because he missed four games in 2016 and nine games in 2018 with injuries. One more Pro Bowl would probably do the trick. Harris has four Pro Bowls and a first-team All-Pro appearance in 2016, but his play has slipped over the past couple of years, and smaller cornerbacks typically don't do well after they turn 30. The Bucs already have the best receiver duo in the NFL in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and the addition of a player like Brown in his prime would make this unit completely unfair. Collins was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in 2016 and has three Pro Bowls across his first five seasons. Unfortunately, Houston fans have had to wait through the years to see their stars get inducted. He has made five consecutive Pro Bowls and has a first-team All-Pro appearance. When a group consists of you and Jerry Rice, you've done something right. As he enters the league, Young's chances of making the Hall of Fame on draft status alone sneak him into consideration. Erica Farber. Work to do (10% to 39%): QB Jared Goff, OT Andrew Whitworth, P Johnny Hekker. 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. The only wide receiver from Carmichael's era who had more TD catches was Paul Warfield, who had 85. Green. 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. Lock (100%): DE J.J. Watt. What will the Buffalo Bills do without defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier? Given the ages of Gilmore and Patrick Peterson, Ramsey is neck-and-neck with White and Marshon Lattimore as the likely best cornerback in football over the next five years.