So from time to time, I head over to Pro Football Reference's site to crunch some numbers in order to see whether or not certain players should be in the HOF. Today was one of those days, so I figured I'd write up a quick column on some of my findings...
At QB, there are only 6 players with at least 30,000 career yards (passing & rushing), 200 total TD's, a TD/INT ratio of 1.5 or better, and at least 7.0 yards per attempt. They are:
Steve Young (already in HOF)
Joe Montana (already in HOF)Dan Marino (already in HOF)
Brett Favre (a lock for the HOF)Peyton Manning (a lock for the HOF)
And #6? Randall Cunningham. This guy has virtually no chance of making the HOF, but it was very surprising to see him in such company as the greats listed above. Obviously the rushing yards helped to pad his total, but he still threw for 29,979 yards as well...
And to make the guidelines a bit more stringent, I also looked to see how many players were in the top 12 all time in Completions, Completion %, Yards, TD's, and TD/INT ratio. The only two guys to make the list: Montana and Manning. I hate to give Manning credit, but he is already one of the top 5 best QB's of all time, and is still only 30 years old...
At Running Back, I know it has been discussed at length already, but if I had a vote, Tiki Barber would be in the HOF. Yeah, his total TD's are a bit low, but consider this; 18th all time in rushing yards, 5th all time in receptions by a RB, 9th all time in yards from scrimmage, and tied for 4th in yards per carry (minimum of 1,500 carries). In terms of total yards from scrimmage, here's how the top 10 looks:
1. Emmitt Smith (heading to HOF)
2. Walter Peyton (HOF)
3. Marshall Faulk (heading to HOF)4. Barry Sanders (HOF)
5. Marcus Allen (HOF)
6. Curtis Martin (heading to HOF)
7. Thurman Thomas (HOF)
8. Tony Dorsett (HOF)
9. Tiki Barber (?)
10. Eric Dickerson (HOF)
How can he not get in?
Also, LT already has 119 total TD's. There is a very strong possibility that he will be #2 in total TD's by a RB by the end of next season. Considering that with the exception of the great Jim Brown, every player currently ahead of him played at least 70 (!) more games than him. Unreal...
For Wide Receivers, I found it interesting that only 11 players have averaged at least 5 receptions per game in their career, and that 9 of the 11 (Rice and Sterling Sharpe being the other 2) are all still active.... In addition, only 3 players (active and retired) have averaged at least 80 yards per game (rushing and receiving) at WR. The first two weren't surprising (Torry Holt, Randy Moss). The third? Anquan Boldin. Now granted, he's played far fewer games than both players, but if he can continue this pace for the next 5-7 years, we might be talking about an Arizona Cardinal heading to the HOF...
Just for kicks, I took a look to see which WR's were in the exclusive club of at least 600 catches, 10,000 total yards, and 75 total TD's. 15 players made the list:
5 are still active (Harrison, Owens, Moss, Bruce, Galloway)
4 are already in the HOF (Largent, Lofton, Maynard, Charlie Taylor)
3 are currently ineligible, but are locks (Rice, Carter, Tim Brown)
The other 3? Irving Fryar, Andre Reed, and Andre Rison. Rison was on the low end, and has about a .5% chance of being enshrined. As for the other two, atlhough they both played a ton of games (255 for Fryar, 227 for Reed), they both deserve to be voted in at some point...
And finally, at the Tight End position, although the HOF has been stingy in admitting them (only 7 in the post modern era), there is one player that gets no publicity but should be in. Only 5 guys are in the top 10 for receptions, yards, and TD's for TE's:
Ozzie Newsome - HOF
Kellen Winslow - HOF
Shannon Sharpe - lock for the HOF
Tony Gonzalez - lock for the HOF
#5? Former Patriots TE Ben Coates. 2 Super Bowl appearances (we forget about those years with Baltimore), 5 consecutive Pro Bowls, and just a dominant force year in, year out. He was one catch shy of 500, but there's no reason why he shouldn't be in the Hall...
5. Marcus Allen (HOF)
6. Curtis Martin (heading to HOF)
7. Thurman Thomas (HOF)
8. Tony Dorsett (HOF)
9. Tiki Barber (?)
10. Eric Dickerson (HOF)
How can he not get in?
Also, LT already has 119 total TD's. There is a very strong possibility that he will be #2 in total TD's by a RB by the end of next season. Considering that with the exception of the great Jim Brown, every player currently ahead of him played at least 70 (!) more games than him. Unreal...
For Wide Receivers, I found it interesting that only 11 players have averaged at least 5 receptions per game in their career, and that 9 of the 11 (Rice and Sterling Sharpe being the other 2) are all still active.... In addition, only 3 players (active and retired) have averaged at least 80 yards per game (rushing and receiving) at WR. The first two weren't surprising (Torry Holt, Randy Moss). The third? Anquan Boldin. Now granted, he's played far fewer games than both players, but if he can continue this pace for the next 5-7 years, we might be talking about an Arizona Cardinal heading to the HOF...
Just for kicks, I took a look to see which WR's were in the exclusive club of at least 600 catches, 10,000 total yards, and 75 total TD's. 15 players made the list:
5 are still active (Harrison, Owens, Moss, Bruce, Galloway)
4 are already in the HOF (Largent, Lofton, Maynard, Charlie Taylor)
3 are currently ineligible, but are locks (Rice, Carter, Tim Brown)
The other 3? Irving Fryar, Andre Reed, and Andre Rison. Rison was on the low end, and has about a .5% chance of being enshrined. As for the other two, atlhough they both played a ton of games (255 for Fryar, 227 for Reed), they both deserve to be voted in at some point...
And finally, at the Tight End position, although the HOF has been stingy in admitting them (only 7 in the post modern era), there is one player that gets no publicity but should be in. Only 5 guys are in the top 10 for receptions, yards, and TD's for TE's:
Ozzie Newsome - HOF
Kellen Winslow - HOF
Shannon Sharpe - lock for the HOF
Tony Gonzalez - lock for the HOF
#5? Former Patriots TE Ben Coates. 2 Super Bowl appearances (we forget about those years with Baltimore), 5 consecutive Pro Bowls, and just a dominant force year in, year out. He was one catch shy of 500, but there's no reason why he shouldn't be in the Hall...
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