Players the Jaguars could target 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. He's in line behind guys like Atkins unless the USC product continues to make Pro Bowls deep into his 30s. What makes Evans production especially impressive is that he entered the league at such a young age. The Best Wide Receivers of AllTime. 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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 five consecutive first-team All-Pro appearances, he could retire tomorrow and get in without any questions. Watt's last name and presence on a high-profile defense won't hurt. First, its hard for young guys to adapt to the NFL. Regardless of age, Evans has had an impressive start to his career. He previously worked as the sports editor at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND In other words, instead of trying to project their chances by guessing what they'll do in the future, I'm looking at what they've done so far, comparing them to players at similar points in their careers, and seeing how often players with those sorts of careers made it into the Hall of Fame. What will define Eric Bieniemy's success? Six of the seven men ahead of him are in the Hall, with the exception of Peppers. Through Week 9 of the 2019 season, Evans has played 85 career games. If a receiver can enter the league and perform well right away at a boyish age, that speaks well for his future as he develops. In the running (40% to 69%): WR A.J. Gore is third in career rushing yards, which owes much to the fact that he also ranks third in carries. We're in a pass-happy era, but Thomas has more receptions (470) and receiving yards (5,512) than any other players in league history through their first four seasons. All 259 picks | Every team's class The Hall of Fame Game, like the rest of the preseason, has been canceled during the coronavirus pandemic. Joe Fortenbaugh breaks down why Julio Jones is the safer bet over DeAndre Hopkins to lead the league in receiving yards. 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. Wagner turned 30 in June, and after eight seasons in the league, he has six Pro Bowl appearances and five first-team All-Pro nominations. Wait, Joe Burrow? 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. Edelman has never made a Pro Bowl, but the only . The second-best trade in Reid's history might have been trading a first-rounder to the Bills in 2009 for Peters, who has held down left tackle for 10 of the past 11 seasons in Philadelphia and will return to play guard in 2020. Gronk has five first-team All-Pro appearances. That's just about a magic formula for getting into the Hall. Tucker is only nine years in, and while he can kick for a long time if he stays healthy, asking anyone in the NFL to do anything for 13 more seasons is risky. Of the 35 Hall-eligible players who have won that trophy since the merger, 11 are in, and that number will rise in the years to come. 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. How Antonio Brown is hurting his Hall of Fame future, and what the This was. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. He deserves it. So maybe the best thing for Johnson and Texans fans is to be patient. By Paul Mclane . Ngakoue has deserved more attention and might get it in a new locale if the Jaguars honor his request and trade the 25-year-old before the season begins. One more Pro Bowl would probably do the trick. He turned 32 on Friday, and while there could be more left in the tank, he probably needs another Pro Bowl season or two to ensure he makes it. Here's everything we know, Richardson sets QB mark for vertical, broad jump, QB Young 5-10 1/8, 204 pounds at NFL combine, Sources: Patriots tell QB Hoyer he's being cut, Horns' Robinson: Versatility worthy of early pick, Jones: Not fixated on Cowboys' drought, just '23, Sources: Raiders plan franchise tag for Jacobs, WR Addison to Steelers' Pickett: 'Come get me', Wolverines' Turner wows with 4.26 40 at combine, Everything you need to know about Geno Smith's contract negotiations. 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. The reason Jackson is in this section and Fuller is in the next group is that Jackson has made two Pro Bowls in three seasons while Fuller has two across six years. Lock (100%): QB Ben Roethlisberger. Pro Football Hall of Fame Hall of Fame Village. He should have a very strong case for election. His peak is Hall of Fame-worthy -- he has two of the three best seasons in fantasy football history by a tight end -- but it lasted only four seasons. There are another 11 players who aren't yet Hall-eligible, and five of them are locks to do the same. Complicating things for Johnson is the logjam of candidates at his position. 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. 4 overall pick will start his career at left tackle after Nate Solder opted out of this season. Larry Fitzgerald on NFL future: 'I just don't have the urge to play Hall of Famers | NASCAR Hall of Fame to put up the accumulation stats often needed to bolster a Hall-of-Fame case. 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. He also has worked at the Austin American-Statesman and Temple Daily Telegram. 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). Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans is having himself a season. 1 with seven receiving touchdowns as well as 1,407 air yards and yards after the catch combined (perAirYards.com). 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. 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. Mike Evans is on pace to be a Hall of Fame caliber wide receiver. Heres what you need to know. What Current NFL Players are Going to the Hall of Fame: NFC North Donald clinched his gold jacket when he won his second Defensive Player of the Year award. Buckner made the Pro Bowl in 2018, but he was otherwise underappreciated during his four seasons in the Bay Area. Rodgers is a three-time All-Pro, a member of the 2010s All-Decade Team and so much more. Likely (70% to 99%): WR DeAndre Hopkins, CB Patrick Peterson. Work to do (10% to 39%): TE Jimmy Graham, CB Kyle Fuller. Kittle is the best all-around tight end in football right now, and if you could tell me this minute that he would have a 12-year career, I'd expect him to be a Hall of Famer. 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. He was on the All-2000s team, a three-time first team All-Pro and made eight Pro Bowls. In a normal universe, we would be celebrating the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2020 right about now. Martin, who also turns 30 during the season, might not even need another nod. 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. The only exceptions are a pair of interior offensive linemen (Alan Faneca and Steve Wisniewski) and safety John Lynch. Work to do (10% to 39%): QB Carson Wentz, TE Zach Ertz, CB Darius Slay. Evans has a chance to continue making history in 2022. Projecting future Hall of Famers for all 32 NFL teams - ESPN.com Jordan's ascension from very good player to one of the best defensive ends in football over the past three years has helped drive his candidacy. As I mentioned with Prescott, Barkley's Offensive Rookie of the Year nod gets him in this category alone. The former Philadelphia Eagles great and St. Louis Rams star will become the 28th and 29th wide receivers to be honored with a place in Canton, OH. Interior OL | Edge The Nebraska product nearly won a Super Bowl with the Rams in 2018, but a win with the Bucs and one more All-Pro appearance would greatly help his chances. It was a good weekend for wide receivers at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. 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. Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon both expect Frank Gore to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but do not see him as a lock to get into Canton. Thomas now has three Pro Bowls and two first-team All-Pro nods in four years, and while there might be some sort of drop-off if Brees retires, the Ohio State product did just fine with Teddy Bridgewater on the field in 2019. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Draft a league now and start fresh with a 0-0 record and a shortened schedule. Work to do (10% to 39%): WR Mike Evans, WR Chris Godwin, LB Lavonte David. Returning to form and earning a seventh Pro Bowl nod in his first season with the Ravens got Thomas back on track. podcast, future Hall of Fame wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, aware of the Raiders and Jets being interested in trading for the always-grumbling MVP. Larry Fitzgerald Says Aaron Rodgers Should Play for the Dallas Cowboys Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) hands off. Is Gore a lock to get into the Hall of Fame? Heres the top 10 in NFL and AFL history in receiving yardage through 85 games. Newton has an MVP award, which goes a long way toward pushing any player into the Hall of Fame. Unless he turns things around dramatically this season, he would fall out of the "Work to do" category altogether. He just turned 26 in August. Work to do (10% to 39%): RB Mark Ingram, OT Ronnie Stanley, DE Calais Campbell. A healthy, available Garrett is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate and could rise quickly. Work to do (10% to 39%): QB Kyler Murray, S Budda Baker. Likely (70% to 99%): CB Richard Sherman. There aren't any Dolphins who would appear to have greater than a 10% chance of making the Hall of Fame. After missing the postseason for the first time in four years, the Green Bay Packers will now spend their offseason with one topic at the forefront of their internal conversations: the future of Aaron Rodgers. He played 16 seasons, but never led the league in any notable statistical category other than interceptions. If Brown has a Whitworth-esque autumn to his career, he has a shot. No offensive lineman is ever a lock when guys like Faneca still aren't enshrined, but Smith plays the most prominent position on the line for the most popular team in the league. 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. In the running (40% to 69%): S Jamal Adams. Henry plays a Hall-friendly position and just won a rushing title. I think Thomas is a prohibitive favorite to get in. The Hall site draws a distinction, interestingly, between wide receivers and ends. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday, September 1st at: www.radiohalloffame.com. 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. These NFL wide receivers do not count toward our list of 10 worthy Hall of Famers. Work to do (10% to 39%): RB Derrick Henry, OT Taylor Lewan, DE Vic Beasley Jr., S Kevin Byard. Za'Darius Smith might have been the best pass-rusher in the league last season and has been great over the past two years on a snap-by-snap basis, but he turns 28 in September. 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. 7 overall in the 2014 draft at the age of 20. Hes too similar to other Hall-of-Famers and future Hall-of-Famers not to be taken seriously. Graham's case is interesting. Charley Taylor. 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. Likely (70% to 99%): LB Khalil Mack. Find out more. In the running (40% to 69%): DE Josh Allen. Elliott has already won two rushing titles across his first four seasons, and that might be enough on its own. He joined the Chronicle in January 2015 as the online sports editor. Even so, I think hell eventually get there. 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. Quarterback Drew Brees and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald are the two prominent ballot newcomers. The shrine in Canton, Ohio, is one that hasnt been easy to gain membership in through the years. Author: Nate Greer. 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. Fitzpatrick went from getting benched for the Dolphins in Week 1 to becoming a first-team All-Pro after his arrival in Pittsburgh; another year like 2019 will push him into Watt territory. All rights reserved. I think Patrick Willis is going to make it in after an eight-year career in which he racked up seven Pro Bowl appearances and five first-team All-Pro nods and retired as he turned 30.