The Hall of Fame just announced its finalists for the 2020 Hall of Fame Class. Here’s the full list, which also includes PFR’s new Hall of Fame monitor metric
| Player | Pos | HOF Monitor | From | To | AP1 | PB | St | CarAV | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Atwater | S | 90.63 | 1989 | 1999 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 78 | 167 |
| Tony Boselli | T | 84.33 | 1995 | 2001 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 66 | 91 |
| Isaac Bruce | WR | 90.14 | 1994 | 2009 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 102 | 223 |
| LeRoy Butler | S | 113.78 | 1990 | 2001 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 89 | 181 |
| Alan Faneca | G | 141.43 | 1998 | 2010 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 113 | 206 |
| Torry Holt | WR | 94.64 | 1999 | 2009 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 99 | 173 |
| Steve Hutchinson | G | 121.03 | 2001 | 2012 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 96 | 169 |
| Edgerrin James | RB | 93.72 | 1999 | 2009 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 114 | 148 |
| John Lynch | S | 70.80 | 1993 | 2007 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 87 | 224 |
| Sam Mills | LB | 56.83 | 1986 | 1997 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 101 | 181 |
| Troy Polamalu | S | 121.23 | 2003 | 2014 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 94 | 158 |
| Richard Seymour | DE | 96.15 | 2001 | 2012 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 90 | 164 |
| Zach Thomas | LB | 111.70 | 1996 | 2008 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 115 | 184 |
| Reggie Wayne | WR | 94.73 | 2001 | 2014 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 117 | 211 |
| Bryant Young | DT | 64.93 | 1994 | 2007 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 88 | 208 |
By this metric, the two guards (Faneca and Hutchinson, with a combined 16 Pro Bowls and 11 first-team AP All-Pro selections, are the best candidates. Thomas, one of the game’s best inside linebackers for a decade, is another excellent choice (although more on him in a later post). After that, a bunch of players have great candidates, including all four skill position players.
There are also four safeties on the list. This includes the two All-Decade safeties of the ’90s: Atwater, who I think was the best safety in the NFL in 1992, and Buter, who took the mythical safety championship belt from Atwater in 1993 and also held it from ’96 to ’98. I think Lynch then took that title from Butler and was the game’s best safety from ’99 to ’00, and he’s the third safety up in this year’s class. And finally, we get to perhaps the most decorated of them all: Polamalu, my top safety in ’05, tied for top safety in ’08, and against the best from ’10 to ’11.
There are no bad candidates on this list: I’d argue for inclusion on both of the two lowest rated players on PFR’s HOF monitor. Bryant Young does not have a great on paper resume of awards and honors, but he was very highly-regarded during his time and a worthy Hall of Famer. He ranked tied for 2nd in tackles for loss among all defensive players in ’99 with 19, four more than any other defensive tackle. He played the run well and the pass, and tended to be overshadowed by more one-dimensional players during his prime.
The other finalist who Sam Mills, who spent some of his prime years in the USFL. Mills was probably the second-best defensive player in the history of the league behind Reggie White, and was named an All-Pro in ’83, ’84, and ’85. In the NFL, Mills was the leader of the Dome Patrol Saints that led the NFL in points allowed in 1991 and 1992, and also the Panthers defense that ranked 2nd in points allowed in 1996. Mills was an outstanding player who was able to play at an age where just about every other inside linebacker was forced to retire.
What do you think? Who would be your 5 choices?