2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame Finalists

I have mixed feelings about Craig. He was one of the first RBs who was catching that many passes, but he really wasn't that good beyond a 5-year-period when he was great. I would put Terrell Davis in ahead of him.

 

Agree about Cooperstown. I still think it's pretty damn hard to get into Canton.

It will be interesting to see if it stays that way. There is a long list of running backs and receivers who were more good than great or had very small windows of greatness. It will be interesting to see which guys from that group break through.

 

Atwater was a bigger hitter than Ronnie Lott though less the ball hawk. Free safeties are tough to judge looking back, because stats don't tell a big story. I think he was as good as Lott He passes my eye test.

Craig was a function of an offensive revolution. Not a dominant rusher, never averaged 20 carries a game for a season. But his short receptions were better than runs. Perosnally, I think a lot of players could have replicated his numbers in that offense.
His thousand yard rushing and receiving year is in Canton and should be remembered as a great accomplishment, but not the whole career.

BTW if you put Craig in, Tikki Barber has a great case. He had more combined yards than Craig

 

Well, if you start comparing yardage, then there is a long list of recent backs who have better stats than someone who is already in.

Bettis is sixth all-time in rushing yards and he's not in yet. He'll get in, but you see names like Edgerrin James, Fred Taylor, Steven Jackson, Corey Dillon, Frank Gore, Warrick Dunn, Tiki Barber, Thomas Jones.

It's very possible that none of those guys will get in.

 

Not so much a fan of this variable. Wendell Tyler played 4 years in the system and didn't really come close to doing what Craig did.

 

No, but Ricky Watters did.

 

Right, he did do it, as did Craig. I think you can have that as an argument. Sure, it's a system. Some guys will kill in the system, others will be fair to middlin'.

But don't punish a player in the "system" who racked up 11,000 yards and change in his first 8 seasons.

 

Actually, Watters was better than Craig.

 

Agreed. And you don't hear much about Watters come HOF time.

 

For who? For what?

 

I don't think Watters has ever been a HOF finalist. I'm not saying he should be, but I think people romanticize Craig because of the 1,000-1,000 season and the Super Bowls. Craig was a great player, but he only had really four great seasons and that might even be stretching it.

 

Hell, Tiki Barber was better than Craig, too, and he won't sniff the Hall.

I think Edgerrin James will be a good litmus test as to whether the others eventually get in or not. James was better than all of them.