2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame Ballot

My picks for who the 25 semifinalists will be:
Kurt Warner
Roger Craig, Terrell Davis, Edgerrin James, LaDainian Tomlinson
Isaac Bruce, Torrey Holt, Terrell Owens, Hines Ward
Tony Boselli, Alan Faneca, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Kevin Mawae, Steve Wisniewski
Jason Taylor
Carl Banks, Karl Mecklenburg
Steve Atwater, Brian Dawkins, Ty Law, John Lynch
Morten Andersen
Don Coryell, Jimmy Johnson

 

No love for Sam Mills?

 

He would have probably been No. He was a semifinalist last year but I think the voters will make Banks a semifinalist over him (just a hunch based on their makeup). If I miss on a guy, it will probably be Mills.

 

26 semifinalists announced

Morten Andersen
Steve Atwater
Tony Boselli
Isaac Bruce
Don Coryell
Roger Craig
Terrell Davis
Brian Dawkins
Alan Faneca
Chris Hinton
Torry Holt
Joe Jacoby
Edgerrin James
Jimmy Johnson
Mike Kenn
Ty Law
John Lynch
Clay Matthews
Kevin Mawae
Karl Mecklenburg
Terrell Owens
Jason Taylor
LaDainian Tomlinson
Hines Ward
Kurt Warner
Darren Woodson

I got 23 out of a projected 25. Hinton seems like it came out of nowhere.

My picks for the 15 finalists are:
Morten Andersen
Steve Atwater
Isaac Bruce
Don Coryell
Terrell Davis
Alan Faneca
Joe Jacoby
Edgerrin James
Ty Law
John Lynch
Karl Mecklenburg
Terrell Owens
Jason Taylor
LaDainian Tomlinson
Kurt Warner

 

I'm predicting Ward, Dawkins and Holt get the nod over Mecklenburg, Bruce and Ty Law.

 

The 15 finalists have been announced:
Morten Andersen
Tony Boselli
Isaac Bruce
Don Coryell
Terrell Davis
Brian Dawkins
Alan Faneca
Joe Jacoby
Ty Law
John Lynch
Kevin Mawae
Terrell Owens
Jason Taylor
LaDainian Tomlinson
Kurt Warner

I had 12 of the 15: Boselli, Dawkins and Mawae were my misses. Big disapointment that Atwater took a step back.

My picks for the Class of 2017:
Don Coryell
Joe Jacoby
John Lynch
Terrell Owens
LaDanian Tomlinson

I could see either Coryell or Jacoby's slot going to Dawkins.

 

Do not get the non-love for Roger Craig. One of the best all-purpose RB's ever.

 

Craig gets slotted as the worst of the backs who get to the semifinal list -- LT eligible this year hurt both him and James. The voters love Davis but never enough to put him in.

Craig's got a decent chance going forward because LT is going in immediately and there is really nobody in the pipleline for the next decade, which means once Davis gets in its down to him and James.

You can see the slotting in this ballot at just about every position with multiples:

It goes Tomlinson then Davis.
It goes Owens, then Bruce
It goes Lynch, Dawkins, Law
It goes Faneca, Jacoby, Mawae, Boselli

The only way someone bucks the order to get in is Jacoby, since he's waited so long.

 

I don't get slotting Bruce over Holt

 

Isaac Bruce 223 games 1,024 catches for 15,208 yards and 91 touchdowns, 14.9 yards per catch
Torry Holt 173 games 920 catches 13,382 yards and 74 touchdowns, 14.5 per catch

When you look at the totals, Bruce has him beat comfortably in all three career categories and I'm sure that's what the voters see.

 

I know we had the discussion about Boselli last year when he made the semifinals for the first time, but he is the one I just don't get -- especially when the senior pick this year is basically him. Somehow, in an era with more than enough qualified candidates, Boselli avoided Kenny Easley's fate as being the senior pick in 2038.

The fact that Chris Hinton made the semis also baffles me, but I would have put just about any other semifinalist -- Kenn, Mecklenburg, Atwater, James, Craig, Woodson or Holt as a finalist before Boselli. And before someone brings but Davis, I don't think if he does get in, it should be the senior route as well. But the difference between him and Boselli are things Boselli couldn't control -- being an MVP and the Super Bowl success.

 

Peter King with his usual preview in the MMQB:

This is going to be a difficult and fascinating year for the Hall of Fame selections and the 48 selectors when they gather Saturday morning in Houston to pick the class of 2017.

Of the 14 modern-era candidates not named Tomlinson, there’s not a single one who’s close to a lock, which leads me to think (probably dubiously) that it finally could be a year where we break the safety logjam (John Lynch, Brian Dawkins and, as a senior committee finalist, Kenny Easley) that has festered in Hall voting for so long.