Which current NFL players will make it to Canton?

It hurts McNabb A LOT that he was never in the top tier of QBs in his era - even in his best statistical year in 2004, he didn't even have the best numbers of a QB in his own conference (that would have been Daunte Culpepper, and Peyton Manning was the overall MVP that year).

In terms of active QBs:

Manning and Tom Brady - Locks
Drew Brees - In with a few more good seasons
Aaron Rodgers - Could get there with four to five more seasons playing at current level (and a second Super Bowl win wouldn't hurt)
Ben Roethsliberger - Out right now. If the Steelers win another Super Bowl, he becomes a Ken Stabler-type menace for Hall of Fame voters.
Philip Rivers - No, although a Super Bowl would lead to a reconsidering of his numbers (again, I just don't see the Chargers winning a SB in the next five years, but it's at least worth throwing out there.)

Add in Brett Favre and Kurt Warner into the mix as McNabb's "contemporaries" and he's pretty far down the list of best/most decorated QBs of his era. I mentioned the other QBs earlier (Esiason, Anderson, McNair, Bledsoe) because they fit that category I think McNabb does...the Hall of the Very Good. Players who were stars but not superstars. Among the best QBs of their era but a notch below the elite. To me, that's not Hall of Fame-worthy.

 

Marvin Graves also upped the excitement meter. I don't think he even played in the NFL.

 

I forgot Big Ben ... he's gonna get in eventually unless he decides to start gambling like Pete Rose did.
Ben's a lock.

Should we not "remember" McNabb's excitement at Syracuse merely because there were others who were part of it that didn't make the pros.
C'mon, man!

 

I think short of a career-ending injury in the next year or two, Brees and Roethlisberger will get in, but they're not there yet.

I agree Ed Reed should be a lock.

 

The "safeties have a hard time getting in" argument this guy presented doesn't hold water for Reed and Polamalu because they effectively made this the era of safety-as-cornerstone-of-the-defense, in the vein of the shutdown corner and the blitzing lb before them. They changed the way people think of defense and have good numbers to boot, so they should be in.

 

Not saying I would vote for him, but no mention of Reggie Wayne on the list.

 

Agree. I don't see how Reed doesn't get in - Ronnie Lott is in, right? Polamalu might have a tougher time though because of his health. In the past five years, he's only played a full season once. He probably needs a couple more good years, and I'm not sure he's healthy enough. Reed has double Polamalu's interceptions in only a year or two more of playing.

 

That'll be an interesting case, since he's probably seen as a creation of Peyton Manning.

 

I also wonder how much he will be dwarfed in the shadow of Marvin Harrison (and keeping a running theme also created a lot of excitement at Syracuse). In the past five years, a case could be made he has been the most consistent receiver in the game. Has the best numbers...but he has been healthy and catching from Manning. Larry Fitzpatrick had Anderson, Skelton and Hall last season. Andre Johnson has missed time to injuries. Calvin Johnson is a Lion.

 

Wayne has good playoff performances to his credit. That's more than Harrison has.

 

When did Syracuse get an NFL franchise?
We're talking about the PRO football hall of fame here. Not the college football HOF. What a player did in college, other than perhaps being a top draft pick, is irrelevent in this discussion.