Some thoughts on next year

[bachslunch]

With two candidates dropping off and five elected, there should be room for a bunch of new faces, three of whom for sure will be Tony Gonzalez, Ed Reed, and Champ Bailey. And it won’t surprise me (despite the fact that no TE has ever been first ballot) if Gonzalez gets in next year along with Reed and Bailey. The other two getting elected? Good question. We might see two o-linemen finally get though, but there were four who cancelled each other out yesterday and it could happen again. Doubt if Lynch or Law sneak through with two other strong candidates at their positions, but it could potentially happen.

The other four slots? Who knows? Possibilities include Steve Atwater, Don Coryell, Jimmy Johnson, Torry Holt, Richard Seymour, Leroy Butler, Darren Woodson, or Ronde Barber. It’s also possible that someone like Karl Mecklenburg sneaks in. I don’t think any of them have a chance at election next year, nor do holdovers Edgerrin James or Isaac Bruce at this point.

One Senior next time, and as always your guess is as good as mine who gets the nod. Same with the two Contributors, though it would be nice to see folks like Art McNally and Gil Brandt get chosen since they’re still alive and presumably cogent enough to enjoy the honor.

[JohnTurney]

With two candidates dropping off and five elected, there should be room for a bunch of new faces, three of whom for sure will be Tony Gonzalez, Ed Reed, and Champ Bailey. .

Tony and Reed are locks. Bailey, is close...and with Moss and Urlacher getting in on the first try would be an injustice to deny Bailey. Bailey is a better corner than Urlacher is a MLB but not by a huge margin.

So yeah, leaves 2 spots. Hutchinson is the best of the lineman, though Mawae and Faneca are both fully qualified. Hutch was a borderline 1st ballot guy, by the old standards very few guards in NFL history were 6-time All-pros and his scouting tape, let's call it was great. A good short trapper, and drive blocker and also excelled at pass protection most years, he did have one year that was off, allowed like 7 sacks, but it was an anomaly.

But the way linemen got screwed yesterday, they may put Ike Bruce in and Edge James

[HBGFBFAN]

With two candidates dropping off and five elected, there should be room for a bunch of new faces, three of whom for sure will be Tony Gonzalez, Ed Reed, and Champ Bailey. .

Tony and Reed are locks. Bailey, is close...and with Moss and Urlacher getting in on the first try would be an injustice to deny Bailey. Bailey is a better corner than Urlacher is a MLB but not by a huge margin.

So yeah, leaves 2 spots. Hutchinson is the best of the lineman, though Mawae and Faneca are both fully qualified. Hutch was a borderline 1st ballot guy, by the old standards very few guards in NFL history were 6-time All-pros and his scouting tape, let's call it was great. A good short trapper, and drive blocker and also excelled at pass protection most years, he did have one year that was off, allowed like 7 sacks, but it was an anomaly.

But the way linemen got screwed yesterday, they may put Ike Bruce in and Edge James

Hey John, what are Ty Law's chances for 2019? Who would you like to see come from the Senior and Contributor pool for 2019?

[JohnTurney]

With two candidates dropping off and five elected, there should be room for a bunch of new faces, three of whom for sure will be Tony Gonzalez, Ed Reed, and Champ Bailey. .

Tony and Reed are locks. Bailey, is close...and with Moss and Urlacher getting in on the first try would be an injustice to deny Bailey. Bailey is a better corner than Urlacher is a MLB but not by a huge margin.

So yeah, leaves 2 spots. Hutchinson is the best of the lineman, though Mawae and Faneca are both fully qualified. Hutch was a borderline 1st ballot guy, by the old standards very few guards in NFL history were 6-time All-pros and his scouting tape, let's call it was great. A good short trapper, and drive blocker and also excelled at pass protection most years, he did have one year that was off, allowed like 7 sacks, but it was an anomaly.

But the way linemen got screwed yesterday, they may put Ike Bruce in and Edge James

Hey John, what are Ty Law's chances for 2019? Who would you like to see come from the Senior and Contributor pool for 2019?

Well, he was doing well this year... but next year, with Champ Bailey? I don't know. I like Law a lot...and he has support with the SBs and INTs, etc... but will they put in 2 CBs? With 2 WRs and 2 LBers in this year, it could happen, and I wouldn't have said that before.

I like George Young, but who knows who they will pick. The other, if i were to bet would be an owner like Bowlen. There is some mutterings about Art McNally. The Senior player, I am not more behind Gradishar than ever. His numbers compare favorably to Urlacher or are at least similar. A DPOY Gradishar 5 All-Pros, 3 consensuses, Urlacher 4. Urlacher had 8 Pro Bowls, Gradishar 7. Both lost a Super Bowl. Broncos D a bit better than Bears, although Bear defense had 4-5 great seasons in the 12 Urlacher was there

And with Ken Easley getting in, the short career knock on Gradishar cannot be used against him like it was before. While there are others great seniors, few have the DPOY thing and lots of credentials. Howley and Drew Pearson get talked about. As does Johnny Robinson. but it's a crapshoot

[ChrisBabcock]

Tony and Reed are locks. Bailey, is close...

Agreed on this. In any other year, Bailey would be 1st ballot. But 3 1st ballots in one year seems rare. How often does that happen? So I'll put Bailey at "probable" for next year.

I think we'll see 1 or 2 of Hutchinson/Mawae/Faneca. Not all 3 but definitely not all completely shut out. With possibly Mawae being the lesser of the 3.

2019 could be Edgerrin James' year since its been awhile for for 21st century RBs. Only Bettis and Martin so far? I am on the fence with him though.

My short list of seniors is currently Slater, Wistert, Robinson, Gradishar. Unfortunately I have a bad feeling we may have hit the end of the line on the induction of "superseniors" like Slater and Wistert. I hope I'm wrong on that.

[JWL]

Peter King stated the committee is not supposed to consider off the field crime. I am thinking Jim Tyrer should be mentioned once in a while.

[bachslunch]

My short list of seniors is currently Slater, Wistert, Robinson, Gradishar. Unfortunately I have a bad feeling we may have hit the end of the line on the induction of "superseniors" like Slater and Wistert. I hope I'm wrong on that.

Fortunately, I've seen chatter at the Talk of Fame site about an expanded Senior group for induction consideration in 2020, which is the 100th anniversary of the league's founding. The idea is that this would be a Senior catch-up circumstance with at least one player nominated from each decade. If that happens, we might see folks like Lavvie Dilweg, Duke Slater, Al Wistert, and Billy Howton finally get their due.

Definitely hoping that happens.

[bachslunch]

Peter King stated the committee is not supposed to consider off the field crime. I am thinking Jim Tyrer should be mentioned once in a while.

Agreed, though in practice it looks like there may be a de facto Character Clause for people who committed particularly serious crimes like Tyrer and Darren Sharper.

[Ronfitch]

I like George Young, but who knows who they will pick. The other, if i were to bet would be an owner like Bowlen. There is some mutterings about Art McNally. The Senior player, I am not more behind Gradishar than ever. His numbers compare favorably to Urlacher or are at least similar. A DPOY Gradishar 5 All-Pros, 3 consensuses, Urlacher 4. Urlacher had 8 Pro Bowls, Gradishar 7. Both lost a Super Bowl. Broncos D a bit better than Bears, although Bear defense had 4-5 great seasons in the 12 Urlacher was there

And with Ken Easley getting in, the short career knock on Gradishar cannot be used against him like it was before. While there are others great seniors, few have the DPOY thing and lots of credentials. Howley and Drew Pearson get talked about. As does Johnny Robinson. but it's a crapshoot

In the podcast referenced in another thread here (HBGFBFAN started the thread http://www.profootballresearchers.com/f ... 257#p25257), writers Gosselin and Borges threw out some names in the one about contributors and seniors.

For Senior, one said Johnny Robinson, Drew Pearson and Alex Karras. The other - Borges, I think - had only one name, Duke Slater, and offered a very quick but detailed explanation. I get the feeling he is already starting the groundwork for Slater. Howley deserves to be in the serious conversation, as well.

One of them said that - as the time of recording, which was before this year's final selection - that 56 all-decade selections are in the senior pool and only seven have been discussed as finalists.

[JWL]

Peter King stated the committee is not supposed to consider off the field crime. I am thinking Jim Tyrer should be mentioned once in a while.

Agreed, though in practice it looks like there may be a de facto Character Clause for people who committed particularly serious crimes like Tyrer and Darren Sharper.

I agree except that King's comment was in response to a reader mentioning Ray Lewis possibly killing a guy.