Senior cutdown list is out: 31 names

[readjack]

Wishlist ... Final Nine

Wistert
Emerson
Conerly
Meador
Tyrer
Powell
Martin
Jacoby
Sharpe

Prediction

K Anderson
Craig
Jacoby
Meador
Baughan
Kuechenberg
Hayes
Sharpe
Lewis

Final Three

K Anderson
Jacoby
Sharpe


Elected

Sharpe
Jacoby
Kraft (owner)

Good picks: I think Sharpe is getting elected this year. Very strong candidate, especially in this new system. Kraft feels like a lock too unless voters buck at this:

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/410 ... fame-quest

For the other two final seniors, I think Roger Craig is the #2. I think the #3 is Albert Lewis, then Ken Anderson. I think Jacoby is lower, kind of the OL version of Craig, who I think they'll deal with first.

Wild card is Plunkett, who can be helpful in the seniors and moderns. If I was Gary Myers, on the senior BRC while also pushing Eli, I would do whatever necessary to get Plunkett in the final three because his presence removes one of the arguments against Eli.

And he's useful to the seniors because to the degree that the SBRC wants to ensure that a senior gets elected, they're better with one or two weaker candidates to ensure that the full selection committee will galvanize behind a senior.

[rewing84]

Excellent points as always jack. I agree with you 100% on Sharpe and you actually convinced me on plunkett

[readjack]

Excellent points as always jack. I agree with you 100% on Sharpe and you actually convinced me on plunkett

He's definitely not my top 3 senior! But I think he has political usefulness.

[rewing84]

i could see that logic about political usefulness 100% Jack appreciate the additional information thats necessary

[readjack]

You bet! Something Peirce Conboy and I have discussed.

[JameisBrownston]

How much traction were Sharpe and Craig getting in their last years on the modern ballot? If not much, I could see them going back farther.

[readjack]

How much traction were Sharpe and Craig getting in their last years on the modern ballot? If not much, I could see them going back farther.

Craig had a ton of traction, albeit with a ceiling: his first year as a semifinalist was his 11th year of eligibility, he was a finalist the next year and then he was a semifinalist every year until he ran out of eligibility. That's the most years as a semifinalist or beyond without getting elected as a modern. Interestingly, his final year of modern eligibility was 2018, in which his fellow 20th year men Joe Jacoby and Everson Walls were finalists. Jacoby was in his third straight year as a finalist while Walls had never been a semifinalist until his 20th year. Voters put both in the finals over Craig. Elected none of the three.

Sharpe was never a modern semifinalist.

Craig and Sharpe have had traction as seniors, and that's really what matters at this point. We've had two years where we had the expanded senior classes while also knowing who finished 4-6, and who finished 7-12, and they haven't had patterns per se but Craig and Sharpe have factored in.

2023
Class: Howley, Klecko, Riley
4-6 (alphabetical): Gradishar, Kuechenberg, Sharpe
7-12 (alphabetical): K. Anderson, Baughan, Isbell, Meador, Nobis, Walls

2024
Class: Gradishar, McMichael
Finalist, rejected: Powell
4-6 (alphabetical): K. Anderson, Craig, Meador
7-12 (alphabetical): Baughan, Jacoby, Lewis, Sharpe, O. Taylor, Wistert

So Sharpe went from top 6 in 2023 to top 12 in 2024, and Craig went from outside the top 12 in 2023 to top 6 in 2024.

Another interesting note: before the senior cut down to 60, voter Frank Cooney polled all 50 voters on their top seniors, with 27 responding. Top vote-getters:

14 - CRAIG
12 - Hayes, Lewis
10 - K. Anderson, SHARPE
8 - Greenwood, Kenn
6 - Matthews

https://halloffootball.substack.com/p/h ... n-underway

Those results aren't everything but that's a good indication that Craig and Sharpe (and especially Lewis), have momentum. I do think Sharpe's and Craig's cases stand out, and I do think Sharpe will get elected this year.

[Brian wolf]

Good call guys ... I just figured if the seniors went with more offensive over defensive players this year, Jacoby might be a safer bet to pair with Sharpe than K Anderson or Craig, who both have supporters and detractors. Also, the offensive line candidates need their chance because Kenn, Kunz and Jacoby have waited awhile, but we would all like to see Wistert, Kooch or Emerson advance as well. A super strong group. Could the voters embrace Tyrer?

[readjack]

Good call guys ... I just figured if the seniors went with more offensive over defensive players this year, Jacoby might be a safer bet to pair with Sharpe than K Anderson or Craig, who both have supporters and detractors. Also, the offensive line candidates need their chance because Kenn, Kunz and Jacoby have waited awhile, but we would all like to see Wistert, Kooch or Emerson advance as well. A super strong group. Could the voters embrace Tyrer?

Great question on Tyrer. They are already showing an embrace of him just by pushing him this far along. His murder-suicide is obviously the only thing that has kept him out of Canton. Once you remove that as a factor, suddenly there is a major difference between the quality of his resume vs. any of the other senior OTs of his era or after his era.

I do think that these blue ribbon committees might be a tad spooked about who they send to the full committee after Powell/Parker, so you might need a few years of discussion to get everyone collectively comfortable on Tyrer. Combine last year's double rejection with the new voting process this year that could land us with one total entry of the non-modern five (3 senior + 1 coach + 1 contributor) and I think the senior committee will play it super-duper safe with the three they send to the group. Sharpe for sure, probably Craig, and yes, I think it's possible that they send a weaker third candidate to improve votes for the other seniors.

[JameisBrownston]

Craig seems likely to get a look soon, then. I don't know how Sharpe can be justified in light of the ongoing Torry Holt situation. An equal or better resume in Art Powell just got denied.