2018 NFL Season: Hall of Fame Locks, Hopefuls and Mirages
By Erik Lambert
MIRAGES (Destined for the Hall of Very Good)
Matthew Stafford
He’s going to hold all the records when he retires from Detroit. Yet it’s looking like he’ll do it without a single playoff victory to his name, nevermind no Super Bowl ring. Such a shame considering he dragged that team back to relevance after their 0-16 disaster.
Cam Newton
He had the greatest rookie year ever for a QB, won an MVP and has accounted for 212 touchdowns before his 29th birthday. Still, his inconsistency and a bad reputation are going to haunt him when the voting starts.
Brandon Marshall
The man was a beast for a long period of time and often did it with average quarterbacks throwing to him. He’s got over 12,000 receiving yards, which is in the Canton neighborhood. In the end, it will be his long run of locker room issues and never reaching the playoffs that do him in.
A.J. Green
He could end up being one of the best regular season wide receivers this side of the millennium. The stats are building towards that. Impressive considering he’s done it with Andy Dalton. Just 18 catches on 40 targets in four playoff games and no wins? That’s tough to overlook.
Clay Matthews
He was superb early in his career, standing out as one of the best hybrid linebackers in the game. Though he has six Pro Bowls and a ring, his overall dominance level isn’t quite there. He has 80 sacks in nine years. That’s not bad but it doesn’t stand out either.
James Harrison
This will be a hard sell to Steelers fans. What more does he need? He’s got five Pro Bowls, a Defensive Player of the Year and one of the signature moments in Super Bowl history. The simple case is his reign of excellence wasn’t long enough. He was great for four years and good the rest.
Tamba Hali
There’s no question that Hali ranks as one of the best stories in recent NFL history, coming from Liberia to find success in the U.S. Unfortunately the story won’t be enough to overlook having no ring, no truly great season and an overall decent but not good enough sack total (89.5).
Gerald McCoy
It’s such a shame. It feels like the best years of his career were wasted on some terrible Tampa Bay Buccaneers teams. Only now is he starting to get some serious help up front. Given he’s 30-years old, it feels like it’s too little, far too late.
Ndamukong Suh
He’s been one of the best defensive tackles in the league for several years, but has he ever produced a season where he was truly dominant? His sack numbers (51.5) aren’t huge and his lack of productivity in other categories, not to mention the attitude history, won’t help his cause.
Geno Atkins
Like with Green earlier, he’s been tremendous for the Bengals in the regular season with 61 career sacks. Unlike Green, he’s carried that into the playoffs with 2.5 sacks in three of his four postseason appearances. Solid. Just not enough to help him stand out from the pack.
Karlos Dansby
It’s amazing how productive Dansby has been over a long career: over 1,400 tackles, 20 interceptions, 43 sacks, 20 forced fumbles, six defensive touchdowns. Unfortunately his journeyman-type career isn’t doing him favors. It always seems like there’s someone better.
DeAngelo Hall
He was really good for a long period of time between Atlanta and Washington. He has 43 career interceptions and five defensive touchdowns. His personality though, along with no ring and a terrible recent stretch filled with injuries have killed the momentum he had.
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Terence Newman
In terms of longevity as a cornerback, he definitely belongs in the Hall of Fame. His 42 career interceptions is also a nice mark. Aside from that though he’s been less great and more consistently good for a long period of time.
Shane Lechler
Special teams guys are getting in more often these days. Maybe it’s finally time this man got more respect. For 10 years he was arguably the best at his position in football and has stayed productive to the age of 41. Sadly no title and living in the shadow of a legend (Ray Guy) ruins it.