* indicates first year of eligibility
** indicates former hall of fame finalist
ALBERT LEWIS (DB)
Accomplishments: 4x Pro Bowl selection (1987-1990); 2x 1st Team All-Pro (1989-1990)
Pros: Albert Lewis was a chugger, by which I mean that he was a reliable guy who just did his job and did it well, at a steady pace. Occasionally he picked up speed on that track and slowed a bit, but he always got to the same place at the same time. Great player.
Cons: Lewis doesn't really have a viable hall of fame resume to me. His stats are good, not great. He was honored with Pro Bowls and All Pro teams in the middle of his career, but didn't really get recognized early or late. He had two seasons of double digit AV, and pass deflections aren't recognized until 2001 on Pro-Football Reference, so I can't gauge how good he was against the pass. He was just really good, which isn't a bad thing. Just not a hall of fame worthy.
Overall: Lewis was a player who was a reliable guy for a long time. He had some really productive years in the mid to late 80s, and was largely good for the rest of his career. The hall of fame is probably a bit much for him, but he should be remembered as a really good player.
HoF Projection: Not This Year
JOHN LYNCH (DB)
Accomplishments: 9x Pro Bowl selection (1997, 1999-2002, 2004-2007); 2x 1st Team All-Pro (1999-2000); Super Bowl champion (2002)
Pros: John Lynch was one of the catalysts of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers going from being the laughing stock of the NFL to a competitive good team. He was a defensive leader on a team that was stacked with defensive leaders. He had a reputation for delivering strong hits and forced 16 fumbles in his career. He was durable as well, missing only eight games between 1996 to 2007.
Cons: Lynch's stats don't really jump off the page. Despite his reputation as a physical safety, he never had more than 81 tackles in a season. Going on AV, he had his best years in the middle of his career from 1997 to 2002, but he was only really good to meh early and late in his career. Also, and for whatever reason, the hall of fame has only inducted seven players that primarily played safety, which probably won't help.
Overall: Lynch will probably get in at some point. He's got the resume and reputation, and once he became starter, he never really fell off. After the dominant years, he was good to great at worst which will help as well. He may have to wait a while though, as some real accomplished defensive players are going to be up for the next few years. But he has a chance to go in this year.
HoF Projection: Slim Chance
CLAY MATTHEWS (LB)
Accomplishments: 4x Pro Bowl selection (1985, 1987-1989); 1,000 Tackles Club
Pros: He played for a really, really long time. Matthews played for almost twenty years, and was solid player for most of it. He recorded triple digit tackles in eight seasons. He played in 278 of a possible 296 games (93.9%), again, over nineteen seasons.
Cons: Despite playing for a long time, Matthews never really asserted himself as one the best linebackers at a given time. He was always overshadowed by guys like Jack Lambert, Lawrence Taylor, Mike Singletary, Rickey Jackson, Derrick Thomas and Junior Seau, who at their peaks were absolutely dominant. Matthews at his peak was just really good. Like Albert Lewis and John Lynch, his most productive seasons were in the middle of his career. But because he played for so long, the fact that he wasn't especially dominant later in his career or early really shines through.
Overall: Matthews falls into the great player, not a hall of famer mold of others I've profiled. With that said, if he makes it in one day, I think he'd belong for his durability alone. But hall voters haven't exactly been receptive of him making it in, getting him to the semi-finals once in over a decade of eligibility. But who knows, he might eek in one day.
HoF Projection: Slim Chance
KARL MECKLENBURG (LB)
1983-1994 Denver Broncos
Accomplishments: 6x Pro Bowl selection (1985-1987, 1989, 1991, 1993); 3x 1st Team All-Pro (1985-1986, 1989); 1,000 Tackles Club
Pros: Mike Singletary was the best middle linebacker in the NFL in the 80s. Karl Mecklenburg was the second best. He had over one hundred tackles six times from 1986 to 1992. He wreaked havoc on AFC offenses from the time he became a starter in 1985 until his second to last year in 1993. His AV count is also impressive, having double digits six times in his career, including a damn impressive and league leading 20 in 1989. And he had 79 sacks, more than Mike Singletary, Junior Seau, Brian Urlacher and Ray Lewis.
Cons: Honestly, the one thing I can point to as to why he's not in the hall of fame is because the Broncos never won the Super Bowl in his career, and were often torched by better teams in them. Mecklenburg also was rarely consistently dominant from year to year. He'd have a dominant year every other year, then a great year starting in the late 80s and lasting for the rest of his career.
Overall: Mecklenburg should be in the hall of fame. He should have been inducted years ago. He's made the semi-finals the last two years in a row so maybe his time is coming. Hey, Cortez Kennedy took seven years to finally be inducted, but he did get in. Maybe the same will happen to Karl Mecklenburg.
HoF Projection: Maybe
WILLIE MCGINEST* (DE)
Accomplishments: 2x Pro Bowl selection (1996, 2003); 3x Super Bowl champion (2001, 2003-2004)
Pros: McGinest was a key cog in the Patriots machine that won three Super Bowls in four years.
Cons: I'm getting a little tired of writing blurbs that amount to "he was great, he wasn't good enough to make the hall of fame." McGinest was better than Tedy Bruschi though.
Overall: See above. Seriously, I'm not doing it anymore.
HoF Projection: Not This Year
MICHAEL STRAHAN** (DE)
Accomplishments: 7x Pro Bowl selection (1997-1999, 2001-2003, 2005); 4x 1st Team All-Pro (1997-1998, 2001, 2003); NFL 2000s All-Decade Team (1st Team); AP Defensive Player of the Year (2001); Super Bowl champion (2007); 100 Sacks Club
Pros: Strahan was a mauler. He currently sits fifth all time in sacks, including the single season sack record of 22.5 in 2001, while recording double digit sacks in six seasons, leading the league twice. Strahan was durable as well, missing only two games in ten seasons from 1994 to 2003. He also was and remains an affable, charismatic personality who has stayed in the spotlight with his work on FOX and with Kelly Ripa, which helps with hall of fame candidacy.
Cons: Strahan didn't have a dominant season until his fifth. He also had durability problems later in his career, missing fifteen games in his last four seasons.
Overall: Michael Strahan is hall of fame worthy. Last year he was left off the ballot in favor of Warren Sapp, which is understandable. This time around, Strahan doesn't have a slam dunk defensive lineman to compete against, so he's likely headed for Canton next year.
HoF Projection: Pretty Good
ZACH THOMAS* (LB)
Accomplishments: 7x Pro Bowl selection (1999-2003, 2005-2006); 5x 1st Team All-Pro (1998-1999, 2002-2003, 2006); NFL 2000s All-Decade Team (2nd Team); 1,000 Tackles Club
Pros: Zach Thomas is really underrated in my opinion. He compares quite favorably to Brian Urlacher, with stats slightly better or below number 54's for the most part. Thomas intercepted at least one pass in ten of his first eleven seasons. He forced at least two fumbles six times. He also recorded over 100 tackles four times. His AV stats are impressive as well, scoring double digits in eight of his thirteen seasons.
Cons: Thomas had durability issues, playing in all 16 games just six times. Also despite his numerous honors, his name doesn't really come up when you talk about great linebackers of the 2000s. It's not really his fault that the Dolphins didn't really do anything of note during his run, but thems the breaks as far as media perception goes.
Overall: Thomas has a hall of fame resume for sure, but I think he'll get overlooked because the teams he was on were rarely relevant come Janurary. Think about this: Derrick Thomas is one of the best linebackers ever, but it took him five tries to get in, because the Chiefs didn't do much during the postseason in his run with them. So Thomas may get in, but it may take longer than it should.
HoF Projection: Maybe
AENEAS WILLIAMS** (DB)
Accomplishments: 8x Pro Bowl selection (1994-1999, 2001, 2003); 3x 1st Team All-Pro (1995, 1997, 2001); NFL 1990s All-Decade Team (2nd Team); 50 Interceptions Club
Pros: In the 90s, Deion Sanders and Rod Woodson were the best cornerbacks in the NFL. Right behind them was Aeneas Williams. Williams intercepted at least five passes in six seasons, forced at least two fumbles in seven seasons, and he didn't miss a game until his twelfth season. His nine interception returns for touchdowns are tied for fourth best ever along with Deion Sanders and Ken Houston. He is the only person who is eligible for hall of fame consideration with at least nine interception return touchdowns who isn't in the hall of fame.
Cons: Like Zach Thomas, but even more pronounced, the Arizona Cardinals in Williams time didn't do anything of note, and more often than not were horrendously bad. Williams also wasn't a very physical DB if his stats are anything to go by, forcing only eight fumbles in his career and never recorded more than 65 tackles in a given season.
Overall: Another guy who should have been inducted years ago. Williams should get together with Karl Mecklenburg and have a beer with him. Williams has been a finalist two years in a row, so things may be looking up for him in the not too distant future.
HoF Projection: Pretty Good
BRYANT YOUNG (DT)
Accomplishments: 4x Pro Bowl selection (1996, 1999, 2001-2002); 1st Team All-Pro (1996); NFL 1990s All-Decade Team (2nd Team); AP Comeback Player of the Year (1999); Super Bowl champion (1994)
Pros: Young got a lot of sacks for a guy who primarily played defensive tackle: a whopping 89.5, six more than La'Roi Glover. He also played in 92.8% of the possible games he could have in his fourteen NFL seasons and started all 208 of them.
Cons: Young was rarely dominant, scoring double digit AV three times. His stats are impressive, but not mind blowing.
Overall: Young's yet another great, not hall of fame worthy player in my opinion. He was better than some of the other players like that that I've profiled, but I still don't think that will cut it to hall voters.
HoF Projection: Not This Year
Five groups down, two more to go. Tomorrow we'll take a look at the special teams players and contributors.
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