The upcoming start of actual football games means it is time to rank players on their actual football ability after an offseason spent continually ranking and re-ranking college football players on NIL deals and transfer portal changes. A good, old-fashioned 1-to-30 stacking of who is the best at playing football, independent of position, would be preferable rather than ranking players by team, conference, or where they may or may not be taken in upcoming NFL drafts.

Currently entering his thirteenth season in the NHL, Morgan Rielly has been the best Defenseman for Toronto for years, a prognostication that the organization hoped for when they took him Fifth Overall in 2012.

Rielly made the Leafs the following season and had at least 20 Assists in his first four seasons, providing solid offensive rushes and quickly finding work on the power play.  In his fifth season (2017-18), Rielly broke out with a 52 Point year, which he followed with his best season to date, a 20-52-72 campaign that saw him finish fifth in Norris voting.  

He dropped back to his rookie numbers the two years after, but he rebounded in 2021/22 with a 68-Point campaign and had 58 two years ago with his first All-Star Game appearance.  As the top offensive blueliner in Toronto going into the 2025-26 season, Rielly is poised to climb many more rungs on this ladder.

Drafted Fourth Overall in the 2015 Draft, Marner led the London Knights to a Memorial Cup Championship in 2016, proving himself to be one of the best Juniors of his day.  Marner transferred that success shortly after to the Maple Leafs, posting a 61 Point season and earning All-Rookie honors at Right Wing.

Marner continued to adapt quickly to the NHL speed, and the playmaker had a 94 Point campaign in 2018-19, his third year in Hockey.  Although Marner’s numbers only saw him score 67 Points in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, he played fewer than 60 Games in those years, with the latter being the COVID-shortened season.  Marner was named a First Team All-Star that year, and he built on that last season with his best year to date, with a 97 Point year and his second straight First Team All-Star Selection.  While unable to secure another postseason All-Star in 2022-23, Marner set a then-new high in Points with 99, and he again posted solid numbers the year after with an 85-point campaign.

Marner played one more year in Toronto, where for the first time he scored over 100 points (102) and was third in Assists (75).  Despite the success, Marner was frustrated with the team's lack of success in T.O. and sought an exit, which he achieved when he was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights.

With Toronto, Marner scored 741 Points in 657 Games.

When you focus on Halls of Fame, one of the progressions is a Hall of Fame Monitor, where we look at active players and rank their HOF chances based on their accomplishments to date.

We have created our own metrics based on an elite seven-year period, and how active players measure up to those who have entered the Hall in the last five classes.

The entire section can be found here, but we would like to present our current top ten players, and their Hall of Fame monitor rank:

They are:

#1. Lebron James, Los Angeles Lakers (#1 Last Year)

#2. Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets (#2 Last Year)

#3. Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors (#5 Last Year)

#4. Chris Paul, Phoenix Suns (#3 Last Year)

#5. James Harden, Philadelphia 76ers (#4 Last Year)

#6. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (#7 Last Year)

#7. Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles Lakers (#6 Last Year)

#8. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets (#13 Last Year)

#9. Dwight Howard, Free Agent (#8 Last Year)

#10. Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers (#9 Last Year)

We will be doing the same next year for Baseball and Hockey.  

We look forward to your comments and we thank you for your continued support.