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#52 Overall, Joe Flacco, Cleveland Browns, #10 Quarterback
2024 Pre-Season Rank #64, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #84, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #84, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #92, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #124. Peak Period: 2008-12
For the record, we know that the odds of Joe Flacco making it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame are minimal at best, but what he has accomplished in the last few years has been inspirational.
A Super Bowl Champion with the Baltimore Ravens, Flacco was supplanted by Lamar Jackson and continued to work in the NFL as a solid backup. In 2023, he had to take over for Cleveland in their stretch drive and led them to the playoffs with a 4-1 record. He also won the AP Comeback Player of the Year. Last year, he was a Colt, but he begins this campaign as a starter once again, for Cleveland.
Regardless of how far he gets in the Hall of Fame process, his longevity and dedication to the game are impressive, and he is a player with over 45,000 Yards.
#26 Overall, Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams, #6 Quarterback
2024 Pre-Season Rank #31, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #37, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #37, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #59, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #67. Peak Period: 2011-15.
A change of scenery can change the perception. Matthew Stafford was a Lion for 12 years, racking up passing yards but only a few wins. A Pro Bowl once in Detroit, Stafford was entrenched as a second-tier QB. The Rams traded for him, and he became a Super Bowl Champion in his first year in Los Angeles, gaining national recognition. Articles were written (and scoffed at) proclaiming him a Hall of Famer, and he isn't as of this writing, but he sure is a hell of a lot closer than he was. Never forget how vital Super Bowl wins are for the Quarterback position for Canton consideration.
Stafford is now on the north side of 35 and is entering his fifth year in L.A. His second Pro Bowl in 2023 will help him, but he needs a lot more despite the Super Bowl win. His key is in his statistical compilation. Currently, he is tenth in Passing Yards (59,809), and could pass Dan Marino (61,361), Matt Ryan (62,792), and Philip Rivers (63,440), and a top-five spot all-time is in his grasp. Say what you want about the previously mentioned three QBs, and that they were better than Stafford (we would agree), but he has a ring.
Modern Positional Average
Modern Positional Average
Cornerbacks: Champ Bailey (2019), Ty Law (2019), Ed Reed (2019), Charles Woodson (2021), Darrelle Revis (2021) & Ronde Barber (2021)
Note that in 2019, all Defensive Backs were grouped together, and were Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins, Ty Law, Ed Reed and Aeneas Williams. Cornerbacks and Safeties were split in 2020, but kept at four in both categories to keep everything modern. Last year, Barber and Revis entered and with Bailey, Law & Reed entering in the same year, we have six comprsing the Modern Positional Average. As we progress forward, Interception numbers will likely decline as elite Corners are rarely thrown to.
Here are the statistics that we are using based on the last group of Cornerbacks to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
- Games Played: 205.3
- Approximate Value: 139
- Approximate Value per Games Played: 0.6771
- Games Started: 199.2
- Approximate Value per Games Started: 0.6979
- Approximate Value per Five-Year Peak: 70.8
- Approximate Value’s Best Five Results: 74
- Top Five Defensive Player of the Year Finishes**: 4
- Pro Bowls: 7.8
- First Team All-Pros*: 3.5
- Interceptions: 51.7
- Interceptions Five-Year Peak: 26.5
- Top Five Interception Finishes**: 10
- Combined Tackles: 898.2
- Combined Tackles Five-Year Peak: 347.3
- Super Bowl Wins: 1.5
- Super Bowl Appearances: 1.2
*This is an aggregate of the Top Five finishes (5th = 1, 4th = 2, 3rd = 3, 2nd = 4th, 1st = 5)
**This is a reminder that the All-Pros we use are from the AP.