2025 Pre-Season Rank #64, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #75, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #120, 2022 Pre-Season Rank: #140. Peak Period: 2021-25

Over the last few seasons, the profile of Joe Thuney rose to the point where he is nationally recognized as one of the top pass protectors in the National Football League, and legendary Quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes will tell you that firsthand.

Thuney helped anchor both Brady’s New England Patriots and Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs to two Super Bowl Championships.  In 2025, Thuney joined the Chicago Bears, and in his first campaign in the Windy City, he was just as dominant.  Last season, he added his fourth straight Pro Bowl and third straight First Team All-Pro, and is positioning himself for a coveted All-Decade selection.

Thuney’s next two seasons will likely determine his Hall of Fame bust.

2025 Pre-Season Rank #18, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #8, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #28, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #35, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #53.  Peak Period: 2019-23

Oh boy!

Tyreek Hill was a three-time First Team All-Pro and Super Bowl Champion with the Kansas City Chiefs, but they traded the talented Wide Receiver to Miami for a slew of draft picks.  Miami then made him the highest-paid WR in the league, and in his first two seasons, Hill was the game’s top receiver, achieving over 1,700 Yards in both campaigns and leading the NFL in Receiving Yards (1,799) and Receiving Touchdowns (13) in 2023.    He was also the runner-up for Offensive Player of the Year.

However…

2024 a different story for Hill, who, for the first time in his career, was not chosen for the Pro Bowl.  He had a lackluster year by his standards (959 Yards/6 TDs), and whispers of his decline were in the air.  2025 was an absolute disaster. 

Early that year, Hill suffered a gruesome knee injury and again faced domestic violence accusations, adding to the many off-field issues he has had over his career.  Together, these issues have made him a free agent as of this writing, and while we would not rule out a comeback, we doubt a return to peak form is in the tea leaves.

The numbers are still solid, and at one point he was considered the top dog in his position, but his Hall of Fame chances have taken a tumble over the last 24 months.

2025 Pre-Season Rank, #24, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #24, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #20, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #28, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #30, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #44.  Peak Period: 2015-19

There is a very good chance that we have seen the end of DeAndre Hopkins on the NFL field, and if that is the case, does the (as of this writing) Free Agent done enough for that coveted gold jacket?

From 2017 to 2019, if you were to say that Hopkins was the best Wide Receiever in the league, the biggest pushback would be at the very least the current “Mount Rushmore”.  A two-time top-five Offensive Player of the Year finisher with the Houston Texans, he was shockingly traded to Arizona in 2020, where he had his last of five Pro Bowl seasons.

In more recent seasons, Hopkins chased a Super Bowl ring (first with Kansas City in 2024 and Baltimore in 2025), but it didn't happen.

He is currently the active leader (again, he is not retired) in Receiving Yards (13,295), but we have him ranked below Mike Evans (the most consistent WR of this era), Davante Adams (who has over 100 Touchdowns and is within 700 Yards of him), and Tyreek Hill (though barely, but his peak was better than Hopkins' best).

The Wide Receiver logjam is the tightest one in Canton, and while the numbers are there, we have seen once-elite WRs struggle.

2025 Pre-Season Rank #26, 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: 2021-25.

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 participant 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, but his play in L.A. has now placed him not only in the conversation, but to many pundits, a lock. 

Much of that came from last season’s performance, where for the first time in his career, he led the NFL in Passing Yards and Touchdown Passes, but most importantly, he won the MVP.  He also rocketed up the all-time lists, and is currently 6th in Passing Yards (64,516) and 7th in Touchdown Passes (423), and another monster year will move him even higher.  Considering who he has to pass to, that seems very doable.

If Stafford wins a Super Bowl in 2026, and he is favored to do so, get the bust ready now.