2024 Pre-Season Rank #74, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #70, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #64, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #62, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #65
Punters face a long road to Canton, but if any current one could get there, it is Hekker, who was a First Team All-Pro three years in a row from 2015 to 2017. He was also named to the 2010s All-Decade Team.
2024 Pre-Season Rank #54, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #86, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #90, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #95, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #122. Peak Period: 2011-15
Brown enters the season as a Free Agent, and if his career has come to an end, has he done enough to become a Hall of Fame inductee?
He likely hasn’t, bit leaves behind 220 Games Played (218 Starts) and should be acknowledged in any Houston Texans Hall of Fame. He could still find work in 2025 as a veteran presence on a contending team.
2024 Pre-Season Rank #75, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #120, 2022 Pre-Season Rank: #140. Peak Period: 2020-24
Joe Thuney is finally getting his due as one of the top pass protectors in football, and you can ask both Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes how good he is at it. Thuney has been a starter in four Super Bowl Championships (two for New England and two for Kansas City) and is on a three-year run of Pro Bowls, and was a First Team All-Pro in the last two. He now joins Chicago to lead their O-Line, and what he does in the Windy City will decide if he is a Hall of Famer or not.
2025 Pre-Season Rank #14, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #21, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #27, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #25, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #36, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #42. Peak Period: 2017-21
Cameron Jordan is one of the many players on this list whose second half seems to eclipse his first, and isn't that a stunning statement considering that he was a 2010s All-Decade Player? He had a six-year Pro Bowl streak snapped in 2022, but has eight in total, and a healthy number of career Sacks (132) and Tackles for Loss (175). His Hall of Fame case is also bolstered by his association with only one team, the New Orleans Saints, where he has been a leader on and off the field for over a decade.
Jordan begins the 2026 season and announced that this would be his last. A ninth Pro Bowl is possible, and if he gets that along with significant behind the line of scrimmage stats, his chances for Canton will rise, but despite the solid resume, bigger names in similar roles could overshadow him. How many times have we seen that before?
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
DeAndre Hopkins joins the Baltimore Ravens this year in his quest for his first Super Bowl. He was as close as he ever was last year, having been traded to Kansas City during the season, but his overall output was 610 Yards, a far cry from the dynamo he was with Houston from 2017 to 2019, and was considered one of the best Wide receivers of the game.
He is currently the active leader in Receiving Yards (12,965), 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 1,100 Yards of him), and Tyreek Hill (whose best years were better than Hopkins' best).
Hopkins still has a lot in the tank, and if used and healthy, he can pad those stats, and let’s be honest: The Wide Receiver logjam is the tightest one in Canton.
2024 Pre-Season Rank #92,2023 Pre-Season Rank #89, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #87, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #89, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #85. Peak Period: 2015-19.
More of a Swiss-Army Knife type of player than a pure pass rusher, Clowney went to three straight Pro Bowls (2016-18) with the Houston Texans, though he has not been to one since.
Clowney has been more of a role player, bouncing from various teams but still providing value. The Hall of Fame dream is likely over, but it is a solid career that still should provide more moments this year as a Carolina Panther. A ten-sack season (he had 9.5 twice, including last year) is still within reach if he finds a team in 2025.
2024 Pre-Season Rank #37, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #36, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #47, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #53, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #55. Peak Period: 2016-20
It looks like it is the end of the road for Ezekiel Elliott, who ended his career where it began, in Dallas.
The 2016 Consensus Rookie of the Year was an incredible performer in his first four seasons, winning the Rushing Title as a rookie and again in his third season. Zeke was considered one of the top rushers from 2016 to 2019, but his production slowed down to where he was a backup in his final two seasons (2023 in New England and 2024 in Dallas).
11,848 Yards from Scrimmage with 88 Touchdowns is a very good career, but it likely won’t cut it in this era.
2024 Pre-Season Rank #8, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #28, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #35, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #53. Peak Period: 2019-23
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 the Offensive Player of the Year,
Last season was 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.
Still, he enters 2025 with 11,098 career Yards and 82 TDs, and is capable of a bounce-back year, and Hill’s candidacy might need that as off-field issues follow him wherever he goes, and that does turn off some of the voters (right or wrong).
2024 Pre-Season Rank #69, 2023 Pre-Season #77, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #77, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #71, Last Year’s Rank #62. Peak Period: 2014-16/18-19.
OBJ’s three Pro Bowls were in his first three seasons, and while his last Pro Bowl was in 2016, Beckham Jr. did have 1,000-yard-plus campaigns in 2018 and 2019. Since then, injuries have accumulated, and he is no longer the same player who made the most incredible regular-season catch in history. 2021 was a year of agony and ecstasy for Beckham Jr., who seemed rejuvenated after a mid-season pickup by the Rams, where he won the Super Bowl. However, in that game, while he scored a Touchdown, he also tore his ACL.
After sitting out the 2022 season to rehab, Beckham Jr. played a year in Baltimore with a respectable 565 Yards, but only had 55 Yards in nine Games in Miami the year after. He starts this season without a team, and his Hall of Fame resume appears to end with an incredible start with a Touchdown catch and ACL tear in a Super Bowl win.
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.
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.
2020 Pre-Season Rank #15, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #5, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #3, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #2. PEAK 2017-21
Well, look who’s back!
When we last saw Aaron Donald on this list, it was heading into the 2023 season, which he completed with another Pro Bowl, giving him a perfect ten-for-ten in that accolade. He then shock-retired, doing so while still having something left.
Let’s see what he still has.
It is easy to see why Donald opted to come back. The Rams begin the season as the most loaded team in football. Quarterback Matthew Stafford is the reigning MVP, and they landed the defending Defensive Player of the Year in Myles Garrett. This team narrowly lost to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game, and now they have a returning Aaron Donald and Myles Garrett? We haven’t even mentioned the acquisitions of Trent McDuffie and Jaley Watson to the Defensive Back Corps!
A quick reminder of who Donald is.
He is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, and anyone who has ever done that twice has always been enshrined…easily. From 2015 to 2021, he never finished lower than fifth for the DPOY, he led the NFL in Sacks once, Tackles for Loss twice, and also boasts a Super Bowl ring.
He could easily add another.
Should he be ahead of the previous #1, Quarterback Aaron Rodgers? We answer this with this question.
Who is easier to put on the Mount Rushmore of his position? Aaron Donald or Aaron Rodgers?
You can see who we narrowly picked!
2025 Pre-Season Rank #8, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #12, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #14, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #19, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #26, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #29. Peak Period: 2015-19.
Oakland. Chicago. Los Angeles.
Everywhere Khalil Mack goes, Khalil Mack dominates.
The Outside Linebacker made history last season as the first player to secure three Pro Bowls on three different teams, when he added Pro Bowl number nine in year three with the Chargers. The celebrated pass-rusher has 113 career Sacks, a Defensive Player of the Year Award (2016 with the Raiders), the longevity, the consistency, and the dominance that the PFHOF would want.
He may not dominate the defensive headlines like he used to, but Mack remains the “Mack.”
2025 Pre-Season Rank #4, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #5, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #7, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #12, 2021 Pre-Season Rank: #20, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #37. Peak Period: 2018-22
There have been a lot of phenomenal Tight Ends before Travis Kelce, but let’s be realistic; there may never be a more recognized Tight End in football than Travis Kelce.
Being married to Taylor Swift will help with that.
Before he became a Swifty, Kelce was already the most known man at his position, and from 2016 to 2022 had at least 1,000 Yards and a version of the AP All-Pro (four First Team and three Second Team). His level of production had no positional peer, and he was not just a participant in Kansas City’s three Super Bowl wins, but a vital cog who owns the all-time playoff record in receptions (178), with 2,078 Yards and 20 Touchdowns. Think of that for a second! His overall playoff numbers are the envy of most NFL Tight Ends’ regular-season careers!
It was expected by many that Kelce would not return this year, but here he is, with just over 13,000 career Yards and a first-ballot ticket to Canton.
Notably, 898 Yards this year will bring him to 13th all-time.
2025 Pre-Season Rank #2, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #3, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #3, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #6, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #10, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #18. Peak: 2016-20
Bobby Wagner is currently a Free Agent, and we aren’t sure if he will ever play another snap in the National Football League.
If that is the case, it should not matter, as the longtime Middle Linebacker can retire as one of the most explosive tackling machines that ever lived.
A Super Bowl Champion with the Seattle Seahawks, Wagner earned nine Pro Bowls in Seattle, with a tenth as a Washington Commander. Recording 15 picks, Wagner is currently third overall in Combined Tackles with an even 2,000, and is only 59 behind Ray Lewis, meaning that if he finds work this year, he can grab the official all-time lead.
As great as he was in the interior, Wagner’s versatility saw him record 39.5 Sacks and 15 Interceptions. Regardless of whether he plays again, his legacy is complete, whether or not his name has transcended football. The Pro Football Hall of Fame voters will recognize Wagner for his overall career, and he should be a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee based on the patterns we have seen so far.
2025 Pre-Season Rank #5, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #6, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #6, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #20, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #33, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #35. 2018-23*
Aging like wine, we love the story of Trent Williams, who was one of the better Offensive Linemen in Washington history and who wanted out after he felt that the team misdiagnosed a dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, a growth that was determined to be a type of cancer in 2019 but was dismissed by the Redskins medical team in 2013. He did not play at all in 2019 and wanted out, landing in San Francisco in 2020, where he was a First Team All-Pro from 2021 to 2023 and now has the most Pro Bowls (12) of any active Offensive Lineman.
What Williams has accomplished in San Francisco has cemented a bronze bust.
*Williams sat out in 2019.
2025 Pre-Season Rank #6, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #7, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #4, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #7, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #8, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #10. Peak Period: 2011-12/2014-16.
A Defensive Rookie of the Year, Super Bowl winner, and Super Bowl MVP for the Denver Broncos, Miller has all the statistical requirements the Hall looks for and the name recognition that fits the word "Fame.” Over the last four seasons, Miller served as a pass-rushing specialist for the Buffalo Bills and Washington Commanders, and now he begins the season in his home state, wearing the blue star of the Dallas Cowboys.
As for how much Miller has left in the tank, he generated nine sacks last season in his specialized role, moving him to ninth on the official list and three away from tying Michael Strahan for sixth. Only one Tackle for Loss gives him sole possession of fourth in that all-time list.
The only thing that we think could delay him is if some of the members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame might want him to pay penance for his past suspensions (one for substance abuse and one for domestic violence), though they did generate a lot of press considering his high profile. Honestly, they might not even discuss it.
2025 Pre-Seasn Rank #14, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #19, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #19, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #26 2021 Pre-Season Rank #28, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #36. Peak Period: 2014-18
Longevity, talent, and class.
40-year-old Calais Campbell remains a solid Defensive End in the National Football League, and in 2026, he joins the Baltimore Ravens for a second time, and will likely provide solid production.
“The Mayor of Sacksonville” went to six Pro Bowls in a seven-year period (2014-20), which includes his last two in his first run in Arizona, all three of his seasons as a Jacksonville Jaguar, and his first in Baltimore. Campbell, who won the 2019 Walter Payton Man of the Year and the 2023 Alan Page Award, was also honored with a 2010s All-Decade Selection.
Campbell also has a statistical Hall of Fame resume with 110.5 Sacks and 196 Tackles for Loss, making him the active leader in that stat. The Hall of Fame loves character guys, but they don’t get a pass unless they show what their goods are on the gridiron. Calais Campbell did just that.
2025 Pre Season Ranke #1, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #1, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #1, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #2, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #2, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #3. PEAK PERIOD: 2008-12.
The return of another Aaron (Donald) to the NFL knocked Aaron Rodgers off the top overall spot, but this does not change a thing for Rodgers’ Hall of Fame trajectory.
Rodgers announced that 2026 will be his farewell season, and if that is the case, it will end the last stanza of what has been a strange last portion of his career.
Rodgers, who has dated Olivia Munn, Danica Patrick, and Shailene Woodley, was even considered the permanent host of Jeopardy. It looked like he would cross over into non-sports stardom, but that came crashing down, and he has been involved in more Hollywood feuds (see Jimmy Kimmel) and was thrust into the culture war when it was revealed that he did not get the COVID-19 vaccine and espoused conspiracy theories. He became much less marketable than he used to be, and in some circles he ranks among the most hated athletes.
In 2023, after a long and fruitful career with the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers was injured on the first drive with his new team, the New York Jets, and he was underwhelming when healthy in 2024. He did manage to take his third team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, to the playoffs last year, but this was not a Quarterback who looked like he had the skills he did as a Green Bay Packer
None of this will matter.
Regardless of how Rodgers performs in what will be his final season, no multi-time MVP has ever failed to enter Canton, and he has four of them!. Throw in the Super Bowl win with the Packers, and it is an open-and-shut case, regardless of what happens next.
Notably, (and since we are obsessed with statistical ranks), here is what Rodgers could do in 2026:
An Approximate Value of five will take him over Brett Favre for fourth all-time. A monster year of 16 (unlikely) will tie him with Peyton Manning for fourth.
13 Touchdown Passes will take him over Peyton Manning for third all-time.
For our rationale for supplanting Rodgers with Donald, see the Aaron Donald bio.