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The Buck Stops Here -- Hall of Fame News -- Season 1 Epsiode 33
#25 Overall, Quenton Nelson, Indianapolis Colts, Left Guard, #2 Offensive Lineman
2024 Pre-Season Rank #29, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #42, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #51, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #78, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #89. Peak Period: 2018-22
No other Offensive Linemen who debuted in 2018 have been as good as Nelson. Seven years don’t make the Hall for an O-Lineman (well, it did for Tony Boselli), but when you lay out a three-year streak of First Team All-Pro with a Pro Bowl every year, this bodes well for a bust in Canton. Nelson’s AV/G is well over the MPA, which is very impressive. If he can string together a decade of Pro Bowls and eventually add an All-Decade nod, Nelson will be hard to keep out.
#30 Overall, David Bahktiari, Free Agent, Left Tackle, #4 Offensive Lineman
2024 Pre-Season Rank #30, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #27, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #30, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #58, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #56. Peak Period: 2016-2020
Bakhtiari was Aaron Rodgers' top Offensive Lineman for years, and for a time, it looked like he was criminally disrespected by Pro Bowl and All-Pro voters. That would change, but shortly after, his injuries held him to 13 Games from 2021 to 2023. He is now a Free Agent and might never play another down in the NFL. If that is the case, did he do enough?
It's likely not, as the logjam for Offensive Linemen is looking a lot like Wide Receivers, and the road will be hard. Bakhtiari will, though, enter the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame early, and hopefully, he will do one of his beer speed chugs.
#34 Overall, George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers, #2 Tight End
2024 Pre-Season Rank #42, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #59, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #74, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #86, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #93. Peak Period: 2018-19/22-24.
The man who coined “National Tight Ends Day” would be the toast of his position over the last half-decade if it were not for Travis Kelce, but George Kittle has become well known just the same!
Kittle is coming off his sixth Pro Bowl, where he had his fourth 1,000-yard year (1,106) and was a Second Team All-Pro. A San Francisco 49er for all of his eight years, Kittle is now north of 30, but still plays like he is in his prime. With Rob Gronkowski (and possibly Jason Witten) entering soon, the statistical bar for Tight Ends is growing, but if Kitlle can speed up his pace over the next few years and possibly win a Super Bowl, he will be in the hunt.