![]() Faneca, Hutchinson, and Mawae in particular had similar resumes: interior linemen with long careers as Pro Bowlers for multiple teams. ![]() Offensive linemen Tony Boselli, Alan Faneca, Steve Hutchinson, and Kevin Mawae were stuck in a logjam recently. Such players inevitably split the ticket, resulting in none of them getting in for a year or three, followed by most of them trickling in over the course of many years once the jam is unclogged. That's a problem, because it's very likely that five solid Hall of Fame-worthy edge rushers will get stuck Three Stooges-style while trying to walk through the door to Canton at the same time and end up keeping each other from being enshrined for years.Ī logjam occurs when three or more players with similar portfolios reach the finalist stage of the Pro Football Hall of Fame ballot at the same time. In fact, Super Bowl rings, forced fumbles, and awards just make Allen, Freeney, Mathis, Suggs, and Ware look more similar to one another. (See: "signature moments.")Īll of the awards and accomplishments beef up the portfolios of our Sack Pack, but no one tumbles into the "overwhelmingly qualified" category. Ware led the NFL in tackles for a loss three times and helped the Denver Broncos win a championship, recording a pair of sacks in Super Bowl 50.He also played for a legendary defense, which could work for him or against him. Suggs was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2011, helping the Ravens win the Super Bowl the next year.He led the league in forced fumbles three times. Mathis forced 54 fumbles, making him the all-time leader.Freeney was named to the Hall of Fame's All-2000s team, played for a Super Bowl winner, forced 47 career fumbles (third on an all-time list that only dates to 1999) and possessed a legendary spin move that provided many of the "signature moments" some voters look for.Allen led the league in fumble recoveries and tackles for a loss and recorded four career safeties, in addition to leading the league in sacks twice.That said, all the members of our Sack Pack have more to offer than just strings of double-digit sack seasons: That's especially true if a pass-rusher's portfolio, from a historic perspective, boils down to "lots of sacks and not much else." So there's precedent for finishing in the top 20 or higher on the all-time sack list and not getting enshrined, (or, in Kevin Greene's case, waiting forever). John Abraham (133.5 sacks), Leslie O'Neal (132.5), and Simeon Rice (122.0) have similar statistics to the sub-Peppers bunch listed above but never mounted serious Hall campaigns. Things get trickier as we move down the top 20. Watt (101.0) are unlikely to approach it. It's dangerous to think in terms of statistical plateaus when discussing the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but 150 sacks feels safe, especially since active sure HoFers Von Miller (106.0 sacks) and J.J. The four players besides Peppers with 150-plus sacks-Bruce Smith, Reggie White, Kevin Greene, and Chris Doleman-are all in Canton. Sacks became an official statistic in 1982, and the sack leaderboard only recently matured to the point where the top is not loaded with active and recently retired players. Let's start with a quick tale of the tape to demonstrate just how similar Suggs, Ware, Allen, Freeney and Mathis are, according to the leaderboards and the stars-and-crosses test: Peppers and Other HOF-Candidate Edge Rushers That will make sorting among them difficult, and it is almost certain to cause lots of "snubs" and hard feelings in the years to come. ![]() All of them played similar defensive roles during the same era and posted similar statistics. Dwight Freeney becomes eligible on the 2023 ballot, Terrell Suggs in 2024. Robert Mathis and DeMarcus Ware become eligible this year. Jared Allen was a first-time Hall of Fame finalist on the 2021 ballot (last year's ballot, to be clear). Instead, let's discuss the logjam of pass-rushers queuing up behind Peppers. We're not really here to debate about him today. But Peppers won't have to wait long, if at all, after he becomes eligible in 2024. I'll stop short of calling him a "first-ballot Hall of Famer," because folks who understand how Pro Football Hall of Fame balloting works rarely throw that term around. Julius Peppers is a surefire Hall of Famer.
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