With QBs that have retired in the last 5 years, there are some interesting HOF debates that I see coming up. Right now the sure-fire HOF guys are Brady, Brees, and Rodgers when he retires. The next tier, however, is a lot more interesting. You have Matt Ryan, Big Ben, and Rivers who are all very close. What’s interesting is that according to Pro Football Reference’s HOF Monitor, they all have fairly similar scores even though they have different resumes. Ryan has the MVP/All-Pro 1 season which is pretty much required unless you have 2 Super Bowls. Ben doesn’t have a crazy MVP season, but he does have those 2 Super Bowls and 17 good years. Then Rivers has some crazy counting stats. I think that Ryan and Roethlisberger have a slight edge over Rivers but it is very hard to separate the 3. So my question is do we think any of them make it? If they do it opens up the debate for a lot of players in the future. Also, how do we think the HOF committee weighs Rings/MVPS/All-Pro teams? The media is always so focused on the rings but looking at the resumes of HOF QBs there are a lot more without rings than there are without All-Pro seasons.
Edit: Here is the PFR Monitor. The average HOF QB has a score of 108. Ryan has a score of 106, Ben has a score of 100, and Rivers is at 98.
I know I’m a homer, but Ben seems like a sure fire lock to me. Two SB wins, a third appearance. The only QB in the group above with that many is Brady.
I think Rivers gets in before Matt Ryan. Rivers played 2 more seasons, they have similar yardage, Rivers has the edge in touchdowns, and Rivers has a 0.558 record where Ryan has 0.532.
I know Ryan has a Super Bowl appearance where Rivers does not, but that didn’t end all too well for Ryan. Reads like a black smudge.
That said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ryan and Rivers both get in. Just may take a while.
Eli would be surprising…