Lock (100%): QB Patrick Mahomes. I addressed this in my MVP column in July. Mahomes' résumé -- a league MVP and Super Bowl MVP -- is usually enough to get a player into the Hall of Fame, let alone doing it over two seasons as a starter.
Likely (70% to 99%): WR Tyreek Hill, TE Travis Kelce. It might seem surprising to put Hill this high, but he has made it to four Pro Bowls and been a first-team All-Pro twice across his first four seasons. All seven players who did that and who are eligible for the Hall are in, and the list of ineligible guys includes Hill, Patrick Willis, Joe Thomas, Adrian Peterson, Patrick Peterson, Zack Martin and Aaron Donald. Everyone but Hill is either a lock or extremely likely to make it in. Hill's game still relies on speed, so he could be more susceptible to a career shortened by injuries than most other candidates, but if he gets three more seasons with Mahomes, he's probably in.
Kelce is difficult to judge because tight ends aren't well represented in the Hall. Just nine tight ends are enshrined, and Kelce's game leans more toward receiving than any of them. At the same time, no tight end in history has more than four 1,000-yard seasons over their respective careers, and Kelce has just run off four consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns. Like Hill, if Kelce gets three more seasons with Mahomes, I think he's a Hall of Famer.
Work to do (10% to 39%): S Tyrann Mathieu. The Defensive Player of the Year candidate was named a first-team All-Pro in 2015 and 2019, but he hasn't received any other nominations across his other five pro seasons. Mathieu is a great player and just turned 28, so he still has plenty of time, but he probably needs four or five more Pro Bowl seasons or a DPOY victory to really get in the discussion. [Reply]
Let’s say he held a presser tomorrow where he quit and said: “I’m bored dominating the NFL. Too boring. I’m going back to Texas to be a cattle rancher.” Would he be in? I don’t think he would but you can disagree. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch:
Is Patrick in Canton as of today?
Let’s say he held a presser tomorrow where he quit and said: “I’m bored dominating the NFL. Too boring. I’m going back to Texas to be a cattle rancher.” Would he be in? I don’t think he would but you can disagree.
Yeah, the SB MVP + MVP should do it.
Assuming he would quit at the end of the season, instead of tomorrow in your hypothetical, he'd likely have 2 MVPs, and possibly a 2nd ring.
So I think either way, yes, but at the end of this season, definitely. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch:
Is Patrick in Canton as of today?
Let’s say he held a presser tomorrow where he quit and said: “I’m bored dominating the NFL. Too boring. I’m going back to Texas to be a cattle rancher.” Would he be in? I don’t think he would but you can disagree.
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch:
Is Patrick in Canton as of today?
Let’s say he held a presser tomorrow where he quit and said: “I’m bored dominating the NFL. Too boring. I’m going back to Texas to be a cattle rancher.” Would he be in? I don’t think he would but you can disagree.
I think with that attitude, it's debatable.
I think if he got injured and decided he couldn't risk his body anymore, yes. [Reply]