The NFL’s “Hall of Very Good”

Julian Edelman’s surprise retirement has sparked a national debate on whether the longtime Patriots’ pass-catcher deserves a spot in Canton. Although his regular-season accolades are not enough to put him anywhere near a nomination, his postseason accomplishments are what push him over the top for many. 

In my opinion, Edelman is one of many solid to great NFL players that were never dominant enough to warrant a spot in the HOF. For those players, I’ve drafted a 2021 “Hall of Very Good” class, featuring the Super Bowl LIII MVP. To be eligible for this group, players have to have retired anytime after 2015. Without further ado…

Eli Manning, QB, New York Giants (2004-2019)

I’m aware that there is a very large group of fans and experts who believe that Eli Manning is definitely a Hall of Fame player. Their belief is mostly rooted in the fact that Manning was able to win two Super Bowl MVP awards during his career. Here’s the issue with that: those MVPs came in two games where the Giants offense combined for just 36 points total. Both Super Bowl runs were spurred by incredible defensive stretches in which New York’s defense held multiple of the best offenses in NFL history to terrible outings. The 2007 Patriots and 2011 Packers scored just 37 points combined against the G-Men.

Manning also had just six playoff appearances in 14 years, three seasons with 20+ interceptions (11 with 15+), and a career .500 record. On the flip side, he is eighth all-time in passing yards, ninth in touchdowns, and of course, have the two aforementioned Super Bowl MVP awards. Hall of Fame? Absolutely not. Hall of Very Good? Gotta be.

Brandon Marshall, WR, DEN/MIA/CHI/NYJ/NYG/SEA (2006-2018)

Marshall was basically the NFL’s anti-Edelman. He recorded almost 1,000 receptions for his career totaling 12,351 yards and 83 touchdowns. He played for six different teams and briefly signed to one more. He also never played in a postseason game. Not one. 13 years in the NFL and not once was he lucky enough to make it. During the best season of his career in 2015, Marshall watched his team win 10 games and then get knocked out of playoff contention in storybook fashion by Rex Ryan and the Bills.

Marshall has great overall numbers, but 16/23/23 career rankings in receptions/yards/TDs isn’t going to make the cut if you weren’t on any winning teams at all during your career.

LeSean McCoy, RB, PHI/BUF/KC/TB (2009-2020)

*McCoy is still technically active, but there is a good chance he will retire, so I will make an exception

McCoy has a good chance at the Hall, maybe the best chance of anyone on this list not named Eli Manning. The issue is that one,  there were too many “very good” running backs during the 2010s (Lynch, Bell, Gore, Charles, etc). Second, team success didn’t really follow him until the tail-end of his career where he was no longer contributing. Third,  his career numbers don’t rank extremely high, and Forth,  the position has become extremely devalued and that could hurt him come voting time.

McCoy does have a strong case though. Here are his ranks among running backs from 2010-2019:

Rushing Yards: 10,434 (1st)

Rushing TDs: 69 (2nd)

Scrimmage Yards: 13,923 (1st)

And his ranks all-time:

Rushing Yards: 11,102 (22nd)

Rushing TDs: 73 (T-28th)

Scrimmage Yards: 15,000 (18th)

Philip Rivers, QB, SD/LAC/IND (2004-2020)

Philip Rivers was a very good QB for a very long time, but a lack of success after the LaDainian Tomlinson era will probably result in him missing out on Canton. He actually led his team to the postseason one more time than his counterpart Eli Manning, but he never had one of those magical runs that might push Eli to the Hall. 

For his career, Rivers ranks fifth in both passing yards and touchdowns, edging out the great Dan Marino in both categories. He was selected to the Pro Bowl eight times but was never selected to an All-Pro team. Rivers’ defining moment came in the 2007 postseason when he played on a torn ACL against the undefeated Patriots in the AFC Title Game. That was the closest a Rivers-led team ever got to a Super Bowl.

Julian Edelman, WR, New England Patriots (2009-2020)

Edelman’s case for the Hall of Fame is far from traditional. He ranks 156th all-time in receiving yards, behind the likes of Jeremy Maclin, Brandin Cooks, and Dwayne Bowe. He just misses the top 250 for receiving touchdowns (36) but finishes a respectable 75th in receptions. He was never selected to a Pro Bowl and never even came near an All-Pro team. All in all, not even close to Hall of Fame worthy… as a regular-season player. 

Edelman’s true value comes in the form of his work in the postseason where he ranks second all-time in catches and receiving yards, behind only Jerry Rice. He also captured a Super Bowl MVP award following the 2018 season. He’s played in a ridiculous 19 playoff games and won three rings as a big part of the Patriots dynasty. Now, how integral was he? Well in 2010, 2011, and 2017 (seasons where Edelman was either hurt or not in his prime), Tom Brady notched two MVP awards and two Super Bowl appearances despite Edelman contributing just 120 receiving yards combined.

Patriots HOF? Lock. NFL HOF? Please.

Honorable Mentions: Tony Romo, Wes Welker, Haloti Ngata

Comment below if I missed anyone else.

*All stats are from Pro Football Reference and StatMuse

Writer

-By: Micah Jimoh