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.
Honestly I think the Hall of Fame line is gonna be called the “Rivers Line” for a long time. If you had a better career than Rivers, you’re in the HOF. Literally all Rivers needed was maybe an All Pro selection and/or a SB win and he makes it in. There’s no debate on his individual skill. I think Eli gets in on how impactful he was in the playoffs and the fact that he took down the Patriots twice. Ben is a slightly worse Rivers, with 2 SBs so he gets in from a career perspective. Ryan might be on par with Rivers, but he does have an SB appearance, MVP and an All Pro selection. So I think he gets in, but not so soon.