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 think you ultimately have to be judged against both HOF members and your peers. Ben, Matt Ryan and Rivers all played at a high level for a long time, and they're probably better than some of the players already in the hall, but when you're competing not only with four of the greatest QBs in league history (Brady, Peyton, Rodgers and Brees) but also Mahomes (who is basically a lock already), with guys like Lamar, Burrow and Allen also potentially in the discussion.
They're not the best of their generation and they're not better than the best of the next generation. In fact, it even being up for debate sort of tells me that they shouldn't be in. Maybe Ben, but only because of his two rings.
Burrow, Lamar and Allen thus far have the same issues Rivers has in an inability to close the deal in the playoffs but haven't been as good for as long.
Only Mahomes is worth comparing to this group as of now though obviously it could change in a few years