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.
“Big Ben” eventual gets in. May not be first ballot but the guy was associated with winning and has 2 rings to his name.
Rivers has similar numbers but never making a SB appearance will likely be held against him (fair or not).
I think Ryan is a maybe, but not likely even with his MVP and SB appearance. Like Rivers, he’s in the Hall of Very Good.
I think Matt Stafford is a more interesting case than Ryan and Rivers. If he can string a few more healthy/winning seasons together I say he’s in. The ring gave a big boost to his resume.
Russ is another interesting case where had he not gone to Denver, he likely gets in. Denver has done nothing but hurt his legacy and even with his ring and second SB appearance, it’ll be interesting to see how voters treat his career.