ESPN's Next 50 NFL Hall of Famers

ESPN’s Page 2 released a list of the 50 active players that they believe will make it to Canton. Now ESPN has a habit of creating these ridiculous lists that provide people with something to argue about. I am going to bite on this one.

The premise of this list is crazy because players are included on it that have never taken a snap in the NFL. How can you create a serious list when you have no basis for some of the players on it. If you want to create a real list ESPN should find the players already retired whose numbers are on the edge of Hall Fame numbers, then weigh Super Bowl rings, value of players around them, etc. to see which ones deserve the Hall.

On to the list:

First, here’s a breakdown position-by-position of the 50 entries:
6 QB
7 RB
8 WR
2 TE
3 OT
3 OG
0 C
6 DL
8 LB
2 CB
4 S
1 K

I completely agree with the 1st 3 entries. Favre, Brady, and Manning are absolute show-ins. The problem I have the list is order of the offensive lineman. The fact of the matter is that Walter Jones is the best offensive lineman of the decade. He might be the most dominant LT in the history of the NFL. There is no way that Jonathan Ogden, Orlando Pace, and Steve Hutchinson should be ahead of him.

The only reason why Ogden and Pace are ahead of him is because they have Super Bowl rings. While ring is always nice, it should not weigh as much as it does. The LT can not single-handily take a team to a championship. Last year in Minnesota Hutchinson was nearly as effective with Jones next to him. He got beat and blown up on many occasions. Jones not only held his position down, but was consistently helping the LG out who was missing his assignments.

I also have a problem with Shawne Merriman at #21. He is a cheater. He got caught last year using steroids. If you get caught cheating you can’t be considered ahead of people who have played the game honorably.