Yesterday, the NFL Hall of Fame Class of 2018 Nominees were announced from the modern era. This list had 108 guys, broken down by position. There are some guys who will probably make it, and some guys who clearly will not. In November, the committee will list 25 players from this modern list to be semi-finalists for the Hall of Fame. So, we’re going to do the same thing here. Take the 108 man list and pare it down to 25.
(*Finalist in 2017; Underline indicates first year of eligibility)
QUARTERBACK
Randall Cunningham, Rich Gannon, Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair, Phil Simms
PICKS: NONE
RUNNING BACK
Tiki Barber, Earnest Byner, Roger Craig, Corey Dillon, Eddie George, Edgerrin James, Lorenzo Neal, Fred Taylor, Herschel Walker (also KR), Ricky Watters
PICKS: Roger Craig, Corey Dillon, Eddie George, Edgerrin James, Ricky Watters
WIDE RECEIVER
*Isaac Bruce, Donald Driver, Henry Ellard (also PR), Torry Holt, Chad Johnson, Randy Moss, *Terrell Owens, Sterling Sharpe, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith, Steve Smith, John Taylor, Hines Ward
PICKS: Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson, Randy Moss, Isaac Bruce, Henry Ellard, Torry Holt
TIGHT END
Mark Bavaro, Ben Coates, Ferrell Edmunds, Jay Novacek
PICKS: NONE
OFFENSIVE LINE
Willie Anderson (T), Matt Birk (C), *Tony Boselli (T), Lomas Brown (T), Ruben Brown (G), Ray Donaldson (C), *Alan Faneca (G), Bill Fralic (G/T), Jay Hilgenberg (C), Chris Hinton (G/T), Kent Hull (C), Steve Hutchinson (G), *Joe Jacoby (T), Mike Kenn (T), *Kevin Mawae (C/G), Tom Nalen (C), Nate Newton (G), Bart Oates (C), Jeff Saturday (C), Richmond Webb (T), Steve Wisniewski (G)
PICKS: Willie Anderson, Matt Birk, Lomas Brown, Ruben Brown, Alan Faneca, Joe Jacoby, Kevin Mawae, Jeff Saturday
DEFENSIVE LINE
La’Roi Glover (DT/NT), Leonard Marshall (DE/DT), Keith Millard (DT/NT/DE), Leslie O’Neal (DE), Michael Dean Perry (DT/DE), Simeon Rice (DE), Richard Seymour (DT), Neil Smith (DE), Greg Townsend (DE/NT/LB), Kyle Vanden Bosch (DE), Bryant Young (DT)
PICKS: La’Roi Glover
LINEBACKER
Carl Banks, Cornelius Bennett, Tedy Bruschi, Seth Joyner, Ray Lewis, Greg Lloyd, Wilber Marshall, Clay Matthews, Willie McGinest (also DE), Karl Mecklenburg, Sam Mills, Joey Porter, Darryl Talley, Zach Thomas, Brian Urlacher
PICKS: Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher
DEFENSIVE BACK
Eric Allen (CB), Steve Atwater (S), Ronde Barber (CB/S), LeRoy Butler (S), *Brian Dawkins (SS), Rodney Harrison (S), *Ty Law (CB), Albert Lewis (CB), *John Lynch (S), Dennis Smith (S), Everson Walls (CB), Darren Woodson (S)
PICKS: Ronde Barber, Brian Dawkins, John Lynch
SPECIALISTS
Gary Anderson (K), Sean Landeta (P), Nick Lowery (K), Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB), Steve Tasker (ST also WR)
PICKS: NONE
COACHES
*Don Coryell, Bill Cowher, Tom Flores, Mike Holmgren, Jimmy Johnson, Chuck Knox, Buddy Parker, Richie Petitbon, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer, Clark Shaughnessy, Dick Vermeil
PICKS: NONE
[I think there are clearly more than 25 guys worth of conversation, but I chose the 25 I think should have a chance of making it this year]