2016: Favre a lock, Terrell Owens will be put in line

[JohnTurney]

2016 will be clean up year, Favre will get in, 2 seniors and 1 contributer

4 slots open
Warner, Pace, Greene, Harrison.

Dungy gets bumped

I would guess Owens makes Final 15 with the 5 that didn't make it this year . .. plus maybe Ike Bruce, Mike Kenn . . .

I may be missing one or two newbies . . .

[26554]

I think Dungy (and Favre) bump Warner to 2017 unless coaches are switched to the contributor category.

The other first-time notables for next year are Alan Faneca (will get in, but will wait a few years) and Darren Sharper (no chance unless he's acquitted on all the charges against him).

I like Holt a little more than Bruce, so I would move him up to the finalist list first. Good chance somebody from the group of James, Law and Mawae moves up, I would think.

[26554]

More on Faneca: Looking closer, it doesn't look like he'll see as much overall o-line competition as Shields faced. Assuming Pace goes in next year, Faneca's closest competition in 2017 looks to be Mawae, who's deserving, but not necessarily more so than Faneca. Steve Hutchinson becomes eligible in 2018. Tough call to say who's more deserving between him and Faneca. So, the way it looks, Faneca could get in as early as his second try and probably no later than his fourth.

[JohnTurney]

More on Faneca: Looking closer, it doesn't look like he'll see as much overall o-line competition as Shields faced. Assuming Pace goes in next year, Faneca's closest competition in 2017 looks to be Mawae, who's deserving, but not necessarily more so than Faneca. Steve Hutchinson becomes eligible in 2018. Tough call to say who's more deserving between him and Faneca. So, the way it looks, Faneca could get in as early as his second try and probably no later than his fourth.

Hard to say on Faneca, I agree he could get in as early as his second year, he's got the "alls" but the way some guys wait it's hard to tell. Once 2018 rolls around, there will be little room for lots of guys, some heavy hitters come up in 2018-2020

[rebelx24]

I have to agree on Warner being bumped to 2017; there's no way they'll induct two QBs in the same class, and Favre is a definite first-ballot guy.

I predicted that Pace would go in in 2017, but now I think it's likely that he makes it next year, especially given that he made the cut to 10 this time around.

So are we looking, potentially, at a class of Favre, Harrison, Pace, Greene, and Dungy? Quite possibly. I'd bet that these guys will make up the modern portion of next year's class.

[Gary Najman]

I have to agree on Warner being bumped to 2017; there's no way they'll induct two QBs in the same class, and Favre is a definite first-ballot guy.

I predicted that Pace would go in in 2017, but now I think it's likely that he makes it next year, especially given that he made the cut to 10 this time around.

So are we looking, potentially, at a class of Favre, Harrison, Pace, Greene, and Dungy? Quite possibly. I'd bet that these guys will make up the modern portion of next year's class.

There have been two times in recent years where two QBs went together: in 2004 Dan Marino and Steve Young, and in 2006 Troy Aikman and Warren Moon.

[rebelx24]

There have been two times in recent years where two QBs went together: in 2004 Dan Marino and Steve Young, and in 2006 Troy Aikman and Warren Moon.

Whoops, yeah, was forgetting about those two classes (Marino and Young were '05, btw). However, I still think it's somewhat unlikely that these guys go in together. For one, all four of the QBs in those classes had far more solid and consistent careers than Warner did, and their selections were consequently less debatable. Secondly, all were first-ballot inductees. Since Warner has already failed to get in in his first year of eligibility, I can see the voters, come 2016, thinking, "Hey, we've already established that he isn't first ballot-level; what's one more year?" Sure, I could be wrong, but I can see that happening.