Class Of 2026 Modern Preliminary List

[SeahawkFever]

How would you all rank the quarterbacks on the modern prelim list?

Alphabetically they are:
Drew Brees
Randall Cunningham
Rich Gannon
Jeff Garcia
Eli Manning
Donovan McNabb
Steve McNair
Philip Rivers
Alex Smith

Brees

Rivers
Eli
McNabb
Cunningham
McNair
Garcia
Gannon
Smith

Why Garcia over Gannon?

[readjack]

First is Brees, and there's a huge gap after him.

I would go with Randall, McNair, Rivers, McNabb, Eli.

I'm a hard no on Gannon, Garcia and Smith.

How would you all rank the quarterbacks on the modern prelim list?

Alphabetically they are:
Drew Brees
Randall Cunningham
Rich Gannon
Jeff Garcia
Eli Manning
Donovan McNabb
Steve McNair
Philip Rivers
Alex Smith

[sluggermatt15]

I think Brees is a slam dunk. I predict he will be in this year as a first ballot inductee.

I don't and never have viewed Steve McNair, Jeff Garcia, Rich Gannon, Donovan McNabb or Alex Smith as Hall-of-Fame candidates.

Eli's candidacy may go further this year, he could receive more love and push from the media.

It's a shame IMO that Cunningham has been forgotten. He was a tremendous athlete. People may forget that he punted! Maybe the 1980s/1990s version of Lamar Jackson?

[conace21]

I think Brees is a slam dunk. I predict he will be in this year as a first ballot inductee.


Eli's candidacy may go further this year, he could receive more love and push from the media.

I don't think so, if the voters remain consistent (which is a big if.)

There were 10 players who made the cut from 15 to 10 in last year's voting meeting, and Eli was not among them. Seven of those players are not yet in the HOF, so I would assume that they would once again make the cut to 10, and you have the first ballot candidates to consider. Brees and Fitzgerald are definitely making the Final 10, and Ii think Frank Gore may do so as well (though he won't go any further.)

It's also possible that a modern candidate who's near the end of the line emerges, like Eric Allen did last year. I don't think Allen was a top 3 candidate, but the voters wanted to get him in the OF before he fell into the Senior pool.