Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Whether youre a big fan of the website, or feel its in decline or stagnate, PFF has been instrumental in a data-statistics gathering football industry, with major influence and trust all over different forms of various media and publication. Their methods of statistical-analytics and grading have put many current or former players on the spot and judged, whether fairly or not.

This week, Pro Football Focus has put together an all-time PFF team based on their first 20 years of analytical data and grading, and casual fans have to wonder if current and future voters will use this data and grades to evaluate future HOF candidates? Many of the choices can be quite surprising and the selections were mostly based on a player's five best seasons as peak performance rather than longevity. I have also added players that had excellent grades that had just missed their team, that PFF might possibly endorse as future candidates with cases for HOF consideration.

All-Time PFF Team 2006 - 2026

Part One: Offense

QB
1st team -- Tom Brady
2nd team -- Peyton Manning

Others in order -- Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees

RB
1st Team -- Derrick Henry
2nd team -- Adrian Peterson

Others in order -- Christian McCaffery, Josh Jacobs? Marshawn Lynch

Some may be surprised that Henry beats out Peterson, especially considering that Peterson started playing in an era that emphasized and encouraged more hitting and non-handcuffed defensive play, but IMO, PFF doesnt take rule changes into consideration as much as raw numbers, data. I could be wrong or misled about that. I put a question mark besides Jacobs, and other players who are still in their prime, without fans necessarily thinking they are or have HOF worthy careers ... maybe they do?

WR
1st Team -- Julio Jones
1st Team -- Antonio Brown
1st Team/slot -- DeAndre Hopkins

2nd team -- Davante Adams
2nd team -- Calvin Johnson
2nd team/slot -- Tyreek Hill

Others in order -- Larry Fitzgerald? Brandon Marshall, Justin Jefferson, Andre Johnson, Amon St Brown, Michael Thomas, Reggie Wayne, Ja'Marr Chase

With Fitzgerald being a 1st ballot HOF electee, should he really be outside of these other receivers, or does PFF's data, simply suggest that these other players had solid, HOF careers? Maybe Fitzgerald is penalized more for career longevity, but its also surprising that 1st ballot electee, Calvin Johnson, is also graded lower than four other receivers during this period. Like Peterson at RB, some of these older receivers didnt have the benefit of rules changes for later on ...

TE
1st team -- Travis Kelce
1st team -- George Kittle

2nd team -- Rob Gronkowski?
2nd team -- Tony Gonzalez

Others in order -- Jason Witten, Mark Andrews

More surprises with Gronk rated lower than Kittle? Also, where is Antonio Gates? Sorry, but being a Kittle fan, there is no way I consider him even being close to Gronk, who has the hardware and was much more clutch in postseason. If Gronk is 1st ballot elected, does Kittle get elected in the future? Does PFF provide the endorsement he needs? Are all these guys really ahead of Witten?

LT
1st team -- Trent Williams
2nd team -- Joe Thomas

Others in order(LT) -- Jordon Mailata, Andrew Whitworth, Joe Staley ... no Tyron Martin? David Bakhtiari was graded highly but omitted

LG
1st team -- Evan Mathis?
2nd team -- Joel Bitonio

Others in order -- Logan Mankins, Quentin Nelson

The data from PFF may add up for Evans but he missed alot of games in his career and was he really better than Mankins or others not listed?

C
1st team -- Jason Kelce
2nd team -- Creed Humphrey

Others in order -- Nick Mangold, Chris Myers? Alex Mack, Jeff Saturday

I never knew or remembered Myers and Humphrey hasnt played that many seasons. No Pouncey or others?

RG
1st team -- Chris Lindstrom
2nd team -- Zack Martin?

Others in order -- Marshall Yanda, Brandon Brooks

Lindstrom over 1st ballot HOF elect Martin? Really? Or am I missing something? Is Lindstrom really that good? No Jahri Evans?

RT
1st team -- Penei Sewell
2nd team -- Lane Johnson

Others in order -- Ryan Ramczyk. Mitchell Schwartz was graded highly but omitted.

Wow ... alot to look at just on offense alone ... I will focus on the defense continuing this thread tomorrow. Can all these players listed, possibly make, or have cases of making the HOF?

Christian McCaffery is putting a potential HOF career together but this coming year is going to be intriguing. Will he actually get help from the other Niner backs or will Shanahan run him into the ground again? Maybe McCaffery truly wants the workload but it seems the 49ers want to milk him due to his high salary, which can be stupid if they want to get through the postseason.

With their receiver issues, unless Evans can fix them by staying healthy, McCaffery will try to aim for another 1000 yrd receiving season as a back, but like Roger Craig and Ricky Watters, who both are trying to make the HOF on scrimmage numbers--Craig finally made it-- voters frown upon total backs who dont put up huge running numbers. Can accolades along with this PFF team, help McCaffrey get elected in the future?

Alot of interesting questions with these offensive linemen. I feel Kelce might have a great chance to enter the HOF quickly but will he go in first ballot? How long will Humphrey have to wait despite his accolades with the Chiefs?

Do Whitworth and Staley have chances at tackle, or will Lane Johnson or Tyron Smith jump ahead in HOF voting?

Zach Martin at guard should be 1st ballot but could he wait with Evans, Yanda and possibly Mankins in the queue? Not sure if Mankins will get elected. Based on these gradings, Lindstrom has a chance later, especially with a talented back like Bijan Robinson.
Does Bitonio have a chance, though voters could be more enamored with Quentin Nelson? Could he possibly sign with another team this season?

Brian wolf wrote: ↑Thu Jul 23, 2026 8:58 pm Alot of interesting questions with these offensive linemen. I feel Kelce might have a great chance to enter the HOF quickly but will he go in first ballot? How long will Humphrey have to wait despite his accolades with the Chiefs?

Do Whitworth and Staley have chances at tackle, or will Lane Johnson or Tyron Smith jump ahead in HOF voting?

Zach Martin at guard should be 1st ballot but could he wait with Evans, Yanda and possibly Mankins in the queue? Not sure if Mankins will get elected. Based on these gradings, Lindstrom has a chance later, especially with a talented back like Bijan Robinson.
Does Bitonio have a chance, though voters could be more enamored with Quentin Nelson? Could he possibly sign with another team this season?

For those interested, I added historical scouting reports for Zack Martin and Marshal Yanda to the FLA historical scouting reports class. I am currently working on Jahri Evans.

Brian wolf wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2026 1:14 pm
All-Time PFF Team 2006 - 2026

Not to sound nitpicky, but I just want to point out that "all-time" and "2006-2026" have no business being thrown together like this.

Youre right, Bob ... I should have just labeled it All-PFF team. All-time is definitely wrong, I guess I was just focused on their first 20 years of grading.