(01-16-2016, 12:48 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Great post.   Not to mention megatron will be in that mix as well.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2016/01/14/detroit-lions-calvin-johnson-retire/78782044/

Might be a chance he won't be in the mix at all. Dude's had a lot of nagging injuries for years. Plus he's already banked like $130m, which I am sure makes waking up Monday to all those aching injuries knowing you're going to repeat it in a couple days less enjoyable.

(01-16-2016, 12:19 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Which aren't that mindblowingly great.

5 Pro Bowls
2 All-Pros
15th in receptions
11th in receiving yards
29th in receiving TDs

By the time he's HoF eligible, he'll be much further down the list, too. Right now there are 5 active players ahead of him in receptions, 2 active players ahead of him in yards, 5 active players ahead of him in TDs.

In 6 years which would be 1 more year, +5 years for eligibility, he won't look impressive at all. He's already a borderline guy because there's a lot of active players already ahead of him statistically. Just imagine where some other players will be in 2021...

Steve Smith: 961 / 13,932 / 76 (Age 37 in 2016)
AJ Green: 913 / 13,576 / 99 (Projected 2021 stats, age 33)
Julio Jones: 911 / 13,642 / 75 (Projected 2021 stats, age 32)
DeAndre Hopkins: 717 / 10,599 / 57 (Projected 2021 stats, age 29)
Antonio Brown: 1,052 / 14,186 / 76 (Projected 2021 stats, age 33)
Odell Beckham: 748 / 11,020 / 100 (Projected 2012 stats, age 29)

Not counting where Fitzgerald and Marshall will finish, not mentioning Bryant or Thomas.

(01-16-2016, 12:19 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Fact is, the dude is a borderline HoF guy right now at best, but by the time Smith is eligible for the HoF, his stats won't be very impressive.

Wait what?? Borderline? Have you looked at HOF #s??




Let's look at players already in the HOF. 
Out of those 14 receivers, only four (Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, James Lofton, Cris Carter) have more receiving yards than Steve Smith does. That means that there are ten wide receivers currently in the Pro Football Hall of Fame who have fewer receiving yards than Smith, who still has one season left to play. 
Steve Smith also has 76 career touchdowns entering this coming season, which ranks 33rd in NFL history and fifth among active pass-catchers. Of the 14 wide receivers currently in the hall of fame, four have fewer than those 76 touchdowns. Smith also has time to climb the rankings.

In order to further push Steve Smith’s case for Canton, average the career receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns of the 14 wide receivers who are already in Canton. If you average those numbers together, one would need 804 receptions, 11,181 receiving yards, and 88 receiving touchdowns in order to reach hall of fame status.
Smith has already surpassed two of those standards (receptions with 961 and receiving yards with 14,000). With 76 career touchdown catches, he would need 15 this upcoming season to surpass the average. While he probably won’t get that, it’s important to remember that that average is so high because of receivers like Jerry Rice, whose 197 career touchdowns is an NFL record. 
Even though he won’t surpass that touchdown standard, Smith’s career receptions and receiving yards easily put him in the same category as the wide receivers already in Canton. With a season to go, and five Pro Bowl appearances under his belt, Steve Smith should see himself in Canton a few years after his impending retirement. 

He won't be a first ballot HOFer but he may find his way in.

(01-16-2016, 01:49 PM)Bmoreblitz Wrote: Wait what?? Borderline? Have you looked at HOF #s??




Let's look at players already in the HOF. 
Out of those 14 receivers, only four (Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, James Lofton, Cris Carter) have more receiving yards than Steve Smith does. That means that there are ten wide receivers currently in the Pro Football Hall of Fame who have fewer receiving yards than Smith, who still has one season left to play. 
Steve Smith also has 76 career touchdowns entering this coming season, which ranks 33rd in NFL history and fifth among active pass-catchers. Of the 14 wide receivers currently in the hall of fame, four have fewer than those 76 touchdowns. Smith also has time to climb the rankings.

In order to further push Steve Smith’s case for Canton, average the career receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns of the 14 wide receivers who are already in Canton. If you average those numbers together, one would need 804 receptions, 11,181 receiving yards, and 88 receiving touchdowns in order to reach hall of fame status.
Smith has already surpassed two of those standards (receptions with 961 and receiving yards with 14,000). With 76 career touchdown catches, he would need 15 this upcoming season to surpass the average. While he probably won’t get that, it’s important to remember that that average is so high because of receivers like Jerry Rice, whose 197 career touchdowns is an NFL record. 
Even though he won’t surpass that touchdown standard, Smith’s career receptions and receiving yards easily put him in the same category as the wide receivers already in Canton. With a season to go, and five Pro Bowl appearances under his belt, Steve Smith should see himself in Canton a few years after his impending retirement. 

He won't be a first ballot HOFer but he may find his way in.

Look at who Steve Smith will have to go against in his initial HoF stages... he'll be smack dab in the middle of a Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne, Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson, Brandon Marshall, Marvin Harrison, Terrell Owens sandwich. I'm sorry to break it to you, but there's no way Steve Smith comes out on top of all of those guys.

Then by the time all of those guys are mostly in, and Steve Smith is a couple years past HoF eligibility, then they'll start talking about the Green/Brown/Jones/Beckham/Hopkins wave of WRs for the HoF.

I'm sorry, but he's probably not getting in. (Also, Santa Claus isn't real.)