Mick, I’m as statistically minded as they come but I think it’s pretty fundamental this isn’t about reaching statistical thresholds but rather a subjective determination of whether somebody was one of the greats. If one wanted a metric, more illuminating than yards or touchdowns might be All Pro and Pro Bowl recognition. McCaffrey should be targeting six Pro Bowls. Solid chance with five.
Frank Gore and Ricky Watters never made All Pro. That’s a debilitating weakness in convincing voters to call somebody worthy of the Hall of Fame when they were never the best at their position, even for a single year. This is the same thing that keeps Plunkett out (though in his case it’s even more stark as Gore and Watters made five Pro Bowls each while Plunkett made zero). Ultimately I think most voters look at Hall of Fame as a way to capture who the best in a given era was. And of course subjectivity and other things come into play. John Riggins in but Roger Craig not is profoundly stupid.
Frank Gore and Ricky Watters never made All Pro. That’s a debilitating weakness in convincing voters to call somebody worthy of the Hall of Fame when they were never the best at their position, even for a single year. This is the same thing that keeps Plunkett out (though in his case it’s even more stark as Gore and Watters made five Pro Bowls each while Plunkett made zero). Ultimately I think most voters look at Hall of Fame as a way to capture who the best in a given era was. And of course subjectivity and other things come into play. John Riggins in but Roger Craig not is profoundly stupid.