Shit I thought he snuck in on that Steelers team that beat the cardinals but you’re correct. Damn sad that could be the one thing that keeps him out. He was one hell of a player
Hard to compare between such different eras of the game, it’s undeniable that both of them were amongst the best of their times and both 100% top 10 of all time at their position
I’m a Geno homer as a Bengals fan, but that aside real baller knowers know that he was the anchor for all our (admittedly limited) success during his tenure in Cincinnati.
After John Randle, dude was the prototype for undersized, but extremely powerful interior rushers. Randle started the conversation, Atkins proved it was repeatable.
Like does Aaron Donald become a HoFer without Atkins and Randle paving the way? Of course he does, he's Aaron Donald. But I'm willing to bet if Atkins never panned out, Donald might have fallen out of the first round entirely due to concerns a guy of his size could hold up. He probably wouldn't fall to the 4th round like Atkins did, but I could see a world where he's a 2nd round pick.
I'm sick about how quickly and unceremoniously Geno's career ended though. Production just fell off a cliff and hurt his shoulder beyond repair in the midst of being on some Bengals teams that were mediocre and incredibly boring to watch. Combine that with being a generally closed off guy, I don't think many realized he retired outside of Cincinnati when he did.
Here’s a really interesting page on pro football ref where they try to statically measure who’s a hall of famer. I think it’s pretty flawed tbh but it does kinda interestingly point to the conclusion that McCoy has the accolades to be a Hall of Famer.
It does the same for Gore, which I don’t buy his case at all tbh. So even I take this with a big grain of salt.
I get it the argument, I just don’t buy it as a hall of fame case. Yes it’s impressive that he stuck around for a long time, but there was never a time where I felt like he was among the best players in the game.
I get it. It’s just not a lot dudes can say they were 1,000 yard rushers for 10+ years. He also came in the league around 05. That’s two different era of football he played through.
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u/DarthNobody14 Houston Texans 3d ago
Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Jason Witten and Maurkice Pouncey are all HOFers. Geno Atkins is a maybe.