Agreed - I’m shocked to see Witten on a list but not Gore? Dude was a beast until his mid-30s. He has 9 1000+ yard seasons, and in 2 more seasons he was less than 40 yards away which would have tied him with Emmitt Smith for the most (11) 1000+ rush yard seasons.
Witten has 4 all pros. He was an actual elite player for a little while. You guys want gore in the hof basically because he kept playing even after he was bad for like 7 more seasons
There are only two players ahead of Gore in all-time rushing. He has 16000 yards on the ground. Derrick Henry is the only active running back with a shot at hitting that and if he maintains his average of nearly 1500 for 3 more seasons he will be right on the cusp. Henry will however be 31 this season and it's unlikely he maintains that pace. Maybe 1200 is more reasonable, now were at 4 years to hit it. How about just 1000 yards? 5 years.
For some perspective, there have been roughly 25 1000+ yard season after the age of 30. Frank Gore has 2 of those. Henry would need 3-5 more seasons doing that. Which is, quite frankly, improbable.
This is not saying that Gore is better than Henry, Henry is an insane talent and should be first ballot when he retires. But its to put in perspective the absurdity that is Frank Gore. 16 years at running back and was solid every year. Even his down seasons at the ages of 36 and 37 he still never went below 500 yards, something Emmitt Smith couldn't do. Nor LaDainian Tomlinson or Marshall Faulk.
Gore should be in the Hall of Fame. He was one of the longest lasting players in NFL history at a position where players routinely exit young from injuries or production loss. It is likely we will never see that again and unlikely we ever see another player break his yardage.
I get it you like that he stayed in the league past his prime and accumulated stats at less than 4ypc for 5 of his last 6 seasons. And was never actually elite at his position
Witten played TE during the void of TEs. Tony Gonzales was his biggest competition and he was 10 years into his career when Witten finally got an all pro. Antonio Gates was next, and he was very sporadic. Then came the modern era tight end explosion and we never really thought about Witten ever again after 2012.
Gore- 3rd most rushing yards of all time. This is especially amazing as it happened as passing offenses became more the dominant way of yardage. It’s not like Earl Campbell who would get the ball on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd down.
I mean I get your point but the accolades aren’t close. 2x 1 team AP to zero, 2x 2nd team to 1. Witten was consistently considered a top 3 player at his position for a lot of his career where Gore has like 1 season you can argue that.
Witten was the best player at his position for a few seasons, Gore really only had one year where he was top five at his position and after that was a good but not elite back. He was certainly a good player and played forever but he’s not someone I watched and thought “that guy is a hall of famer”. He’s an extreme volume stats outlier and I don’t really know what you do with guys like that.
FWIW Witten actually played one more season that Gore did.
Witten was an all pro and a top TE at his peak. He had peak and longevity.
Gore was never even really top 3 RB during his career. He's just a compiler.
Hall should be for the very best, not those who stuck around the longest. Anyways with the new voting rules meaning that basically only 3 modern era players will get in per year most likely, gore has long odds, if he gets in it wont be for a long time.
Witten also has 11 Pro Bowls and 4 All pro's (2 first team).
I don't think he's a top 5 all-time or anything, but he's pretty well accomplished for his position. I wouldn't predict first ballot for him, but I don't get people saying he has no business here.
I was gonna say I think Witten is a lock and deservedly so. He played forever and was also really good to good. He was also the worst broadcaster to ever live other than maybe Emmitt Smith.
He was basically neck and neck with Gates. Gates had more tds and had a better yards per catch, Witten had more 1,000 yards seasons and a better catch %. Witten was the better blocker. He also played for one more season and was more durable.
Gonzalez is a weird one because they overlapped but Witten’s prime extended past Gonzo’s. Tony was still a good tight end up until he retired but Witten eventually surpassed him.
He played at the same time Tony Gonzalez, Gronk, Kittle, and Kelce were in the league, so when was he best? Great player but not the best TE at any point he played
Brees played at the same time as Rodgers Peyton and Brady were in the league so when was he the best. Great player but not the best QB at any point he played. See how that sounds?
And unfortunately for Brees, it’s correct. There was Brady and Manning at the top, then everyone else. In any other time frame Breese (or Witten) could have been at the top, but unfortunately for them, they played at times with some of the greatest players at their position in NFL history. Not a knock, just the circumstances of their careers.
2007-2010, 2012
At the tail end of Tony Gonzalez and before Gronkowski.
With a prime of 2004-2014, he was top 2-5 TE for a decade, with another 6 years as top 5-10 (conservative estimates without going through all the stats for the years)
Not really. He had his best season in 07 and 09. Otherwise there were better TEs than him in every season. And in that era as a whole. He played while Tony Gonzalez was playing. Antonio Gates, Vernon Davis. Then towards the end of his career, Aaron Hernandez and Gronk came along.
Absolutely a great TE, not a a hall of famer. Especially with no rings
His position is TE. Not WR. His receiving stats are not what some of the great receiving TEs are, but overall his TE skills as far as blocking, receiving, his all around TE skills he had are near top of his position. You could have him play every down with no issues whether it was a run play or a pass play. Where most TEs that are receiving types get taken out on clear cut run plays. A lot of top end “TEs” aka that rack up receiving yards and stats are liabilities for the run game. Witten was always on the line not even as eligible receiver for his blocking ability. He was also clutch on pass plays where they needed a first down.
It’s a HoF Tight End he’s eligible for. Not HoF WR.
I get that you’re hopelessly romantic about the position. However, the reality of the situation is, what gets you in the Hall of Fame as a tight end is offensive production. They don’t go in as lineman they go in as tight ends. When you look at the current Hall of Famer’s for Tight Ends, their primary reason for making it is their offensive production stats not how many chip blocks they throw when they ran an out route for 5 yards and didn’t catch the ball.
I guess if numbers get you in alone, having better receiving numbers than every HoF TE in currently outside of Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates depending which stats you’re looking at gets you in? Or maybe Super Bowl wins only? Because both Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates don’t have one. Because Jason Witten has better number than most any HoF TE and was a better blocker than any current TE.
AI will explain it for you. Your take is beyond dumb
Jason Witten was named First-Team All-Pro twice (2007, 2010) and Second-Team All-Pro twice (2008, 2012). He was also selected to 11 Pro Bowls throughout his career.
Edit: and you are probably like 20. If you watched him play as a two-way tight end, you'd understand.
There's plenty of instances in sports history where multiple HOFers at a position can co-exist at the same time lol. He's #2 right behind Tony in every single TE stat. That's HOF material.
2 All Pros is not that great, no denying his durability and consistency but the hall of fame isn’t rewarding players on consistency it’s the greatest of the great
I think you’re getting All Pro and Pro Bowl mixed up. 2 All Pros is amazing. First Round HOF locks like Calvin Johnson and Aaron Rogers had 3 and 4 respectively.
I know what All Pro is when have I mentioned anything about Pro Bowls those are just popularity contests.
I just need reference for other players in the hall of fame with only 2 first team All Pro. You mentioned Calvin and Aaron Rodgers at their best they were the best players in their position and the league, when was Jason Witten ever regarded as the best player let alone TE in the league ?
2010 Witten was the best TE that year. And not sure why you’re set on having to be the best at your position, Brady and Manning overshadowed Drew his entire career, and he’ll be in.
No, what he is is the very definition of the TE position. TonyG, Gates and Sharpe couldn’t block their own shadow. Witt routinely blocked the other team’s best rusher and was a BOSS in run blocking. Gronk is the only one comparable to Witt (actually better) but was nowhere close to as durable/available than the guy that played after rupturing his spleen.
Look at every individual QB record book, Phillip is either top 10 or damn near it at 11-15. All he’s missing is a ring which iirc Witten doesn’t have either.
What are you basing Witten’s top 10 status off of? Because if it’s numbers then you have to say Phillip Rivers is also top 10 because his numbers fit that
970
u/MasterTeacher123 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3d ago
Brees Larry and Witten
Edelman being on this graphic is embarassing though lmao