Is Aaron Donald already a HOFer?

[megatechpc]

Ya'll keep talking about Watt's 2014 season, but he had two OTHER outrageous seasons (2012 and 2015) as well.  Watt even had a safety and an INT for a TD on his resume in his first 5 years, neither of which Donald has done.

[NFLExpert49]

4 hours ago, footbull3196 said:

Taylor wasn't a Hall of Famer after 5 seasons or even close to it

But you make stupid threads and think you know everything about football and that you're better than other football fans so there's no point in debating you because you'll just make extremely opinionated statements with no real evidence to back them up that you claim as facts

Yes, he was.

The same way Tony Boselli is eventually going to get into the HOF despite his career being cut very short. 

Also, your all-time list of underrated players is embarrassing. "Underrated" does not mean a good, not great player whom people don't talk about anymore because they were never great. "Underrated" means a player was better than he was given credit for. A great player who was only viewed as good. A good player who was criticized too much. Etc. 

[NFLExpert49]

18 hours ago, Gmen said:

 Rams are 6th worst in the league in yards allowed per carry. I remember when Albert Haynesworth was in his prime, you wouldn’t think about running inside. 

The Titans had all kinds of bad years against the run when Haynesworth was there. One player can never stop the run all by himself.

Donald dominates his man at the point of attack. If you happen to go at his gap, he'll stack, shed, and end it right there. 

[N4L]

6 minutes ago, NFLExpert49 said:

Donald dominates his man at the point of attack. If you happen to go at his gap, he'll stack, shed, and end it right there. 

I saw laken Tomlinson man handle him a few times last week. He doesn't win every snap. 

He does make a lot of splash plays and can certainly blow things up in the backfield, I am not arguing his production. The guy is a machine with a motor similar to Justin Smith, which is saying something. 

[NFLExpert49]

9 hours ago, N4L said:

I saw laken Tomlinson man handle him a few times last week. He doesn't win every snap. 

 

Never happened. 

[game3525]

On 10/26/2018 at 1:37 AM, NFLExpert49 said:

Aaron Donald isn't Sapp/Randle, he's the Lawrence Taylor of DTs.

He dominates in all facets of the game. 

No, he is not. 

Lawrence Taylor might be the greatest player in NFL history. He changed the way offenses play. Donald has never had that type of impact. Great player, maybe the best player in the league.....but he isn't LT. 

[footbull3196]

9 hours ago, NFLExpert49 said:

Yes, he was.

The same way Tony Boselli is eventually going to get into the HOF despite his career being cut very short. 

Also, your all-time list of underrated players is embarrassing. "Underrated" does not mean a good, not great player whom people don't talk about anymore because they were never great. "Underrated" means a player was better than he was given credit for. A great player who was only viewed as good. A good player who was criticized too much. Etc. 

Boselli is the exception, not the rule that you seem to be clamoring for.  Also he had 6 seasons of HOF level play, not 5.  Same with a guy like Kenny Easley who was just recently inducted as a senior candidate

Your criteria for underrated seems to be similar to the criteria that I used when making the list.  So guys like Joey Browner, Bryant Young, Corey Dillon, Gary Clark, Lomas Brown, Rod Smith, Albert Lewis, Henry Ellard, Richmond Webb, Edgerrin James, Simeon Rice, Darren Woodson, William Andrews, Jimmy Smith, Chuck Howley, Philip Rivers, Ricky Watters, Leslie O'Neal, Carnell Lake, Eric Allen, Herman Moore, Randy Gradishar, Robert Brazile, and Sterling Sharpe are guys that were "good not great" at the time they played?  Really?  I mean, you could basically replace "top underrated players" with "top players not in the Hall of Fame" and it wouldnt change much regarding my list.  Yes, some of the players at the beginning are weaker cases.  Thats why theyre ranked in the 40-50 range and not the 10-20 range.  This just seems like a hastily written attempt to discredit someone who actually did their research

Btw, if we go off of your criteria for the Hall of Fame, a guy like Herman Moore is a Hall of Famer.  He had one of the most untouchable peaks in NFL history from 1994-97.  It's still in the top 10 primes by a wide receiver in NFL history, 20 years after the fact, when the passing game has exploded for stat lines like we've never seen.  And he played with Scott Mitchell as his QB....

[Calamity_Cometh]

Needs a few more years. Just speaking from gut feeling on how the voting would work out. Three more years at this pace, and he's in.

Another poster said it though, he's playing at Hall of Fame level.

[NFLExpert49]

4 hours ago, footbull3196 said:

Boselli is the exception, not the rule that you seem to be clamoring for.  Also he had 6 seasons of HOF level play, not 5.  Same with a guy like Kenny Easley who was just recently inducted as a senior candidate

Your criteria for underrated seems to be similar to the criteria that I used when making the list.  So guys like Joey Browner, Bryant Young, Corey Dillon, Gary Clark, Lomas Brown, Rod Smith, Albert Lewis, Henry Ellard, Richmond Webb, Edgerrin James, Simeon Rice, Darren Woodson, William Andrews, Jimmy Smith, Chuck Howley, Philip Rivers, Ricky Watters, Leslie O'Neal, Carnell Lake, Eric Allen, Herman Moore, Randy Gradishar, Robert Brazile, and Sterling Sharpe are guys that were "good not great" at the time they played?  Really?  I mean, you could basically replace "top underrated players" with "top players not in the Hall of Fame" and it wouldnt change much regarding my list.  Yes, some of the players at the beginning are weaker cases.  Thats why theyre ranked in the 40-50 range and not the 10-20 range.  This just seems like a hastily written attempt to discredit someone who actually did their research

Btw, if we go off of your criteria for the Hall of Fame, a guy like Herman Moore is a Hall of Famer.  He had one of the most untouchable peaks in NFL history from 1994-97.  It's still in the top 10 primes by a wide receiver in NFL history, 20 years after the fact, when the passing game has exploded for stat lines like we've never seen.  And he played with Scott Mitchell as his QB....

Boselli's rookie year wasn't HOF caliber. Easley got in, so he's just more support for the argument. 

Only a few of the guys on your list would be what I consider "underrated." Because if they're underrated, how should they be rated instead? Most of them were voted to several Pro Bowls and received all the accolades they deserved. Which of those guys deserve to be in the HOF, which is the only way a guy who made multiple Pro Bowls could really be underrated? Very few. 

And Sterling Sharpe gets tons of mention from analysts and fans alike about where he would have ranked in history if not for the neck injury, etc. So he's about as close as you can get to HOF recognition without getting into the HOF. 

You want to see underrated, try a guy like Kevan Fagan. One of the greatest point of attack run defenders to ever play the game. Dominated HOF guards and tackles, including Anthony Munoz in the SB. Never voted to a Pro Bowl, only one UPI All-Pro mention, and clueless 49er fans don't even know who he is, cheering much louder for marginal players like Jesse Sapolu during "legends" events. 

Or for another one, Ted Johnson in New England. If you were to ask any scout during the 90s, he was one of the top 3 ILBs in the NFL (before the injuries limited him too much). Nobody was better at blowing up the fullback in the hole. No Pro Bowls, no All-Pro mentions.

Personally, although I despise him, I think Rodney Harrison is also underrated. He's the best run support safety I've ever seen and deserves serious HOF consideration, which he will never get because he only made 2 Pro Bowls.

Herman Moore suffers from the fact that he was a wide receiver. The whole "the passing game keeps inflating" thing makes voters hesitate. 

That won't affect a guy like Donald. 

[footbull3196]

1 hour ago, NFLExpert49 said:

Boselli's rookie year wasn't HOF caliber. Easley got in, so he's just more support for the argument. 

Only a few of the guys on your list would be what I consider "underrated." Because if they're underrated, how should they be rated instead? Most of them were voted to several Pro Bowls and received all the accolades they deserved. Which of those guys deserve to be in the HOF, which is the only way a guy who made multiple Pro Bowls could really be underrated? Very few. 

And Sterling Sharpe gets tons of mention from analysts and fans alike about where he would have ranked in history if not for the neck injury, etc. So he's about as close as you can get to HOF recognition without getting into the HOF. 

You want to see underrated, try a guy like Kevan Fagan. One of the greatest point of attack run defenders to ever play the game. Dominated HOF guards and tackles, including Anthony Munoz in the SB. Never voted to a Pro Bowl, only one UPI All-Pro mention, and clueless 49er fans don't even know who he is, cheering much louder for marginal players like Jesse Sapolu during "legends" events. 

Or for another one, Ted Johnson in New England. If you were to ask any scout during the 90s, he was one of the top 3 ILBs in the NFL (before the injuries limited him too much). Nobody was better at blowing up the fullback in the hole. No Pro Bowls, no All-Pro mentions.

Personally, although I despise him, I think Rodney Harrison is also underrated. He's the best run support safety I've ever seen and deserves serious HOF consideration, which he will never get because he only made 2 Pro Bowls.

Herman Moore suffers from the fact that he was a wide receiver. The whole "the passing game keeps inflating" thing makes voters hesitate. 

That won't affect a guy like Donald. 

Maybe true about Boselli, but neither was Terrell Davis' rookie season and people love to add it onto his other 3 seasons

Ok, I see that your criteria for underrated is totally different.  That's where the issue lies.  So by your logic, a guy like Aaron Smith in Pittsburgh was underrated.  I won't argue with that in itself because I tend to agree with that point of view.  But you may need to look further into the article itself. There are plenty of players that I went into detail about how they didn't get the accolades they deserved in certain seasons where they outperformed several of their peers. Obviously there are some choices people will question, that's part of the debate of having a list of top 50 underrated players.  Just because a player made multiple pro bowls doesn't mean they couldn't have made more or gotten an all pro nod instead. I mean Sharpe is the best receiver nobody knows about today because he got shafted and was well on his way to the HOF before his injury.  Just because he was rated well during his time doesn't mean that he's not underated historically and doesn't deserve more consideration for the HOF.  Same with a guy like Carnell Lake

I don't ever expect Moore to get into the HOF btw, and understandably so.  His prime was just too short and longevity does play a factor.  But I think you're too quick to dismiss some of these guys when the facts show that they could have definitely earned more to their name

Harrison is another good choice.  Maybe I could have put him on there instead of a guy like Steve McNair

Anyways, regarding Donald, it hasn't even been 5 seasons.  Give it a bit more time.  It's too premature to crown him already.  Not like we crowned John Randle after his 5th season

[El Ramster]

23 minutes ago, footbull3196 said:

Maybe true about Boselli, but neither was Terrell Davis' rookie season and people love to add it onto his other 3 seasons

Ok, I see that your criteria for underrated is totally different.  That's where the issue lies.  So by your logic, a guy like Aaron Smith in Pittsburgh was underrated.  I won't argue with that in itself because I tend to agree with that point of view.  But you may need to look further into the article itself. There are plenty of players that I went into detail about how they didn't get the accolades they deserved in certain seasons where they outperformed several of their peers. Obviously there are some choices people will question, that's part of the debate of having a list of top 50 underrated players.  Just because a player made multiple pro bowls doesn't mean they couldn't have made more or gotten an all pro nod instead. I mean Sharpe is the best receiver nobody knows about today because he got shafted and was well on his way to the HOF before his injury.  Just because he was rated well during his time doesn't mean that he's not underated historically and doesn't deserve more consideration for the HOF.  Same with a guy like Carnell Lake

I don't ever expect Moore to get into the HOF btw, and understandably so.  His prime was just too short and longevity does play a factor.  But I think you're too quick to dismiss some of these guys when the facts show that they could have definitely earned more to their name

Harrison is another good choice.  Maybe I could have put him on there instead of a guy like Steve McNair

Anyways, regarding Donald, it hasn't even been 4 seasons.  Give it a bit more time.  It's too premature to crown him already.  Not like we crowned John Randle after his 4th season

It has been 4 seasons 

[footbull3196]

12 minutes ago, El ramster said:

It has been 4 seasons 

Sorry, typo.  I meant it hasn't even been 5 seasons lol

[incognito_man]

No not yet.

3x All-Pro, 1x DPOY, but zero postseason success. Needs more of the former or the latter to be a HOFer.

Id suspect he will, however.

[Dome]

On 10/25/2018 at 5:29 PM, Nabbs4u said:

No! On a very good pace, Yes!

Agreed. He’ll more than likely get there, but he’s not there yet.

If he retired today, he’d be a footnote in just a few years. In just a few years though, he could be a shoo-in.

[megatechpc]

To clarify my earlier posts, I am in no way saying Donald isn't HOF material and am not trying to diminish the fact that he has had an incredible 4+ seasons so far.  I personally believe he is a shoe-in for the Hall eventually, just not based only on what he has done so far.  It takes a very rare player to establish themselves for entry into the HOF after just 5 seasons, and pretty much all of those who did so had produced record-level stats in at least one of those early seasons (Terrell Davis went over 2k yards and had 21 TDs in 98 for example).  Donald has not dominated the stats enough so far to warrant induction into the HOF at this point, if he were to retire at the end of this season.  

I will offer one caveat however; the season is not over yet.  If he goes on an unbelievable tear for the last 9 games, finishes with over 20 sacks, and has something like a pick-6 or a forced safety or both, then maybe that would be enough to put him over the top this early in his career.  Again, I absolutely believe Donald will be a HOFer eventually but to say he's a lock already is just silly IMO.