Is Fred Taylor a Hall of Famer

[HiddenInPlainView]

Former Jaguar and Patriot running back Fred Taylor retired today. He spent his entire career under the radar and my question is whether or not he belongs in the Hall of Fame? I say yes he does. Take a look at the stats. 11,695 yards rushing. 74 career touchdowns. Fifteenth on the all time rushing list. More rushing yards than HOF backs John Riggins, Larry Czonka, and OJ Simpson. Only LT is ahead of him still active. The knock on him was always his health and that he was only in one Pro Bowl. Did playing in Jacksonville hurt his Hall of Fame credentials? Would it even be a question if he put those numbers up in Dallas or New York?

 

[The Bearded One]

Fred Taylor is absolutely a Hall of Fame running back. There's no doubt in my mind. He's one of the best to ever play the game. As you said, he's 15th on the all-time leading rushers list and averaged 4.6 yards per rush for his career. That's insane. Taylor was just amazing to watch early in his career and had tremendous speed and elusiveness, but also had the power to run people over. I also think it's pretty cool that he is the single game leader for rushing yards in a game by an opponent at both Three Rivers Stadium and Heinz Field. Fred Taylor will be in the Hall of Fame one day. I'm not sure if he will be a first ballot Hall of Famer, but he will be enshrined in Canton one day.

Taylor is also the biggest draft steal ever in my opinion. The Jags traded Rob Johnson to the Bills for the ninth pick of the 1998 NFL Draft. The Jags got Fred Taylor and the Bills got Rob Johnson. I think the Jags got the better end of that deal.

On a side note, I cried today watching his press conference. Fred Taylor is my all time favorite player and I was happy to see him retire as a Jaguar. He's seriously the most underrated player to play in the NFL in the past couple decades. He never seemed to get the publicity he deserved, but it never seemed to bother him. He just wanted to be as best as he could be and help the team win, and that's why I loved him. Taylor was so much fun to watch and I'm happy to say he was a Jaguar.

 

[Big Sexy]

This is a tough one. Fred Taylor is tremendous, there's no denying that, but the HOF has gotten a lot tougher in recent years. As the NFL and the game of football has evolved the offensive stats have started to balloon and the stats that used to guarantee you a spot no longer do so. Jerome Bettis and Curtis Martin are two guys in the top 5 on the all time rushing list and neither of them were able to get in on their first attempt and who knows how long it will take for them to get in.

The injuries that plagued Taylor throughout his career took some of his prime playing time away and that could hurt him in the long run. He also wasn't an elite rushing touchdown guy as he is 32nd on the all time list with guys like Thomas Jones, Clinton Portis, and Shaun Alexander ahead of him. This may seem like nitpicking but that's what the HOF committee will do.

You also have to look at guys with similar stats who some people think don't have much of a chance to get in. Guys like Edgerinn James and Corey Dillon have very similar stats to Taylor. Would you say both of them are HOFers? If you think they are all deserving then who gets in first of the three?

Stephen Jackson, Frank Gore, Maurice Jones-Drew, Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, these are all guys who have great chances to end up with similar or better numbers then Taylor when it's all said and done and that adds more names to the list that he will be competing with. As good as Taylor's stats are he doesn't have the accolades to team with the numbers. There is just so much competition for HOF spots.

He could still get in but it will not be for a long time. I could honestly see him being a guy who 30 years from now gets voted in by the Senior Committee but I don't see him getting in any time soon.

 

[Davi323]

If it was the Hall of pretty good, yeah, sure. But Fred Taylor was never an elite back. Only one pro bowl selection his entire career, he was never an all pro, only 74 TDs (compared to his peers, its a little low for HOF consideration). Yes, he was injury prone, and that affected his numbers...but the criteria isn't based on what you woulda/coulda/shoulda done, it's based on what you actually did. Otherwise Bo Jackson would have been a 1st ballot HOF'er for sure. Could have been the greatest RB in NFL history if he doesn't injure that hip (and I say that as one of the biggest Barry Sanders marks there is)...but he did injure the hip, and it did cut his career short, and he will never get in. Fred Taylor's injuries happened, they did prevent him from adding to his numbers, and there is nothing he can do about it.

Maybe if Fred Taylor had those numbers in the 1980s, before Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Thurman Thomas, Marshall Faulk etc, he would have had a chance. But those guys set the bar higher, and I don't think Taylor reaches it.