If Justin Smith maintains this level of play for another 4-5 years does he get in the HOF?

It won't take that long, especially if he gets a SB win.

A lot of ifs. The Hall of Fame is ridiculously difficult to enter, but it certainly helps if you have a Super Bowl ring. Winning one, and playing like a star in the game, may end up being the most significant thing he does to enhance his chances.

As we know, Bryant Young had a fantastic career, but is a longshot to make the Hall. The numbers game ends up getting most of these guys that probably should get greater consideration.

gonna be hard, he got snubbed from top100 preseason, which was crazy

Originally posted by MadDog49er:
A lot of ifs. The Hall of Fame is ridiculously difficult to enter, but it certainly helps if you have a Super Bowl ring. Winning one, and playing like a star in the game, may end up being the most significant thing he does to enhance his chances.

As we know, Bryant Young had a fantastic career, but is a longshot to make the Hall. The numbers game ends up getting most of these guys that probably should get greater consideration.

Beat me to it with the BY comment. The bar for the NFL HOF is much higher than in most other sports, which IMO is a very good thing. If BY, with his incredible run of excellent play, is a longshot, then Smith right now is a no-shot.

He probably needs to win DPOY this year and win (or at least be in the conversation for) another DPOY to have a shot.

Unless he gets all-pro nods for 5 more seasons in a row, I can't see it. His tenure in Cincinnati seems unremarkable to me, and he didn't become dominant until he moved inside.

It won't take that long, especially if he gets a SB win.

Roger Craig missed the finalist this year, and everyone knows who he is and what he did for SF.

Originally posted by WestCoastForever:
It won't take that long, especially if he gets a SB win.

Would you call Osi Umenyiora a HOFer? I wouldn't, not even close. Good player, sure, but not HOF.

But...

Osi (8 years): 335 tackles, 69 sacks, 2 pro bowls, 1 1st team all-pro, 1 2nd team all-pro, one SB ring
J. Smith (11 years): 512 tackles, 72.5 sacks, 3 pro bowls, 1 first team all-pro

Two pretty similar stat lines. Of course these are simple stats that miss some of Smith's other contributions/3-4 vs 4-3 DEs/good teammates vs. bad teammates/etc. etc. But they still are very close stat-wise - if Smith gets in then you'd have to consider guys like Osi too, if you're being consistent. Which is why right now I'd say Smith is not really in the conversation, even if we win it all this year

Doubtful, his position doesn't lend itself to much notice and he never played on the east coast, where most of the voters are. Sad but true.