Predicting the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026: Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, & More
Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald headline projected first ballot inductees in Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026
Induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is the greatest individual honor an NFL player can achieve. A few weeks ago, we celebrated 2024 modern-era Hall of Fame inductees Dwight Freeney, Devin Hester, Andre Johnson, Julius Peppers, and Patrick Willis. Shortly afterward, I began a new article series by predicting the Hall of Fame Class of 2025. We’ll continue the series today by examining the Class of 2026.
These are modern-era predictive selections. These decisions are influenced by my personal opinion, but the primary goal is to mirror how the Hall of Fame voters approach the process.
This is the second post of a four-part series in which I will attempt to predict the next four modern-era Hall of Fame classes. You can view the full analysis for the Class of 2025 here, and I’ll include a brief review of the selections at the bottom of this post.
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**Indicates First Ballot Induction
Revealing the Hall of Fame Class of 2026
Drew Brees, QB (2001-2020)**
The two first-ballot inductees in this class are pretty self-explanatory. Brees never won the league MVP award despite being the Offensive Player of the Year twice (2008 & 2011) and leading the NFL in passing yards seven times. He was a First Team All-Pro once (2006), a Second Team All-Pro four times, and the MVP runner-up four times.
Brees led the NFL in attempts (4x), completions (6x), completion percentage (6x), and passing touchdowns (4x) multiple times. It’s much more common to throw for 5,000 yards in 17-game seasons, but the feat was only achieved 12 times in the 16-game format (which ended after 2020). Brees accounted for five of those seasons. No one else had two.
Brees has the highest career completion percentage in history (67.7%) among retired quarterbacks. He is second all-time in completions, yards, and touchdowns, only trailing Tom Brady, who appeared in 335 regular season games compared to Brees’ 287.
Let’s contextualize Brees’ dominance. At his career rate of 23.8 passing touchdowns per year, it would take Matthew Stafford nine more seasons to tie Brees’ career touchdown mark. Stafford would be 44 years old at that time. At Aaron Rodgers’ rate of 3,915 yards per season from 2008-2022, it would take roughly five and a half more seasons for the four-time MVP to surpass Brees’ career passing yards mark.
Brees’ lasting legacy isn’t his numbers. He brought a Super Bowl to New Orleans. He served as a beacon for a city still overcoming Hurricane Katrina. It’s hard to describe what that meant to people if you weren’t following the league during the 2000s.
Larry Fitzgerald, WR (2004-2020)**
Outside of three quality Kurt Warner seasons and three healthy Carson Palmer campaigns, Fitzgerald went through his career with subpar quarterback play. Despite these issues, the 2010s All-Decade Team member topped 1,000 yards nine times and 1,400 yards four times. Fitzgerald led the NFL in receptions and receiving touchdowns twice each.
Fitzgerald only earned First Team All-Pro honors once and Second Team All-Pro honors twice. That’s a somewhat light resume compared to some other Hall of Fame receivers. However, both Fitzgerald’s peak and longevity were elite. That’s why he is widely accepted as one of the ten best receivers in NFL history.
Ultimately, Fitzgerald finished second in career receptions (1,432), second in receiving yards (17,492), and sixth in receiving touchdowns (121). The only other receiver in the top six for all three major career categories is Jerry Rice. Fitzgerald was also an elite playoff performer. The 11-time Pro Bowler averaged six receptions, 104 yards, and a touchdown in his nine playoff games, including a legendary run in the 2008 playoffs and a game for the ages against the Packers in the 2015 season.
Some all-time wide receivers have had to wait a year or two because of the logjam at the position. Fitzgerald should jump the line. He’s one of the most beloved and respected players from the past 20 years. The voters will reward his character.
Reggie Wayne, WR (2001-2014)
Andre Johnson was inducted this year. I project Torry Holt gets his gold jacket in 2025. That clears the path for Wayne to join the pantheon of all-time greats in 2026. You could make the argument that the voters won’t want to include another receiver alongside Larry Fitzgerald (who clearly has the better case), but two modern-era receivers went in together as recently as 2018. We don’t need to make this another Tim Brown, Cris Carter, Andre Reed situation.
Wayne’s stiffest competition at wide receiver for the Hall of Fame in this scenario boils down to Patriots slot star Wes Welker (four-time All-Pro), three-time All-Pro Chad Johnson, two-time All-Pro Brandon Marshall, underrated legend Jimmy Smith (who has dealt with some off-field problems since his retirement), and three-time All-Pro and former Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward. It's a pretty clear nod for Wayne.
Wayne earned First Team All-Pro honors in 2010 and was a Second Team All-Pro in 2007 and 2009. Unfortunately, the dreaded Curtis Painter year in 2011 interrupted Wayne’s prime before Andrew Luck restored order to Indianapolis. Wayne retired with eight 1,000-yard seasons, including one receiving crown and four years of more than 1,300 yards.
At the time of his retirement, Wayne’s 1,070 receptions ranked seventh in league history. There were only ten players at the time with 1,000 receptions. His 14,345 receiving yards ranked eighth, and his 82 touchdowns ranked 15th.
Over the past decade, Wayne has gone down on the all-time lists to tenth in receptions, tenth in receiving yards, and 29th in receiving touchdowns. Those are still exceptional career totals. Keep in mind, Andre Johnson only scored 64 touchdowns (currently 51st in league history).
Wayne is sixth in career playoff receptions (93), seventh in receiving yards (1,254), and tied for tenth in receiving touchdowns (nine).
Inducting Wayne into the Hall of Fame also puts a nice ribbon on an era of Colts football by reuniting the former Super Bowl champion with Marvin Harrison, Edgerrin James, and Peyton Manning. Dwight Freeney (Class of 2024) and Adam Vinatieri (more on him later) were also key parts of those 2000s Colts teams.
Adam Vinatieri, K (1996-2019)
The Hall of Fame has become significantly more accepting of special teams players in recent years. Look no further than Devin Hester being inducted in just his third cycle on the ballot. I could understand making Vinatieri wait three or four years, but we’re taking a predictive approach. The voters won’t make the league’s all-time scoring leader wait long.
Vinatieri’s 2,673 points are by far the most in NFL history. Morten Andersen, who was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017 after last playing in 2007, is more than 100 points behind at 2,544. The gap between Vinatieri and fifth place (John Carney with 2,062 points) is five or six years of quality production. Justin Tucker, who is coming off his worst back-to-back seasons since 2014-15, is more than 1,000 points behind Vinatieri (1,649).
Additionally, Vinatieri is the career leader in playoff points scored with 238. Stephen Gostkowski (I’m sensing a Patriots pattern) is second with 212, followed by David Akers in a distant third with 175. Only 16 players in NFL history (not counting quarterbacks) have 100 or more career playoff points. Five of them aren’t even kickers!
Vinatieri’s trophy case includes three First Team All-Pro selections, a spot on the 2000s All-Decade Team, and four Super Bowl rings. I’m not a fan of overvaluing clutch kicks, but he has a handful of the most important field goals in league history when you consider how they aided the Patriots dynasty when it was in its infancy.
Vinatieri has the stats and narrative to warrant Hall of Fame induction sometime within his first three years on the ballot.
Earl Thomas, S (2010-2019)
Thomas earning induction in just his second year on the ballot might come as a surprise. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t taking a bit of a leap with this one. The voters generally don’t reward safeties early, or they reserve that right for the outliers among outliers like Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed.
Thomas’ uphill battle in 2026 will include the voters needing to accept the unceremonious end to his career. In case you forgot, he was injured in his final year with the Seahawks, Seattle let him walk, and he was released by the Ravens after one year following an altercation with a teammate in camp. He never played another down.
The wound might be too fresh for the voters to put their momentum behind Thomas in 2026, but the best returning options who could replace him are mostly guards and running backs, which are positions the voters historically haven’t valued. Unless the voters decide to go the Eli Manning route, Thomas sticks out as a natural choice.
I know I brought up a lot of negative points, but I don’t want to gloss over Thomas’ outstanding career. He was arguably the best defensive back on the legendary Legion of Boom defense, even possessing more talent than Richard Sherman in the eyes of some analysts. Thomas was a First Team All-Pro three times consecutively, earned Second Team All-Pro honors twice, made the 2010s All-Decade Team, and finished third in the Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2013.
The list of other safeties from the past 20 years with three or more First Team All-Pro selections is slim. You have Reed (five), Brian Dawkins (four), Polamalu (four), Eric Berry (three), Minkah Fitzpatrick (three), and Tyrann Mathieu (three). That’s a pretty tight group.
Among those four modern-era safeties with three First Team All-Pro nods, Thomas is the only one with a top-five finish in the Defensive Player of the Year voting. He also has five total All-Pro campaigns compared to just three for Berry, Fitzpatrick, and Mathieu.
Recapping the Hall of Fame Class of 2025
Luke Kuechly, LB (2012-19)**
Antonio Gates, TE (2003-18)
Jared Allen, DE (2004-15)
Torry Holt, WR (1999-2009)
Willie Anderson, OT (1996-2008)
Best Remaining 2026 First Ballot Eligible Players
Note: Players that appear in bold in the following sections are players I expect to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame eventually.
Geno Atkins, DT
Julian Edelman, WR
Frank Gore, RB
LeSean McCoy, RB
Maurkice Pouncey, C
Philip Rivers, QB
Mitchell Schwartz, OT
Top Returning Eligible Players
Eli Manning, QB
Shaun Alexander, RB
Mike Alstott, FB
Tiki Barber, RB
Jamaal Charles, RB
Eddie George, RB
Priest Holmes, RB
Chris Johnson, RB
Jamal Lewis, RB
Marshawn Lynch, RB
Fred Taylor, RB
Ricky Watters, RB
Anquan Boldin, WR
Irving Fryar, WR
Chad Johnson, WR
Brandon Marshall, WR
Jimmy Smith, WR
Rod Smith, WR
Hines Ward, WR
Wes Welker, WR
Lomas Brown, OT
Joe Staley, OT
Richmond Webb, OT
Ruben Brown, G
Jahri Evans, G
Logan Mankins, G
Steve Wisniewski, G
Nick Mangold, C
Jeff Saturday, C
La'Roi Glover, IDL
Haloti Ngata, DT
Vince Wilfork, IDL
Kevin Williams, IDL
John Abraham, Edge
James Harrison, Edge
Robert Mathis, Edge
Leslie O'Neal, Edge
Bryce Paup, Edge
Joey Porter, Edge
Simeon Rice, Edge
Justin Smith, Edge
Neil Smith, Edge
Terrell Suggs, Edge
Cameron Wake, Edge
Cornelius Bennett, LB
Lance Briggs, LB
London Fletcher, LB
Jessie Tuggle, LB
Eric Allen, CB
Charles Tillman, CB
Eric Berry, S
Rodney Harrison, S
Carnell Lake, S
Tim McDonald, S
Bob Sanders, S
Darren Woodson, S
Gary Anderson, K
Brian Mitchell, KR/PR