The Pro Football Hall of Fame case for LeSean McCoy
Will McCoy earn a gold jacket?
The Philadelphia Eagles announced early Thursday morning that after a 12-year run in the NFL, LeSean McCoy will sign a one-day contract and retire as a member of the organization that drafted him. Philadelphia selected McCoy with the 53rd pick in 2009. He spent six years with the Eagles, rushing for a franchise record 6,792 yards.
McCoy split carries with fellow Philly legend Brian Westbrook during his rookie season before becoming a franchise back. He held that esteemed title for nearly ten years before suffering regression in 2018. McCoy won his first Super Bowl as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019 before claiming another as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.
That brief summary skips over the most important part of McCoy’s career, his prime from 2010 to 2017. During that time, the Pittsburgh product built a resume that will at least get him access to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s voting process. However, can McCoy’s career compare to all-time greats and find a final home in Canton, Ohio?
To determine McCoy’s path to the Hall of Fame, let’s look at the voting process. An initial list of modern-era nominees comes out each fall with a varying number of candidates. The list included 130 nominees last cycle, but only 122 made the cut this year.
From there, a committee of 49 voters whittles the legends down to 25 semifinalists in November and 15 finalists in January. Between four to eight new members earn gold jackets each cycle, with five men usually coming from the modern-era pool.
McCoy should easily earn an appearance as a nominee once he’s become eligible after five years away from football. This year’s crop of 122 initial candidates features 12 true running backs, including McCoy’s old mentor Westbrook. The older former Eagle deserves his shot at a gold jacket, but McCoy clearly has the better resume of the two.
With six 1,000-yard rushing seasons, six Pro Bowls, two First-Team All-Pro selections, a rushing title, a yards from scrimmage title, a rushing touchdowns title, and a spot on the 2010s All-Decade Team, McCoy can stare current nominees like Corey Dillon, Eddie George, Steven Jackson, Fred Taylor, Herschel Walker, and Ricky Watters square in the face.
Ultimately overcoming Shaun Alexander’s MVP, Tiki Barber’s late career push, Priest Holmes’ historic three-year peak, and Jamal Lewis’ 2,000-yard season could prove more difficult for McCoy. His peaks were incredibly efficient, but he lacks something Alexander, Barber, and Holmes have: a three-year span with over 5,500 yards from scrimmage.
While McCoy doesn’t have the same short-term peak as other candidates already on the ballot, he certainly has the career totals. The 12-year veteran retired with 4,027 more yards from scrimmage than Alexander, 22 more rushing and receiving touchdowns than Barber, seven more 100-yard rushing games than Holmes, and 2,019 more receiving yards than Lewis.
McCoy also averaged over five yards per carry while rushing for 1,000 yards three times, something Barber and Holmes only achieved twice. Alexander and Lewis only accomplished the feat one time, and both instances occurred when the backs earned First-Team All-Pro honors.
However, the Hall of Fame candidate pool could look completely different when McCoy becomes eligible. Let’s look at how he stacks up statistically to the other elite running backs from the 2010s.
According to ESPN’s Field Yates, Shady led all running backs during the 2010s in most volume statistics.
While analytics are moving player evaluation away from volume numbers, career totals still play a massive role in the Hall of Fame process. At the very least, they get players on the initial list of nominees. However, they can sometimes play a significant role in getting candidates to the semifinal round (see Fred Taylor last year).
Going down as the most statistically productive player in a decade that featured Jamaal Charles, Arian Foster, Frank Gore, Marshawn Lynch, and Adrian Peterson is a massive accomplishment.
Speaking of the best backs from the 2010s, let’s see how McCoy compares to his peers.
Peterson stands tall among the group discussed above. Perhaps only LaDainian Tomlinson can challenge the three-time rushing champion for the title of best running back over the past 20 years. Those are two of the ten best running backs in league history. That’s a stratosphere McCoy can’t enter, which could ultimately slash his Hall of Fame hopes.
However, Edgerrin James entered Canton as a member of the Class of 2020, and he’s not on the same level as Peterson and Tomlinson. Like it or not, there are levels to the Hall of Fame, and that’s why McCoy has a shot at a gold jacket.
Gore is a statistical anomaly. His five Pro Bowls and 2006 Second-Team All-Pro selection pale in comparison to McCoy’s list of accolades. However, Gore was also a 2010s All-Decade Team member and is one of only three running backs with 16,000 rushing yards (along with Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith).
This is an instance where McCoy has the better accolades and a higher peak, but Gore’s consistency and durability are unrivaled in the 21st century. The latter back feels like a slam dunk for the Hall of Fame eventually, although not first-ballot. That’s good news for McCoy because it gives him a clearer path to Canton.
The McCoy vs. Lynch debate could eventually swell into a Twitter war between the equally vocal and supportive Eagles and Seahawks fanbases. Lynch was only a First-Team All-Pro once, but he led the NFL in rushing touchdowns twice.
The long-time Seahawk also has several qualitative factors working in his favor. Beast Quake one and two rank among the most memorable runs in NFL history. Lynch also played a crucial role on a legendary Super Bowl-winning team while McCoy didn’t. Lynch has 748 more playoff rushing yards than McCoy, albeit in six more appearances.
Lynch also feels destined for football immortality. While that means McCoy might spend extra time in the overpopulated nominee queue, it’s not an entirely bad thing. Gore, Lynch, and McCoy aren’t worlds apart in terms of legacy and career achievements. It’s hard to see two getting in without the third.
Charles and Foster, while both multi-time All-Pros, each played at least 51 fewer games than McCoy. Charles averaged a miraculous five yards per carry in each of his five 1,000-yard rushing seasons, while Foster achieved the 5,500 yards from scrimmage in three years feat discussed earlier. However, neither definitively outclassed McCoy and shouldn’t receive more votes than him in the Hall of Fame process.
McCoy has several intangibles working for him as well. He played in Philadelphia, one of the largest sports markets in the country with a ravenous fanbase that undyingly supports a few blessed athletes. He’ll have legions of fans calling for enshrinement each year. McCoy also had a unique running style that’s probably best summed up by his Twitter handle, @CutonDime25.
McCoy’s movements were so subtle but could send a defender sprawling to the ground with ease. His jukes and wiggle were unmatched in the decade. The legendary Eagle also played a prominent role in the infamous 2013 snow game between Detroit and Philadelphia. In one of the most entertaining games of the decade, McCoy ran for 217 yards and two scores on only 29 carries.
Let’s put some of McCoy’s career numbers in perspective. He’s 26th all-time in rush attempts (four carries ahead of Lynch), 22nd in rushing yards, tied for 28th in rushing touchdowns, and 26th in yards from scrimmage. None of those numbers taken alone are elite, but they put McCoy in great company.
McCoy is one of only 26 players in league history with at least 15,000 yards from scrimmage (he’s at 15,000 exactly). Eighteen of those players are in the Hall of Fame. Barber, Warrick Dunn, Gore, Larry Fitzgerald, Steven Jackson, Peterson, Steve Smith Sr., and McCoy are the remaining eight. From that group, only Barber, Dunn, and Jackson have gone through at least one complete voting cycle.
I’ll leave you with one final stat that sums up McCoy’s Hall of Fame candidacy perfectly. There are only five running backs ahead of LeSean McCoy on the all-time rushing yards list not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. However, the 11 running backs immediately behind McCoy aren't in Canton. He’s truly straddling the border between the Hall of Fame and Hall of Very Good.