(EDITOR’S NOTE: To listen to John Turney, click on the following attachment: Ep 82: Football Historian John Turney Joins The Show | Spreaker)
The Pro Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday announces its 25 semifinalists for the modern-era Class of 2022, with first-year candidate DeMarcus Ware a cinch to make the cut. He’s one of a handful of Hall-of-Fame worthy pass rushers, and he’s the most qualified. But what about the others?
Ah, that’s where historian John Turney of Pro Football Journal comes in. He joined the latest “Eye Test for Two” podcast to dissect four of the top pass rushers in this year’s class – Jared Allen, Leslie O’Neal, John Abraham and Simeon Rice – and he wasted no time separating the field.
“The top two would be Allen and Leslie O’Neal,” he said. “Leslie O’Neal (was) a technician who did everything. Jared Allen, even though he didn’t have long arms, was extremely productive. You don’t get 22 sacks a year not doing that. Plus, he had other really, really productive years in Kansas City.”
Voters don’t necessarily agree. While they made Allen a finalist last year in his first year of eligibility, they have all but ignored O’Neal. He’s never been a finalist, has been a semifinalist just once and one year was left off the preliminary list until a selector nominated him.
He didn’t make the first cut that year, either.
Rice has been nominated twice as a semifinalist but has never been discussed as one of 15 finalists. Abraham hasn’t been either, though he’s been eligible only two years. Turney is okay with both, sure that he wouldn’t push either farther.
“John Abraham,” he said, “he was just a guy who didn’t stop the run all that well, so I just don’t see him as a Hall of Famer. Simeon Rice … I just don’t see him as a Hall of Famer, either. When you look at his numbers he has the sacks, but if I don’t see a defensive end having 60 or 70 run stuffs along with his sacks I’d say he was probably one-dimensional.
“And that’s the problem I see with both Abraham and Rice. They were in the 30-40 run-stops behind the line of scrimmage, so I would say, ‘No’ on those two. O’Neal and Allen were in the 60-70 range. They’d get in there, they’d recognize the run and make the tackle off the back.”
Asked if all candidates take back seats to Julius Peppers, who becomes eligible for Canton in 2024, Turney did not waver.
“Yes,” he said. “Absolutely.”
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