Drew Bledsoe

[C. Snake]

Do you think Drew Bledsoe should be a Hall of Famer? I say yes, considering he is 5th all time in pass attempts and completions, 13th all time in passing TDs, 7th all time in passing yards, and really mentored the young Tom Brady.

[efin98]

He was one of the greatest passers in the history of the game and he put up those great numbers despite having no true wide receiver for the bulk of his career. It's also funny how he is forgotten when several of the QBs he played against are sure fire Hall of Famers or are already in and all but Marino, Elway, and Favre had worse numbers than him.

[ATLFalcons]

I think he'll get in after a few tries, but he is a hall of famer no doubt about it.

[C. Snake]

I wonder who voted "no".

[Brooklyn]

I voted "no". There are a lot of good QBs from his era. Here are the people I have ahead of him for the Hall:

- Steve Young
- Warren Moon
- Favre
- Aikman
- Testaverde (pretty good comparison to Bledsoe)
- Manning

not to mention guys like Marino and Elway who overlapped the beginning of his career or Brady at the end. I think he was very good, and is very close, but I'm not sure how many QBs belong in the Hall from the same era

[CCN]

I also voted no. I'm not going to rehash what Brooklyn said, although I do have him ahead of Testaverde.
Bledsoe put up some big numbers. Call him a Fran Tarkenton without the scrambling. But a QB needs to have more than good numbers.

[efin98]

I voted "no". There are a lot of good QBs from his era. Here are the people I have ahead of him for the Hall:

- Steve Young
- Warren Moon
- Favre
- Aikman
- Testaverde (pretty good comparison to Bledsoe)
- Manning

not to mention guys like Marino and Elway who overlapped the beginning of his career or Brady at the end. I think he was very good, and is very close, but I'm not sure how many QBs belong in the Hall from the same era

Young was a product of the great San Fransisco teams- put any other QB in there and they would have had the same numbers as him. His numbers don't approach what Bledsoe put up with much less than Young had.

Aikman is the same as Young but did it with lesser receivers than Young had, his big thing is being the QB on those great Dallas teams. He is close enough that you could go either way with them and if Aikman made it with his numbers then Bledsoe should be in there too with his better numbers.

Moon doesn't belong alongside Bledsoe in the discussion since Moon's best years came before Bledsoe came into the league. He does have better numbers than Bledsoe but that came over the course of a longer career than Bledsoe had.

Favre is in a league of his own, nobody can debate his being ahead of Bledsoe or any other QB.

Testeverde is a great comparison but he lacks something Bledsoe has- a trip to the Super Bowl. Testeverde also took longer to compile his numbers on worse teams than Bledsoe had with equal players on both teams.

[CCN]

Young did win six passer-ratings titles, and had the misfortune of being stuck behind Joe Montana a couple years, but the loaded team is a valid point.

Aikman made it because he was the driving force (i.e. QB) for a several-championship winning team. Right or not, that does count. In terms of actual play, Bledsoe may well have been the better of the two at passing alone.

In terms of not having the teammates, the unfortunate thing is the voters have never rewarded a player for lack of breaks. Bledsoe will get votes and he undoubtedly will make the cut for the final 15, but I can't see him getting in. He was a good pocket passer, but in my unbiased opinion, I never had the feeling he could take over a game by himself. He didn't seem like one who could create a positive out of a negative.

[efin98]

Young did win six passer-ratings titles, and had the misfortune of being stuck behind Joe Montana a couple years, but the loaded team is a valid point.

Aikman made it because he was the driving force (i.e. QB) for a several-championship winning team. Right or not, that does count. In terms of actual play, Bledsoe may well have been the better of the two at passing alone.

In terms of not having the teammates, the unfortunate thing is the voters have never rewarded a player for lack of breaks. Bledsoe will get votes and he undoubtedly will make the cut for the final 15, but I can't see him getting in. He was a good pocket passer, but in my unbiased opinion, I never had the feeling he could take over a game by himself. He didn't seem like one who could create a positive out of a negative.

In other words, he was a pure passer and he wasn't one of the "mobile" QBs that came of age in the 90s which Young, Elway, Aikman, Favre were.

[CCN]

In other words, he was a pure passer and he wasn't one of the "mobile" QBs that came of age in the 90s which Young, Elway, Aikman, Favre were.

Not fully. It'd be unfair to dock Bledsoe for that, obviously, and I don't. It's a bit deeper than that, because there have been plenty of mobile quarterbacks who wished they could do on the field what Bledsoe could.
This is where, admittedly, I can be called out and would happily admit I am wrong. It's more about creativity than mobility. Doing what it takes to always be able to put your team in position to win. Finding that third receiver, and doing what it takes to get the ball to that third receiver. One of the biggest points we would hear against Bledsoe through the years was not just how he was practiclaly a statue in the pocket, but he'd take a sack before he could get through his options out there.
With Favre, Marino, Elway and even Kelly, you'd always hear how well they did in the fourth quarter, how they always gave their teams the chance to win. That's why they're all in or will be in first ballot. It was, in part, about their comebacking ability. A HOF QB needs that intangible. I don't recall Bledsoe being regarded in that matter, but I didn't follow the Patriots closely. Was he of that ilk?
Warren Moon's getting inducted does help Bledsoe's case a good deal, because, to me, Moon was a similar QB with some better options. So he does have a shot. I'm just not convinced he'll get in.

[efin98]

Not fully. It'd be unfair to dock Bledsoe for that, obviously, and I don't. It's a bit deeper than that, because there have been plenty of mobile quarterbacks who wished they could do on the field what Bledsoe could.
This is where, admittedly, I can be called out and would happily admit I am wrong. It's more about creativity than mobility. Doing what it takes to always be able to put your team in position to win. Finding that third receiver, and doing what it takes to get the ball to that third receiver. One of the biggest points we would hear against Bledsoe through the years was not just how he was practiclaly a statue in the pocket, but he'd take a sack before he could get through his options out there.
With Favre, Marino, Elway and even Kelly, you'd always hear how well they did in the fourth quarter, how they always gave their teams the chance to win. That's why they're all in or will be in first ballot. It was, in part, about their comebacking ability. A HOF QB needs that intangible. I don't recall Bledsoe being regarded in that matter, but I didn't follow the Patriots closely. Was he of that ilk?
Warren Moon's getting inducted does help Bledsoe's case a good deal, because, to me, Moon was a similar QB with some better options. So he does have a shot. I'm just not convinced he'll get in.

Another knock against him because others were in situations that he wasn't often in- he rarely was in a situation where the team "must score" like those guys were. When he was in that situation he was cool under pressure and relied heavily on his accuracy to get him out of trouble. You can knock him for not being like that but that is one comparison I am glad can't be made accurately.

[CCN]

Another knock against him because others were in situations that he wasn't often in- he rarely was in a situation where the team "must score" like those guys were. When he was in that situation he was cool under pressure and relied heavily on his accuracy to get him out of trouble. You can knock him for not being like that but that is one comparison I am glad can't be made accurately.

It basically comes down to a matter of getting their team in a position to comeback and win. I don't knock him for his accuracy and applaud his being cool under pressure. But part of being a HOF quarterback is the ability to take over a game and turn a loss into a win. Not a huge part, probably a well-overstated part, but a part.
You're doing well, though, efin. You might convince me yet.

[efin98]

It basically comes down to a matter of getting their team in a position to comeback and win. I don't knock him for his accuracy and applaud his being cool under pressure. But part of being a HOF quarterback is the ability to take over a game and turn a loss into a win. Not a huge part, probably a well-overstated part, but a part.
You're doing well, though, efin. You might convince me yet.

I don't believe that is a valid criteria for the Hall of Fame. If you really want examples here are a few:

A game against Flutie and the Bills back in '98 where the team was down late and given an extra chance due to a bad call(the final straw that force replay back into the game). The Patriots came from behind to tie and went on to score in OT...

Also the 2001 AFC Championship Game...the team won by 7 but it was close for most the game...

There was also a game in 2002 that was won on a long TD pass to Peerless Price in OT...


Those are the direct examples, but when in that situation he didn't lose his cool and he came out on top for his teams.

[CCN]

I don't believe that is a valid criteria for the Hall of Fame. If you really want examples here are a few:

A game against Flutie and the Bills back in '98 where the team was down late and given an extra chance due to a bad call(the final straw that force replay back into the game). The Patriots came from behind to tie and went on to score in OT...

Also the 2001 AFC Championship Game...the team won by 7 but it was close for most the game...

There was also a game in 2002 that was won on a long TD pass to Peerless Price in OT...


Those are the direct examples, but when in that situation he didn't lose his cool and he came out on top for his teams.

Valid or not, it's brought up. But, yeah, those are some good examples of that. We will see, indeed.