Graham should be a 1st ballot HOFer (3 Viewers)

[nolaswede]

He just turned 37 so he doesn't have many seasons left, maybe 1 or 2. Can he play until he's 40? That's possible if he's used how he is used now as strictly a 3rd down/RZ option. The big number he needs is 93 TDs (89 after today) as he would move into 3rd all-time passing Gronk. If he hangs around long enough he could get to 100 and that would put him as only the 3rd ever TE to get to 100, the other 2 are in the HoF.

That would take like 15 years, since DA doesn’t seem to want to use him much. Even though all he does is throw TDs!

 

[J.T.]

He just turned 37 so he doesn't have many seasons left, maybe 1 or 2. Can he play until he's 40? That's possible if he's used how he is used now as strictly a 3rd down/RZ option. The big number he needs is 93 TDs (89 after today) as he would move into 3rd all-time passing Gronk. If he hangs around long enough he could get to 100 and that would put him as only the 3rd ever TE to get to 100, the other 2 are in the HoF.

If DA and Sneeky Pete used Graham more in the Red Zone this year, the Saints likely have two more wins this season. A playoff game, or TWO, with Graham getting a couple of TD's in front of a nationwide audience would really help his future HOF chances. Let's hope the Saints coaches see how valuable he is. On one TD play, he drew double coverage with gave the WR single coverage. The fans were all commenting that Graham needed to be in the game when they were in the Red Zone.

 

[SystemShock]

Compare them to Gronk, Tony G, Antoino Gates, Shannon Sharpe .

Gonzalez:


Gronk: ( has SB rings with 2 teams, will get in when eligible)


Gates: (eligible 2024)


Sharpe: (SB rings with 2 teams)


Jimmy:


I don't know, man. Gates retired in 2018; he's on the 2024 semifinalists list; we will see if he gets voted in. But Jimmy's numbers, I don't think they are 1st ballot HoF numbers, and there aren't that many TE's in the HoF, and those dudes are legends: Gonzalez, Newsome, Mackey, Winslow, Smith, Casper, etc.

 

[IceHot]

1st ballot seems extremely unlikely particularly for a TE.

Nice thing is Jimmy compares fairly favorably to WRs as well as TEs. When you have more TDs then Isaac Bruce and Megatron and more receptions than Herman Moore*, Marcus Colston, and Raymond Berry that is worth noting.

That being said TE is a position poorly filled by the NFL HoF. Still not in the HoF...

Jerry Smith, Mark Bavaro, Todd Christensen, Pete Retzlaff, Ben Coates, Marv Fleming, Lavvie Dilwig​

I hope he gets in but I think he needs to pass Gronk in TDs to stay at the top of the ballot. Part of the problem is going to be the other TEs like Witten, Kelce, and Gronk that will make him look ridiculously good as opposed to undeniably great.


*not in HoF nor likely to ever be, but still a great player.

 

[Taker597]

He's HOF chances fell off a cliff as soon as he left Brees.

 

[sfidc3]

JG is not even close to a HOFer in my opinion....All those guys listed are great, but not listing Jason Witten (who may be the best of all time)? WTF?

JG couldn't run block to save his life, Gonzales and Witten were great at it....Gates was decent, Sharpe was not that great at it....All of them were more consistent and had better, bigger stats than JG.....(who had only 2 1,000 yard seasons both with the Saints)....

 

[RaginCajun83]

Graham isn’t anywhere near HoF worthy. His years away from the Saints took away any chance of him being inducted

 

[Stalwart385]

As a pass catcher, he's a tier below modern HOFers imo. He was at their level for a short while, not long enough though. As an all-around TE he's pretty far down the list. Maybe if they feel like they want to put in a TE and there aren't many good candidates that year. Probably not though.

 

[IceHot]

JG is not even close to a HOFer in my opinion....All those guys listed are great, but not listing Jason Witten (who may be the best of all time)? What the Fork!?

JG couldn't run block to save his life, Gonzales and Witten were great at it....Gates was decent, Sharpe was not that great at it....All of them were more consistent and had better, bigger stats than JG.....(who had only 2 1,000 yard seasons both with the Saints)....

Witten isnt eligible yet...He will be eligible in 2026 and will almost certainly be in once eligible..

 

[blackadder]

Just look at his stats
Compare them to Gronk, Tony G, Antoino Gates, Shannon Sharpe .

Pick any TE in NFL history and compare it to JG.

This guy should be first ballot but I don’t think he will get in first year although he should

Problem is, he fell way off when he left. He didn't have the system and QB to maximze his skills, as he did here with Brees.

He also had some injuries that cost time.

But had he stayed here with Brees, he would definately have put up some historic numbers. He went for the short term bigger payday due to the bad blood around the pay level.

 

[saintsmarchin]

if he had never been traded he wouldve been 1st ballot

 

[hockey2112]

Loved the spike heard round the world after his TD today, especially since it ended with a fan catching the ball:

View attachment RPReplay_Final1702863308.mov

That kid is my next door neighbor. He was ecstatic!

 

[Saint Greg]

He probably should be. Among TE's he's 6th all-time in receptions, 8th in yards, and 4th in TDs.

It would help if he could hang around here long enough to crack 100 TDs (needs 11 more).

Pro Football TE Hall of Fame Monitor | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Pro Football TE Hall of Fame Monitor

www.pro-football-reference.com

 

[sfidc3]

Witten isnt eligible yet...He will be eligible in 2026 and will almost certainly be in once eligible..

So? I realize that, Gronk isn't eligible yet either but he was on the list of TE's for comparison....

 

[jahsoul357]

He's HOF chances fell off a cliff as soon as he left Brees.

I won't necessarily say him leaving Brees. It was going to the Seahawks where he wasn't a good fit from a scheming standpoint. They were still a run heavy team at the time and most of the time, when you saw Graham going out there, you knew it was a pass play because, let's face it, blocking wasn't his thing.