Suggs retirement?

[Raveninwoodlawn]

Suggs is for sure a HOFer, but first ballot?

Sacks 8th
TFL 1st
FF 11th
post season sacks 3rd

I would lean no, but I don't think he'll be waiting too long. Very underrated career, yet I do sometimes think how even greater it would have been if he would have shown up ready to go in shape for some of those years in the middle of his career. He'd have been up there in the top 5 all time sacks probably.

PFR has a "HOF monitor" page that absolutely isn't perfect, but it gives an idea of where guys stand in comparison to their contemporaries.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/hof/hofm_OLB.htm

I don't think he'll have to wait more than 2-3 years.

[Greg]

I might catch heat on this, but doesn't it seem Ware has more of an impact for his team than Suggs did by just looking at stats? Accumulating those stats in 60 games less is pretty impressive. Obviously Suggs has the DPOY which I think is his icing on the cake.

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Suggs was an all-around great OLB. Played all aspects really well or great. I didn't watch enough Ware to know if he could set an edge or sniff a screen as well.

[Rygar64]

I might catch heat on this, but doesn't it seem Ware has more of an impact for his team than Suggs did by just looking at stats? Accumulating those stats in 60 games less is pretty impressive. Obviously Suggs has the DPOY which I think is his icing on the cake.

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It comes down to how well the writers understand how each of them were used. If Suggs had been used his entire career the way that guys like Peppers and Ware were used, he'd have a lot fewer passes defensed, fewer overall tackles and more sacks IMO. He was never really just a DE or OLB. His contract years proved that when they had to get an arbitrator to split the difference between the franchise tag numbers of the 2 positions. Demarcus also had a fortuitous late career surge getting to play on that Denver D with Von Miller. I think if DeMarcus goes in on his 1st or 2nd try, it would tell me they are mostly focused on sack numbers in which case, Sizzle should meet the same fate. If they hold off on Demarcus, that would tell me they view either Peppers or Suggs as having the better career and are going to put one of them in first. As it stands, the way those 3 guys staggered their retirements, the easiest thing to do for the voters is just to put them all in on their first ballot. I guess the other way they could do it would be to wait and put Peppers in first, then Sizzle, then Ware. But that seems really trivial and stupid to me.

Peppers is 4th all time
Suggs is 8th
Ware is 9th

The only active player in the top 25 is Von Miller
Every other guy in the top 10 all time is already in. Don't over complicate it voters.

[Rygar64]

Suggs was an all-around great OLB. Played all aspects really well or great. I didn't watch enough Ware to know if he could set an edge or sniff a screen as well.

I've watched Ware(as a former Cowboys fan since we didn't have a team during my formative years and I hated the Redskins) and I don't know if I've ever seen a DE/OLB play the screen as well as Sizzle did. It was like he had a sixth sense about it. More likely some key he found during film study...kind of like trying to run a draw play when Ray was in his prime. It was just a bad idea for opposing offenses.

[WhiteRayLewis]

Suggs’ defenses were consistently top-of-the-league, dynastic.


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[WNCRavensFan]

I would lean no, but I don't think he'll be waiting too long. Very underrated career, yet I do sometimes think how even greater it would have been if he would have shown up ready to go in shape for some of those years in the middle of his career. He'd have been up there in the top 5 all time sacks probably.

PFR has a "HOF monitor" page that absolutely isn't perfect, but it gives an idea of where guys stand in comparison to their contemporaries.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/hof/hofm_OLB.htm

I don't think he'll have to wait more than 2-3 years.

I think he's the best EDGE player (OLB, DE) of his generation other than Julius Peppers. Better than DeMarcus Ware, Dwight Freeney, Jared Allen, Robert Mathis and John Abraham. Better than Jason Taylor for that matter, but not by much. Taylor was elected his first try, I believe.

Ware, the closest comtemporary comp to Suggs, will be eligible for 2022. His stiffest competition as first ballot inductee will be WRs Steve Smith, Anquan Boldin and Andre Johnson, and fellow EDGE player Robert Mathis. I would rate Ware has having the best HOF credentials of the lot so it's fairly good timing for him.

Suggs won't be up for election until 2025 at the earliest. If he plays a snap this season, it'll be 2027. If it's 2025, he'll be going up against first time eligibles Eli Manning, Marshawn Lynch, Luke Kuechly, Marshal Yanda and Adam Vinatieri. If it's 2027, he'll be going up against whoever else plays their final snap this season.