Is Jason Peters a Hall of Famer?

Last week Jason Peters voiced his intent to retire an Eagle, and the team obliged by signing him to a contract extension. Based on Peters’ contributions to the team, coupled with his elite level of play during his tenure in Philadelphia, It’s fair to assume he will join the Eagles Hall of Fame soon after his retirement. With that being a no-brainer, let’s turn our attention to Peters’ chances of being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Peters’ resume speaks for itself, as he has been named an All-Pro six times and has been elected to the Pro-Bowl an outstanding nine times! Not bad for a guy who went undrafted after playing tight end coming out of college, but the question remains, is that enough?

In order to evaluate Peters’ chances of making it to Canton, I wanted to take a look at exactly how many modern-era offensive tackles have been inducted into the HOF. That number came to 21. Since 1974, 22 offensive tackles have been elected to the HOF, but one of those, George Musso, was a two way player, and therefore, did not qualify as a modern-era player.

*Forrest Gregg won five NFL championships and three Super Bowls, but the NFL Championship was essentially the NFC Championship game in in 1966 and 1967.

Based on the chart I compiled above, consisting of all the modern-era offensive tackles who have been elected to the Hall of Fame, Peters is deserving of serious conversation for enshrinement. His resume is on par, and arguably better than that of St. Clair, Dierdorf, Slater, Brown, Jones and Pace. Based on the personal accolades alone Peters is a surefire HOFer, and it’s really not debatable, but the one thing that could hinder his case is the missing championship. Only seven of the 21 players listed have been elected into the hall without a championship and only three of those players — Munoz, Jones and Slater — were first ballot HOFers. Just because Peters is unlikely to be a first ballot HOFer, doesn't mean his chances of being enshrined are decreased, in fact only five of the players listed (Gregg, Munoz, Jones, Slater and Ogden) made it in during their first year of eligibility.

Pro-Bowls are generally dismissed as a way to judge players, but there’s no denying the influence they have on swaying voters when a large number is compiled. The record for most Pro-Bowl appearances is 14, which is shared by four different players. While there are 39 players who have 10 or more appearances, that still puts Peters in elite company. Again, I’m not condoning using the Pro-Bowl as a system to measure a player in any capacity aside from popularity, but there is some credibility to sustained success. After the Pro-Bowl appearances, you look at the All-Pro selections that generally garner more credibility. Peters has been named a 1st team All-Pro three times and has also been named a 2nd team All-Pro three times as well. He has accomplished this is an era where teams are passing more than ever, as he competes against players such as Tyron Smith, Joe Thomas and Trent Williams for the individual accolades.

Duke Manyweather, who does an excellent job breaking down and scouting offensive line play, deemed Peters the sixth best OVERALL player in 2016 as part of Bleacher Report’s NFL 1000 project. Again, these rankings are subjective, but supposedly they do account for matchups, unlike Pro Football Focus. Add in the veteran leadership Jason Peters provides, and there really isn't a plausible reason to keep him out of the Hall. An example of Peters being an excellent teammate occurred during an Eagles-Redskins game in 2014, when Redskins DT Chris Baker laid an illegal hit on Nick Foles. Peters was the first Eagle to let Baker know that wasn't OK ... by socking him in the face. The reason I bring up the locker room presence is because some voters seem hell-bent on not allowing former Eagle Terrell Owens in, despite his on-field accomplishments.

I still don't believe there’s any doubt about Peters’ status as one of the game’s greats. When Peters came into the league as an UDFA tight end, nobody could've ever expected he would blossom into one of the NFL’s best blindside protectors. Laying out all of the evidence and accolades against those who have earned one of the games highest honors, there’s no argument; Jason Peters will represent the Eagles in Canton one day.