07-27-2021, 08:02 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-28-2021, 04:58 AM by Asked Madden. Edited 1 time in total.)
Analyzing the Players In and Out of the ISFL Hall of Fame - WRs and TEs
Wide Receivers
You can’t have a good offense without good wide receivers, and the ISFL has had its share of legends on the outside. The league has inducted 11 wide receivers into the Hall of Fame - Bradley Westfield, Alexandre LeClair, Josh Garden, Trey Willie, Carlito Crush, Vinny Valentine, Vladimir Fyodorovich, Kazimir Oles, Errol Maddox, James Bishop, and Nate Swift.
GOATs
Bradley Westfield, Trey Willie, Josh Garden
These three have each won at least two WR of the Year trophies, been to nine Pro Bowls each, and finished in the top five in career receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. Each of them have put up multiple legendary receiving seasons. They check all the boxes. While the league is moving back towards a pass-happy offensive scheme, I’m not sure we will ever see receivers play at the level these three did - especially since they played with shorter seasons. Of the three, Trey Willie has the best statistics (first in receiving yards, first in receiving touchdowns, and third in receptions) while Westfield was the most awarded (three Ultimus trophies, four WR of the Year trophies - still the most ever). Josh Garden still is worth mentioning in the GOAT discussion as he put up the second most receiving touchdowns in a season twice.
Best of their Eras
Carlito Crush, Vinny Valentine, Errol Maddox, James Bishop
It may be a cop out to put so many in this category yet put none as “Generational Talents” but I think all four of these players fit the definition. Carlito Crush was the big snub of the All-25 team, and I think he was right to be upset about it - we completely missed him. Crush is one of two wideouts to ever win the MVP award (we’ll discuss the other later), has a WR of the Year award, top 15 finishes in all career stats, and the highest scoring receiving season in league history. The fact that there was debate about him getting into the Hall was part of what got the idea of a HOF Committee started - and the fact that he wasn’t unanimously voted into the Hall is (what I believe) kept him off the All-25 Team. Valentine also has top ten finishes in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, an Offensive Player of the Year award, and three WR of the Year trophies to his name, and so despite only three Pro Bowl appearances I think he had enough sustained dominance to be considered one of the best of his era. Errol Maddox and James Bishop both played in less pass-happy eras of the league yet still managed to obtain many trophies, Pro Bowl appearances, and high career marks all around, and it’s hard to say that they weren’t two of the premiere talents in their generation.
EDIT: Vinny Valentine has been to 8 Pro Bowls, not 3. The wiki had him listed as Vincent Valentine instead of Vinny, and so my scraper did not pick it up. Granted, this only solidifies his case to be in his category.
Statistical Locks
Alexandre LeClair, Kazimir Oles, Nate Swift
Alexandre LeClair feels like he should be in the GOAT discussion, but after looking at the numbers I think that may be anti-recency bias talking. He certainly is one of the best of all time, but I think he ended up being frequently outshined by his contemporaries in the GOAT category above. LeClair still finished top five in receiving yards and touchdowns, and top ten in receptions, but failed to win any WR of the Year awards and “only” went to six Pro Bowls. I think there is an argument to put him at least in the Best of their Eras group but I just couldn’t justify it to myself. Kazimir Oles is in the same boat - though with far fewer receptions. Oles was nominated to the Pro Bowl seven times and even won a WR of the Year award, but in comparison to the others on this list he’s relatively poorly awarded. Nate Swift is probably the weakest of the three, and his curse of never winning an award keeps him away from being considered Best of His Era even if he arguably was. His top 15 finishes in yards and touchdowns and top ten finish in receptions helped him squeeze into the Hall.
????
Vladimir Fyodorovich
I’m… not sure where to put Fyodo on this list. I don’t think he’s a fringe HOFer - his Offensive Player of the Year award and eight Pro Bowls indicate he was one of the best of his time. He put up the 11th most productive receiving season in league history. He was a cornerstone of the Doot Doot mini-dynasty from S9-S11. He even has legendary league drama with Orange County - which resulted in him switching from cornerback to wide receiver. Maybe that might be it - Fyodo lost a lot of seasons of production due to the position switch, and only cracks the top 20 in career receiving yards. With only one WR of the Year trophy, I can’t justify putting him as Best of His Era, and with his poor career numbers I can’t justify putting him as a Statistical Lock. But he’s not a Fringe HOFer, so he gets a special confused Pikachu of his own.
Other Notable Wide Receivers
Fox North*, Howard Miller*, William Lim
*Failed to be inducted to the HOF.
I think we have three different categories of players in our three listed here. Let’s go from bottom to top here. William Lim will be a Hall of Famer. Sure, he was helped by the sim change and the increased passing numbers, but he’s approaching top ten finishes in all career marks, has multiple top ten and top five single-season performances, three WR of the Year performances, and six Pro Bowls. If he keeps up his pace he may end up as one of the best of all time. Howard Miller, on the other hand, is an MVP that does not deserve to be in the Hall. He has put up some great seasons, but his MVP season came as a result of absolutely dominating as both a wide receiver AND cornerback. His single season playing both ways was so good, in fact, that it got two way players banned. Miller still sits second in single-season interceptions as a wide receiver. Does someone who had such an impact on league history deserve a spot in the Hall despite middling career numbers? I don’t know, but probably not. Miller goes to the Hall as an information board most likely - an important part of the league’s development but without a bust.
Finally, we get to Fox North, who only received one out of 15 votes in the Season 16 ballot. I think Fox North should be in. Why? Let’s compare him to Nate Swift - someone who made it in. North has more receptions (731 versus 719), receiving yards (11,066 versus 10,574), and receiving touchdowns (75 versus 69) than Swift. Neither have received any awards for their performances. Swift has more Pro Bowl appearances (7 versus 5) and more Ultimus trophies (3 versus 1, though it’s questionable how much impact Swift had on the field for the last two). While Pro Bowls are important, we just discussed how Vinny Valentine’s mere three selections weren’t enough to keep him out. I think it might even be fair that Fox North was a better wide receiver than Nate Swift. So why is he out? Probably because the user who was in charge of North was inactive for much of North’s career - and because the GMs in S16 didn’t know who North was. I can’t really come up with any other justification for his overwhelming failure to get in.
Tight Ends
The tight end has been a bit of an unloved position in the ISFL, as not many play a full career successfully and stay active. The league has inducted three tight ends into the Hall of Fame - Paul DiMirio, Verso L’Alto, and Johnny Blaze.
GOATs
Paul DiMirio, Verso L’Alto
When you think of legendary tight ends, these two are the names that first come to mind. Paul DiMirio won an astounding seven TE of the Year awards in a row between Season 3 and Season 9, went to twelve Pro Bowls, finished tenth in career receiving touchdowns, fifth in receiving yards, and first in career receptions. He also holds the single-season record for receptions. The only knock on DiMirio is the fact that he spent much of his career playing on the outside - something teams (and the sim, of course) were ill-equipped to handle. Regardless of this, DiMirio is easily one of the greatest of all time. Verso L’Alto’s career took off just as DiMirio’s began to end, and L’Alto quickly became the premiere tight end in the league. With ten Pro Bowls, four TE of the Year awards, and the second most receptions in league history, L’Alto is well cemented in the Hall. Some can argue he is the true GOAT tight end as he spent his whole career playing inside, rarely venturing to the wideout position.
Best of their Era
Johnny Blaze
Johnny Blaze came on to the scene just as L’Alto was leaving it (noticing a trend?), but unfortunately for him the league’s prioritization of top tier tight ends was coming to an end. Blaze spent a decent amount of his career playing outside, but failed to put up the bulk statistics his predecessors could. Despite this, he still managed to win an astounding three TE of the Year awards and appear in eight Pro Bowls. Winning three positional awards in your career easily establishes you as one of the best in your generation - and so Blaze deserves his spot in the Hall.
Other Notable Tight Ends
Balthazar Crindy*, Jammerson Irving*, Austin McCormick, Heath Evans
*Failed to be inducted to the HOF.
The tight end field is going to be an interesting area to watch in future ballots, as it’s unclear how valuable the Hall of Fame Committee thinks tight ends really are. We have seen in the past with Balthazar Crindy and Jammerson Irving that arguably great tight ends were deemed undeserving to be in even if they are some of the best in league history.
Crindy comes from the early part of league history, when tight ends were absolute reception machines. While he was overshined by DiMirio and L’Alto for his entire career, he still managed to be selected to four Pro Bowls straight Pro Bowls and has the seventh most catches in a single season to his name. I don’t think Crindy would actually get in, but at the very least he belongs in the Hall of Very Good. Actually, now that I look at it, I don’t think Crindy was even voted on by the Hall of Fame Committee at all, having been auto-retired by regression and never posting a retirement post. So that might be something considered for the Season 31 ballot.
Jammerson Irving may be the bigger snub here. He’s actually still eligible to be enshrined in the Hall, having received three of nine votes in the Season 29 Ballot. I think Irving belongs firmly in the Fringe HOFer category, but it’s easy to argue that he was one of the best of his generation. Irving was able to dethrone Blaze’s streak of four straight TE of the Year awards with back-to-back trophies of his own. He also went to five Pro Bowls in his 11 season career. The biggest hold up to his enshrining is his relatively poor career statistics - failing to reach even the top 30 in any receiving category. Tight ends are good at getting receptions, and his 593 may not be good enough to get in.
Austin McCormick and Heath Evans may yet still have a chance to get in. Both are top 20 in career receptions, both have TE of the Year awards (McCormick has two), and both have been to over five Pro Bowls. I think either could stand a chance to make it in, but they may also fall the way of Crindy. Another name to keep an eye out for? James Angler. He has two TE of the Year awards but is approaching the end of his career, and may end up getting the Jammerson Irving treatment as he doesn’t crack the top 30 in receptions (#31, 613 receptions).
Next Time: Defensive Line and Linebackers