Should Zach Thomas be in the Hall of Fame?

[J.Kim]

I disagree with BBJ in the Jimmy Smith point, and I think he should get more credit than BBJ is giving him, however,

Incomplete evidence at best. Was there a sudden spike in offensive stats in 1978? Sorry, but those aren't major rule changes, and the whole Indy-New England thing was a tempest in a teapot.

Incomplete evidence? Look at the stats, and see just how much of a statistical jump there was in the passing offence, from 1977 to 1979, for QBs AND WRs alike.

I mean, in just two seasons from 1977 to 1979, Top passing-totals jumped, from hovering in the low 3000s, high 2000s to the 4000s.

There was one major rule change which accounted for this, and it was the Mel Blount rule. Now, receivers weren't being killed running their routes.

[Basketball Jesus]

Where I come from, we call this "making stuff up."

In a league where many consider Tom Brady to be better than Peyton Manning because of Super Bowl victories, it

[J.Kim]

1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001.
And it really didn't help that Jacksonville, after changing coaches, changed their offensive philosophy into a more grind-it-out, run first type of offense from a free-flowing passing offense from the Burnell days.

But then again, the points that I've made before was more of a subjective argument than an objective approach...

[Basketball Jesus]

1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001.
And it really didn't help that Jacksonville, after changing coaches, changed their offensive philosophy into a more grind-it-out, run first type of offense from a free-flowing passing offense from the Burnell days.

But then again, the points that I've made before was more of a subjective argument than an objective approach...

Too bad DVOA and DPAR only goes back to 2000. I bet you 1999 was the only season he was in the top five for both.

[Ex-hippie]

In a league where many consider Tom Brady to be better than Peyton Manning because of Super Bowl victories, it

[Basketball Jesus]

And people consider Derek Jeter to be better than Alex Rodriguez because of all of those rings. People seriously debate whether Robert Horry (Robert Horry!) should be a Hall of Famer because he keeps landing on championship teams, and claim that Karl Malone wasn't a brilliant player. Joe Dumars was voted into the HOF with hardly a voice of dissent. It happens in every sport.

I thought Jeter

[Basketball Jesus]

That a thread about Zach Thomas ended up going into a Craig Biggio/Lou Whitaker discussion just further justifies my wasting time here.

[Ex-hippie]

That a thread about Zach Thomas ended up going into a Craig Biggio/Lou Whitaker discussion just further justifies my wasting time here.

And that is something on which we're in full agreement.