The Next HoF Class

Who's on the ballot, and how HoFW ranks their case ahead of the real vote.

Nothing official exists for the Class of 2027 yet. The Hall names its semifinalists in late November, cuts to 15 finalists in early January, and reveals the class itself at NFL Honors during Super Bowl week. What I can show today is my model's own read: every eligible player scored the same way I score every Hall of Famer since 2005, ranked by how strong the case looks right now.

3–5
Modern-era players get elected per class, out of 15 finalists, each needing 80 percent of a 50-person room. How the Hall of Fame Vote Works walks through every cut.

Three names are already locked into the 2027 finalist slate. Willie Anderson, Terrell Suggs and Marshal Yanda all reached the final seven last cycle without clearing 80 percent, which makes them automatic finalists under the Hall's bylaws. That matters for everyone else on this list, because holdovers compress the room available to the seven first-year candidates arriving at once: Ben Roethlisberger, Adrian Peterson, Rob Gronkowski, Richard Sherman, Antonio Brown, Cam Newton and Andrew Whitworth.

Loading the model's current 2027 read…

This page gets updated in place rather than archived year to year. For the full model behind these rankings, see How the HoF Worthiness Model Works. To see every player's score, visit Hall of Fame Forecasts, or build your own ballot in the Hall of Fame Studio.