The Next HoF Class

Who has a case for the Class of 2027, the first one picked under the new rules.

Nothing official exists for the Class of 2027 yet, and it is the first class decided under the Hall's overhauled selection process: a committee half the size, no separate senior category, and one 15-name slate instead of four ballots. The Hall names its semifinalists in late November, cuts to a 15-name slate in early January, and reveals the class itself at NFL Honors during Super Bowl week. Until then, all there is to go on is my model, which scores every eligible player the same way it scores every Hall of Famer since 2005. The full ranked list lives on the Class of 2027 page and moves as scores move. This page covers the returning candidates with a real case and the new names arriving with them.

3–7
Get elected per class under the new rules. That's players, coach and contributor together, out of a 15-name slate, each needing 80 percent of a 25-person room. Five or six is most likely. How the Hall of Fame Vote Works walks through every cut.

Under the old bylaws, three names would already have been locked into the 2027 slate. Willie Anderson, Terrell Suggs and Marshal Yanda all reached the final seven last cycle without clearing 80 percent, which used to make them automatic finalists the next year. The overhaul eliminated that rule. All three now have to re-qualify through the screening subcommittees, exactly like a first-year candidate. Nothing is reserved for them.

That's good news for the seven first-year names arriving at once: Ben Roethlisberger, Adrian Peterson, Rob Gronkowski, Richard Sherman, Antonio Brown, Cam Newton and Andrew Whitworth. None of the slate is spoken for before they show up. There are only 13 player spots now, but all 13 are open.

See how HoFW ranks every one of them on the Class of 2027 page

I update this page each year instead of starting a new one. For the model behind those rankings, see How the HoF Worthiness Model Works. To see every player's score rather than one class, visit the Hall of Fame player database, or build your own ballot in the Hall of Fame Studio.