Who will be in 2026 HOF class?

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It's starting to feel like football season, so we have a robust 4th and Monday for you to enjoy today! We've got ...

• Updated power rankings
• Dispatches from training camps
• A preview for "Hard Knocks"
• But first, let's talk about the Hall of Fame ...

The Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2025 – Eric Allen, Jared Allen, Antonio Gates and Sterling Sharpe – was enshrined into Canton over the weekend. We're going to take a moment to look ahead to the potential 2026 class. Here's a breakdown of some noteworthy candidates:

Notable first-year eligible players:

• Drew Brees
• Larry Fitzgerald
• Frank Gore
• Maurkice Pouncey
• Philip Rivers
• Jason Witten

Brees and Fitzgerald feel like locks to get in on their first year of eligibility. Gore – who ranks No. 3 on the all-time rushing yardage list behind Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton – also is a worthy first-year candidate. Brees trails only Tom Brady for the most career passing yards and touchdowns. Fitzgerald ranks behind Jerry Rice in career receptions and yards, and sixth in career touchdown receptions. Rivers ranks sixth all-time in career passing yards and touchdowns. Witten has the fourth-most career receptions in NFL history (and is second among tight ends behind Tony Gonzalez). Pouncey was a Pro Bowl selection in nine of his 10 NFL seasons and is a member of the 2010s All-Decade Team.

2025 finalists to consider:

• Jahri Evans
• Torry Holt
• Luke Kuechly
• Eli Manning
• Steve Smith
• Terrell Suggs
• Adam Vinatieri
• Reggie Wayne
• Darren Woodson
• Marshal Yanda

Manning is a two-time Super Bowl MVP who could make the Mannings the second brother combo enshrined in Canton (Peyton was in the class of 2021) after Shannon and Sterling Sharpe. Eli Manning (2025), Rivers (2026) and Ben Roethlisberger (2027) – first-round picks in 2004 – have their first years of Hall of Fame eligibility in consecutive years. Kuechly's exclusion from the 2025 class is a mystery. Holt, Smith and Wayne might have to wait even longer to get into the Hall in yet another crowded class of receiver candidates given Fitzgerald seems like a lock for enshrinement in his first year of eligibility. Woodson's chances seemed to improve with the recent inductions of his 1990s contemporaries at the safety position – Steve Atwater and LeRoy Butler – but a third consecutive year as a finalist in 2025 didn't net the Cowboys legend a place among the all-time greats.

First-year eligible longshots:

• Geno Atkins
• Thomas Davis
• David DeCastro
• LeSean McCoy
• Greg Olsen
• Mike Pouncy

Of all of these players, Atkins and McCoy have the strongest Hall of Fame cases. Both earned several Pro Bowl selections and are members of the 2010s All-Decade Team.

Senior candidates to consider:

• Roger Craig
• Lester Hayes
• Joe Jacoby
• Billy "White Shoes" Johnson

All four were in contention to be Hall of Famers via the Seniors category for 2025, a spot that eventually (and rightfully) went to Sterling Sharpe.

A dynamic weapon out of the backfield for the 49ers, Craig was a three-time Super Bowl champion who was the first player in NFL history to post 1,000-yard rushing and receiving yardage totals in the same season. Hayes was a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Raiders, 1980 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, member of the 1980s All-Decade Team and a Stickum aficionado. One of the most famous of "The Hogs," Jacoby helped anchor Washington's famous offensive line during the team's 1980s glory days, during which it won three Super Bowls and Jacoby was recognized on the 1980s All-Decade Team.

In 2024, Devin Hester became the first player who was primarily a return specialist inducted into the Hall of Fame. Johnson, who is almost as famous for his "funky chicken" dance as he was for his electric returns, was a member of the Hall of Fame's 1970s and 1980s All-Decade teams, as well as the NFL's 75th anniversary team.

HOT READS 🎯

The best NFL reads from Paste BN and our Sports Network:

🏈 With the Hall of Fame Game kicking off the preseason slate, Paste BN Sports' Nate Davis updates the league's power rankings. ⬆️⬇️

🏈 Nate Davis wonders if trading Micah Parsons – who requested a trade on Friday – would give Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones a new Herschel Walker moment.

🏈 In an exclusive interview with Paste BN Sports' Jarrett Bell, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones discussed extensively the Parsons contract situation.

🏈 Jarrett Bell wonders if Kansas City Chiefs WR Rashee Rice has truly learned from his disastrous decision.

🏈 A hip-drop tackle at Indianapolis Colts practice on Sunday resulted in "a severe leg injury" for running back Salvon Ahmed.

🏈 Joe Burrow has entered the chat with a classic training camp trope: The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback says this is the best he's felt throwing the football in years.

🏈 Anthony Richardson had a dismal 2024 campaign, and the Colts' third-year quarterback, figuratively, pointed the finger right at himself.

🏈 The Green Bay Packers held a scrimmage on Saturday night, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette's Pete Dougherty has takeaways from the event at Lambeau Field.

🏈 Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders is dealing with some arm soreness.

🏈 The NFL Players Association has a new leader.

🏈 Marv Levy, the Hall of Fame coach of the Buffalo Bills, celebrated his 100th birthday over the weekend.

🏈 Speaking of the Bills, "Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills" debuts on Tuesday night. 🎥

📸: PHOTOS: Best from training camps

KICKOFF COUNTDOWN: 3️⃣1️⃣days ⏳

There are 31 more days until the 2025 NFL season opens with the Kickoff Game between the Dallas Cowboys and defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday, Sept. 4.

31 days! Just a month's worth of days until the NFL season kicks off. We're almost there, football fans!

Here we are going to count down the greatest-ever NFL players to wear No. 31:

1. Jim Taylor — Legendary running back Jim Brown led the NFL in rushing yards in all but one of his nine seasons. That one season he didn't was 1962, when Taylor rushed for a league-high 1,474 yards (in 14 games, mind you) and was named MVP. Taylor was a member of four of Vince Lombardi's five NFL championship teams in Green Bay. That 1962 Packers team is arguably Lombardi's finest.
2. Donnie Shell — Was a standout safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers during its 1970s heyday. When Shell was enshrined into Canton in 2020, he became the fifth member of the Steel Curtain defense inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
3. Joe Fortunato — Standout linebacker for the Chicago Bears from the mid-1950s well into the 1960s was a five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro. He was a member of the Bears' 1963 NFL championship team and is a member of the Hall of Fame's All-Decade Team for the 1950s (in fact, is only 1950s All-Decade linebacker not in the Hall of Fame).
4. Frank Minnifield — One of the top cornerbacks of the 1980s, Minnifield is a member of that decade's Hall of Fame's All-Decade Team. The four-time Pro Bowler formed a stellar cornerback tandem with Hanford Dixon on the Cleveland Browns.
5. Aaron Glenn — The 12th overall pick in the 1994 NFL Draft, Glenn had a 15-year career, earning four Pro Bowl nods. He's now a first-year head coach with the New York Jets.

NFL CLASSICS 🏈: FROM THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM 🎞️

This is where we reprise some NFL lore and recall classic, memorable moments from yesteryear.

Newly minted Hall of Famer Sterling Sharpe caught touchdown passes from Randy Wright, Anthony Dilweg, Blair Kiel, Mike Tomczak, Don Majkowski and Brett Favre during a seven-year career with the Green Bay Packers. Take a gander at highlights from one of the greatest wide receivers of his era.

SPORTS CARD BOX 🗃️: OPENING OLD FOOTBALL PACKS

With the NFL preseason upon us with the Hall of Fame Game kicking off the exhibition slate as it traditionally does from Canton, Ohio, I decided to open some packs of vintage football cards to celebrate this sorta-kinda occassion.

The football cards? 1991 Upper Deck.

The haul? 12 Pro Football Hall of Famers, including 2025 inductee Sterling Sharpe!

Check it out ...

Not too shabby! That haul includes the NFL's career rushing yardage, receiving yardage, sacks and pick-six leaders.

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If you enjoy reading 4th and Monday 📰, encourage your football fan friends to subscribe 📱. Follow the writer of this newsletter on social media @jimreineking and drop a line if you want to talk some football 🏈.