2014 NFL Hall of Fame Class: Sorting out the Semifinalists

The Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee released the names of 25 semifinalists for the Class of 2014.

While usual suspects Andre Reed and Tim Brown were named, quite the high-profile list of first-ballot candidates are still alive to be one of the 15 finalists, including Marvin Harrison, Jimmy Johnson, Tony Dungy, Walter Jones and Derrick Brooks.

Let's sort through all 25 semifinalists and venture a guess as to which semifinalists will make the final cut.

Morten Andersen, Kicker

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Morten Andersen played 25 years in the NFL for five different teams and remains the league's all-time leading scorer (2,544 points). He was a five-time All Pro and is the scoring leader for the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints.

Case For: Andersen has a simple but strong case as the league's all-time leading scorer. He's also been a semifinalist in the past.

Case Against: Jan Stenerud is the only modern-era kicker currently in the Hall of Fame, and Andersen doesn't have a Super Bowl ring, if that matters for field-goal kickers.

Chances: 50-50

Steve Atwater, Safety

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Steve Atwater played 11 seasons in the NFL, 10 with the Denver Broncos and one with the New York Jets. He was an All-Pro twice and made the Pro Bowl on eight occasions, including seven straight trips to Hawaii from 1990 to 1996.

He's regarded as one of the most intimidating, hard-hitting safeties in league history. 

Case For: His streak of Pro Bowls is tied for the Broncos' franchise record (with Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe). He won two Super Bowls.

Case Against: As more of an in-the-box strong safety, Atwater finished his career with only 24 interceptions. Being named to the All-Pro team only twice won't help his case.

Chances: Low

Jerome Bettis, Running Back

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Jerome Bettis played 13 NFL seasons for the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was an All-Pro twice and made six Pro Bowls.

Case For: When he retired, Bettis was ranked fifth in career rushing yards. His crowning moment was the Super Bowl he won in his native Detroit in 2006. While he averaged only 3.9 yards per carry, he was frequently used as a short-yardage runner, especially late in his career. His 91 rushing touchdowns rank 10th all-time. He is not a first-time semifinalist.

Case Against: In the Hall of Fame with a yards-per-carry average under 4.0? He was noticeably below-average in the efficiency department during his final four seasons in Pittsburgh. His touchdown total could be inflated due to the amount of carries he received near the goal line. 

Chances: High 

Derrick Brooks, Linebacker

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Derrick Brooks played 14 seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was a six-time All-Pro and made 11 Pro Bowls. Pro Football Reference has him listed with 1,301 career solo tackles.  

Case For: He was on the 2002-03 Buccaneers team that won the Super Bowl the same year he won the AP Defensive Player of the Year award. He intercepted 25 regular-season passes and returned six for touchdowns. He had a pick-six in the Super Bowl victory over the Oakland Raiders.

Case Against: He's on his first ballot. 

Chances: Very High

Tim Brown, Wide Receiver/Kick Returner

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Tim Brown played 14 seasons in the NFL for the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was a two-time All-Pro and made nine Pro Bowls. His 19,682 all-purpose yards are the fifth-most in league history.

Case For: Brown is fifth on the all-time receptions list (1,064) and is only one of nine players with at least 1,000 career catches. He caught 80 or more passes nine out of 10 seasons from 1993 to 2002 and led the NFL with 104 receptions in 1997. He's been a finalist the past three years. 

Case Against: Two All-Pro teams isn't majorly impressive, although that mainly was due to the other all-time great receivers that played in his era. He doesn't have a Super Bowl ring. 

Chances: 50-50

Don Coryell, Coach/Contributor

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Don Coryell coached 14 seasons in the NFL for the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Diego Chargers. He compiled 114 wins during his professional tenure. During his stint with the Chargers, his team led the league in passing seven of a possible eight years.

Case For: He revolutionized the passing game with his air-raid system. His teams won five division titles.

Case Against: Coryell's 111 regular-season wins rank him only 33rd all-time. Norv Turner has more.

Chances: Low

Roger Craig, Running Back

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Roger Craig played 11 NFL seasons for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Raiders and Minnesota Vikings. He was named an All-Pro once and made four Pro Bowls. He was an integral member of the Super Bowl-winning 49ers teams of the late 1980s.

Case For: In 1985, he amassed 1,050 rushing yards and 1,016 receiving yards and scored 15 total touchdowns. His career yards-per-carry average of 4.1 is respectable. When he retired, he was in the top 20 of career receptions (566) and rushing yards (8,189). He won three Super Bowls.

Case Against: Craig was only a top-tier running back for four seasons, from 1985 to 1988. After that, he averaged 4.0 yards per carry during only one season. He's 38th in all-time yards from scrimmage. 

Chances: Low

Terrell Davis, Running Back

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Terrell Davis played in the NFL for the Denver Broncos for seven seasons. He was an All-Pro three times and made three Pro Bowls. Davis was an instrumental piece on the repeat Super Bowl-champion Broncos of the late 1990s.

Case For: His prime was truly special. It included a 2,008-rushing yard 1998 campaign. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry in his professional career. Davis scored 36 rushing touchdowns in a two-year span. He won two Super Bowls and was the NFL MVP in 1998.

Case Against: The longevity simply isn't there. He has only four 1,000-yard seasons on his resume. His career rushing-yard total ranks 50th all-time.

Chances: Low

Edward DeBartolo Jr, Contributor

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Eddie DeBartolo Jr. owned the San Francisco 49ers for 24 seasons, from 1977 to 2000.

Case For: During his reign as the 49ers' owner, the team won 13 division titles and five Super Bowls.

Case Against: His flourishing ownership came to an end when off-field legal issues led to a one-year NFL suspension, which later led to him conceding his control of the team. 

Chances: Low

Tony Dungy, Coach

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Tony Dungy was a head coach in the NFL for 13 years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts. He won six division titles and one Super Bowl.

Case For: He was the first African-American head coach to win a Super Bowl in the NFL, and he averaged more than 10 regular-season wins per year. From 2002 to 2008, his Colts teams won at least 10 games every season.

Case Against: He's on his first ballot. His 139 career regular-season victories rank only 21st all-time.

Chance: 50-50

Kevin Greene, Pass-Rusher

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Kevin Greene played 15 years in the NFL for the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers. He was a two-time All-Pro and made five Pro Bowls. He led the NFL in sacks on two separate occasions.

Case For: Greene's 160 sacks rank third all-time behind Reggie White and Bruce Smith. Chris Doleman, who's fourth on the career sack list, is in the Hall of Fame, as are White and Smith. He had 10 seasons with 10 or more sacks.

Case Against: He was largely regarded as a one-dimensional defender. According to Pro Football Reference, he had more than 67 solo tackles only once.

Chances: 50-50

Charles Haley, Pass-Rusher

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Charles Haley played 12 NFL seasons for the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys. He was an All-Pro twice and made five Pro Bowls. Haley has five Super Bowl titles to his name. 

Case For: No player other than Haley has five Super Bowl rings. He eclipsed the 100-sack mark in his career. Haley was a Hall of Fame finalist in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Case Against: He was on five Super Bowl-winning teams. Was his career the effect of being on great Cowboys and 49ers teams, or was he great in a vacuum? 

Chances: 50-50

Marvin Harrison, Wide Receiver

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Marvin Harrison played 13 NFL seasons for the Indianapolis Colts from 1996 to 2008. He was a six-time All-Pro and made eight Pro Bowls. When Harrison retired, he was second on the league's all-time receptions list.

Case For: Only Tony Gonzalez and Jerry Rice have more NFL catches. He caught over 100 passes in four straight seasons and had eight straight years of double-digit receiving touchdowns. Harrison's 14,580 receiving yards are seventh all-time.

Case Against: He's on his first ballot. Many believe he benefited greatly from the presence of Peyton Manning.

Chances: High

Joe Jacoby, Offensive Tackle

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Joe Jacoby played 13 seasons in the NFL, all for the Washington Redskins. He was named an All-Pro three times and made the Pro Bowl four times.

Case For: He was the starting left tackle for three Super Bowl-winning Washington Redskins teams. He has been a semifinalist on two other occasions. Teammate Russ Grimm is in. 

Case Against: "The Hogs," a nickname for the Redskins' dominant offensive lines in the early 1980s, didn't play at a high level for more than five seasons. 

Chances: Low

Jimmy Johnson, Coach

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Jimmy Johnson was an NFL head coach for nine seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins. During his time with the Cowboys, he won two division titles and two Super Bowls. 

Case For: Johnson's pair of Super Bowl rings. 

Case Against: He won only 80 games as a head coach and had a winning percentage of .556. This is the first time he's been a semifinalist.

Chances: 50-50

Walter Jones, Offensive Tackle

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Walter Jones played 12 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. He earned six All-Pro distinctions and was named to nine Pro Bowls.

Case For: He was easily one of the most sound left tackles of his era. His six First-Team All-Pro honors prove that. Jones made the Pro Bowl in each one of his final eight seasons.  

Case Against: He never won a Super Bowl. 

Chances: Very High

John Lynch, Safety

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John Lynch played 15 NFL seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos. He was an All-Pro three times and made nine Pro Bowls. He's considered one of the central pieces to the famed "Tampa 2" defense.

Case For: He won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers at the culmination of the 2002-03 season. He recorded at least two interceptions in nine consecutive years.

Case Against: This marks the first time he's been a semifinalist. 

Chances: Low

Karl Mecklenburg, Linebacker

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Karl Mecklenburg played in the NFL for 12 seasons with the Denver Broncos. He was an All-Pro four times and made six Pro Bowls. He appeared in three Super Bowls. 

Case For: He played on the great John Elway teams in the 1980s. Mecklenburg recorded four sacks in a game twice, the only Broncos player to do that.

Case Against: His career sack total of 79 ranks him 58th all-time. Soon, Justin Smith and Shaun Phillips will pass him.

Chances: Low

Andre Reed, Receiver

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Andre Reed played 16 NFL seasons for the Buffalo Bills and the Washington Redskins (for one season). He was a three-time All-Pro and made seven Pro Bowls. When he retired, his 951 catches were the third-most all-time.

Case For: Reed's been a Hall of Fame finalist the past six years. He snagged at least 50 passes in 13 seasons during his career. His 951 receptions still rank 11th in league history, and his 87 receiving touchdowns rank 12th. Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith, his teammates from Buffalo, are in.

Case Against: He caught an abundance of short passes and never had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Also, he failed to catch a touchdown in four Super Bowl losses.

Chances: 50-50

Will Shields, Guard

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Will Shields played 14 seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1993 to 2006. He was a three-time All-Pro and made 12 Pro Bowls.

Case For: Those 12 Pro Bowls look pretty darn good on his resume. NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal pointed out that the Chiefs rushed for over 2,000 yards in each of Shields' final three seasons, then dropped to 1,248 after he retired.

Case Against: Guard isn't a glamour position, even for the offensive line, and he played in the AFC title game only once.

Chances: 50-50

Michael Strahan, Pass-Rusher

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Michael Strahan played 15 NFL seasons for the New York Giants. He was an All-Pro five times and was named to seven Pro Bowls. 

Case For: He holds the single-season sack record (22.5). His 141.5 career sacks rank him fifth in league history. He owns a Super Bowl ring. 

Case Against: He only managed double-digit sacks in six seasons. There's been a logjam at defensive end of late. 

Chances: High

Paul Tagliabue, Contributor

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Paul Tagliabue was the NFL commissioner for 17 years from 1989 to 2006. The league experienced vast growth during his tenure. 

Case For: The NFL expanded from 28 to 32 teams while Tagliabue was calling the shots. Tagliabue was behind the creation of the NFL Network. 

Case Against: Executives seem to be pushed to the back burner in favor of players and head coaches. 

Chances: 50-50

Aeneas Williams, Safety

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Aeneas Williams played 14 NFL seasons for the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals and St. Louis Rams. He was an All-Pro four times and made eight Pro Bowls. 

Case For: He ranks fourth all-time with nine career interceptions returned for a touchdown. He also appeared in a Super Bowl with the Rams.

Case Against: Williams ranks 20th all-time with 55 interceptions.

Chances: Low

Steve Wisniewski, Guard

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Steve Wisniewski played 13 seasons for the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders. He was an All-Pro five times and made eight Pro Bowls. 

Case For: His prime was exceptional. His five All-Pro distinctions came in five consecutive years. 

Case Against: Can he get in before Raiders teammate Tim Brown?

Chances: Low

George Young, Contributor

Photo courtesy of Bleacher Report

George Young was the New York Giants general manager from 1979 to 1997. He then worked for the NFL from 1998 to 2001.

Case For: Young hired Bill Parcells and drafted Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor. His Giants won two Super Bowls during his tenure. He was the Executive of the Year five times. 

Case Against: Voters could pick players and head coaches over Young. 

Chances: Low

Projected 2014 Hall of Fame Class

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Here's the projected Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2014:

• Derrick Brooks
• Walter Jones
• Michael Strahan
• Will Shields
• Paul Tagliabue
• Charles Haley