Ranking 15 HoF Finalists by Career AV, do Witten, Woodson have a shot?

20 hours ago 1

How does one compare players from different positions? How about from different eras? In a game like professional football, where different time periods favor different facets of the game and different roles have wholly different stat categories, it often becomes an exercise in personal preference.

Fortunately, there's a metric that's been in effect that tries to place everyone on the same playing field, so to speak. Pro Football Reference's Approximate Value metric has been around for years, and it does the heavy lifting to evaluate each player's seasons, based on the era they played in. Career AV is the totality of the player's tenure in the league, and it is with this that we'll take a look at who is the most deserving of the recently announced 15 finalists for induction into the Hall of Fame in 2026.

The Cowboys have two representatives in the final 15, TE Jason Witten and safety Darren Woodson. Woodson was an integral member of one of the league's all-time great defenses and team dynasties, the early-to-mid-1990s Cowboys. Witten was an ironman of lesser Cowboys teams that never made it over the hump despite his being the best in the league at his position for a long time.

They are two very interesting cases and in a year where the 15 finalists don't have a plethora of all-time greats, both have a strong chance to make it out of the finals and into gold jackets. While there are certainly other factors that will be considered when that room is convened and arguments are made for the candidates, here's how each of the 15 stack up when it comes to Career AV, and Average AV per season.

Career AV Rankings

Quarterback Drew Brees - Career AV: 277 across 20 years
QB Eli Manning - Career AV: 169 across 16 years
LB Terrell Suggs - Career AV: 154 across 17 years
WR Reggie Wayne - Career AV: 153 across 14 years
OL Jahri Evans - Career AV: 145 across 12 years
WR Larry Fitzgerald - Career AV: 138 across 17 years
RB Frank Gore - Career AV: 133 across 16 years
DT Kevin Williams - Career AV: 129 across 13 years
WR Torry Holt - Career AV: 123 across 11 years
Tackle Willie Anderson - Career AV: 117 across 13 years
OL Marshal Yanda - Career AV: 116 across 13 years
TE Jason WItten - Career AV: 116 across 17 years
LB Luke Kuechly - Career AV: 107 across 8 years
Safety Darren Woodson - Career AV: 100 across 12 years
Kicker Adam Vinatieri - Career AV: 78 across 24 years

Average AV per Season Rankings

Quarterback Drew Brees - Average AV: 13.9
LB Luke Kuechly - Average AV: 13.4
OL Jahri Evans - Average AV: 12.1
WR Torry Holt - Average AV: 11.2
WR Reggie Wayne - Average AV: 10.9
QB Eli Manning - Average AV: 10.6
DT Kevin Williams - Average AV: 9.9
LB Terrell Suggs - Average AV: 9.1
Tackle Willie Anderson - Average AV: 9.0
OL Marshal Yanda - Average AV: 8.9
Safety Darren Woodson - Average AV: 8.3
RB Frank Gore - Average AV: 8.3
WR Larry Fitzgerald - Average AV: 8.1
TE Jason WItten - Average AV: 6.8
Kicker Adam Vinatieri - Average AV: 3.25

Brees has the second-highest Career AV of all time, trailing only Tom Brady. This is a metric that clearly favors quarterbacks, with Jerry Rice the only non-QB in the top-seven all time. That said, Eli Manning sits as the No. 14 overall QB in terms of Career AV. He's currently behind both Russell Wilson and Matthew Stafford, lending context to the argument over his worthiness. His 169 Career AV is just one point higher than Steve Young, who was a backup in five of his first six seasons and played one year less than Manning.

As for Witten and Woodson, metric-wise it's a pretty difficult argument to make for either to be included in this class... on the surface.

However when looking at where they rank within their respective positions, the argument gets strengthened. Witten is currently in fourth place among all-time tight ends, trailing only Tony Gonzalez (147), Anthonio Gates (127) and Travis Kelce (116 entering 2025).

Woodson is a bit harder to quantify, as his slot duties regularly categorized him as a DB instead of a pure safety. The sample size is tainted by players who are primarily CBs, a position where AV is easier to come by. When included among safeties, he'd rank around 19th in Career AV.

This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Ranking 15 HoF Finalists by Career AV, do Witten, Woodson have a shot?

Read Entire Article