Denver Broncos: Which players belong in the Hall of Fame?
By Andrew Wade
John Lynch
Although John Lynch is known more for his time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his short tenure with Denver left a lasting impression on the Bronco faithful.
He is arguably the best safety of his generation, but he is facing an uphill battle. Rumor has it that he had a very good chance of being inducted last year but taking the executive position with San Francisco turned off some of the voters.
Regardless of the 49ers rumor, the safety position is not traditionally valued by Hall of Fame voters. Only nine full-time safeties have been elected to the Hall of Fame with two of those coming in the past two seasons; Kenny Easley and Brian Dawkins. Moreover, Lynch doesn’t always pass the stat test.
Lynch only picked off 26 passes over his 15-year career. That’s not even two per season. In fact, this is 11 less than 2018 Hall of Fame inductee Brian Dawkins who has 37 over his 16-year career.
John Lynch did pass the eye test time and time again as noted by his nine Pro-Bowl selections and two First-Team All-Pro selections. He was the quarterback of one of the great defenses of all time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he was one of the hardest hitting safeties ever.
In spite of all of this, we will likely be waiting for a few more years for Lynch’s inevitable induction.
Lynch is continuing to build his Hall of Fame worthy resume post-retirement. As general manager of the 49ers, Lynch has proven to be a quick learner who is willing to take chances for the right players.
After a few down seasons, the 49ers look like sleeper contenders heading into Lynch’s second year on the job.