As the Pro Football Hall of Fame inducts its 56th class this weekend, it's a good time to ponder which active NFL players will one day be enshrined in Canton.
Note: Only players with five or more years of experience were considered.
Virtual locks
1. Tom Brady — Five Super Bowl wins in eight appearances and three league MVP awards is just the start of the long list of career accomplishments for Brady, who is as surefire a Hall of Fame candidate as the league has ever seen.
2. Drew Brees — The Super Bowl XLIV MVP needs 1,496 yards to become the NFL's all-time passing yardage leader. He should own that prestigious record by Halloween.
3. Aaron Rodgers — He has two league MVP awards and a Super Bowl MVP to his name. He also is the NFL's all-time leader in passer rating by a healthy margin (103.8 to Russell Wilson's 98.8).
4. J.J. Watt — He is one of two players in NFL history to be named defensive player of the year three times. The other is Lawrence Taylor, a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
5. Larry Fitzgerald — An 11-time Pro Bowl selection, Fitzgerald ranks third in career receptions and receiving yards but could move up to No. 2 in both categories by the end of 2018.
6. Julius Peppers — With 154 ½ career sacks, Peppers currently sits at No. 4 on the all-time list behind three Hall of Famers and ahead of several others.
7. Ben Roethlisberger — Already bunkered in the top 10 all-time lists for career completions, passing yards and touchdowns, Big Ben also helped add two Super Bowl titles to Pittsburgh's league-leading six.
8. Rob Gronkowski — Health is the only possible hurdle to the Hall of Fame for Gronk, who already has four all-pro nods to his name and is one of the league's most dominant players.
9. Antonio Brown — In eight seasons, he's already led the league in receptions and receiving yards twice, earned four all-pro selections, six Pro Bowl nods and a reputation as the game's most dangerous receiving threat.
10. Earl Thomas — The Seahawks' last remaining founding member of the Legion of Boom, he spent most of his career as arguably the NFL's premier safety.
11. Richard Sherman — A four-time Pro Bowler and three-time all-pro, he made the decisive play in the 2013 NFC Championship Game, two weeks before Seattle's Super Bowl XLVIII blowout of the Broncos. Kam Chancellor — who played in the same secondary as Thomas and Sherman — also has a decent case to make it three members of the vaunted Legion in the Hall.
12. Eli Manning — It's a pretty safe bet that he and Peyton will be the first brothers in the Hall. Eli — MVP in the Giants' two Super Bowl wins — should be among some elite company on the all-time career passing lists by the time his career is complete, despite his overall uneven resume.
13. Adam Vinatieri — There are two pure kickers (plus one punter) in the Hall of Fame, with Morten Andersen being the most recent inductee (2017). Vinatieri has made some of the most famous field goals in league history — two Super Bowl winners, plus the game-tying and winning field goals in the snow in the famous Tuck Rule game. If his reputation for clutch kicks wasn't enough to earn enshrinement, the fact he needs just 58 points to supplant Andersen (2,544) as the league's all-time leading scorer probably will be.
14. Jason Peters — A nine-time Pro Bowler and two-time all-pro, Peters had the great misfortune of being injured during the only Super Bowl appearance (and win) of his career.
* Antonio Gates — He is currently an unsigned free agent, though not officially retired. An eight-time Pro Bowler, three-time all-pro and member of the NFL's 2000s all-decade team Gates is the NFL's all-time leader in touchdown receptions (114) for tight ends.
* Adrian Peterson — Currently unsigned, Peterson could be facing the end of his career. If so, he would leave the game as one of the elite running backs of his era. In 2012, coming off major knee surgery, Peterson came just 8 yards short of Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing yardage record of 2,105.
On track
Eric Berry — Unfortunately, two season-ending injuries (knee in 2011, Achilles in 2017) and a Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis in 2014 have cut significant playing time from the prime of Berry's career. In each of the five seasons Berry completed, he was named to the Pro Bowl. After being declared cancer-free in 2015, Berry's return to play and comeback player of the year recognition was one of that season's best story lines.
A.J. Green — He and Julio Jones came into the league at the same time (2011), and their careers have been equally impressive. Green has been selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his seven seasons.
DeAndre Hopkins — With a knack forthe highlight-reel grab, Hopkins has produced despite a revolving door of mediocre quarterbacks in Houston. With the help of a healthy Deshaun Watson, Hopkins can continue to build a case for Hall of Fame induction.
Julio Jones — The 2015 league leader in receptions and receiving yards, he's in the "NFL's best wide receiver" conversation alongside Brown.
Luke Kuechly — The 2012 defensive rookie of the year and 2013 defensive player of the year has been arguably the best middle linebacker since entering the league.
Von Miller — The Super Bowl 50 MVP is perhaps the game's premier pass rusher right now.
Patrick Peterson — A multi-purpose threat on defense and special teams, he has been selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his seven NFL seasons.
Matt Ryan — He has posted seven seasons of 4,000 or more passing yards, won the MVP in 2016 and directed the Falcons to a rare Super Bowl appearance.
Tyron Smith — With Joe Thomas now retired, he might be the NFL's top left tackle.
Ndamukong Suh — In eight seasons, Suh has five Pro Bowls and three all-pro selections to his name. However, will a reputation for dirty play hurt his chances?
Bobby Wagner — One the league's premier middle linebackers for one of the best defenses, Wagner has been a four-time Pro Bowl selection and a three-time all-pro.
Russell Wilson — He accomplished so much so early, taking the Seahawks to two Super Bowls, winning one.
On the outside
Frank Gore — Gore ranks fifth in NFL history in career rushing yardage (14,026), and should surpass Curtis Martin (14,101) for fourth this season. While that is an impressive career milestone, Gore has never led the league in rushing yards or been selected as an all-pro.
Marshawn Lynch — Perhaps if Lynch had played in Seattle's run-friendly offense for longer he would have posted bigger career numbers. Instead, the 10,003 career rushing yardage total Lynch will add to this season still lags far behind what would be expected for enshrinement.
Clay Matthews — The Packers' pass rusher started strong — 23.5 sacks in his first two seasons — but has averaged 8 sacks a season since, reaching double digits just once in the past five years.
LeSean McCoy — A very productive career — six Pro Bowls, two-time all-pro, six 1,000-yard seasons, 2013 rushing leader — but an ugly off-field situation threatens to overshadow all of those accomplishments.
Cam Newton — Selected one spot ahead of Von Miller in what was an uber-talented 2011 draft class, Newton earned an MVP award after leading the Carolina Panthers to a 15-1 finish and a Super Bowl appearance in the 2015 season. That great year aside, Newton has experienced an up-and-down career.
Haloti Ngata — He earned five consecutive Pro Bowl selections in the middle of his run with the Ravens, but it's hard to tell how voters will view the totality of his career given his role.
Greg Olsen — Three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons with the Panthers have given him a late-career resurgence, but that likely isn't enough to push him over the top.
Philip Rivers — He already has posted some incredible career passing statistics, but will a lack of a defining moment (such as a Super Bowl run) going to hurt his Hall of Fame chances?
Terrell Suggs — He has collected a Super Bowl ring, defensive player of the year award and seven Pro Bowl nods, but might need to collect a few more sacks to solidify his Canton resume.
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Jim Reineking on Twitter @jimreineking.
