Dolphins Richmond Webb deserves HOF over Boselli

Tony Bosseli will be in the Pro-Football HOF and there are more than a few who think Richmond Webb is more deserving.

Webb only has three years left of eligibility before he becomes a senior candidate. Under voting rules, players are eligible for 25 years after their final season before moving to the Senior Committee. Webb retired in 2002. This might bode well for him to get in.

Bruce Smith, the Bills’ HOF defensive end believes that Boselli’s one great game came against him in the playoffs and that was a teetering reason to put Boselli in. Others believe that Boselli is in simply because there are no other Jaguars in the HOF and there won’t be any worthy for quite a while.

Comparing the two, however, you have to wonder how Webb is not in the Hall of Fame.

Seasons

• Boselli – 7
• Webb – 13

Pro Bowls

• Boselli – 5
• Webb – 7

First Team AP

• Boselli – 3
• Webb – 2

Games

• Boselli – 91 games 90 starts
• Webb – 184 games 183 starts

The knock, on Webb, is that he protected one of the best QBs in NFL history and that Marino’s release was what allowed Webb to be so good. This despite the fact that Webb faced Bruce Smith two times a year and kept the HOF DE away from Marino for most of it. That shouldn’t be a knock.

In reality, if you look at the best OTs in the HOF, Webb statistically matches up well.

Four tackles are ranked below Webb, according to ProFootballReference.com’s HOF Monitor, and are in the Hall of Fame. Boselli is ranked three spots ahead of Webb. If we use these metrics that are based on several considerations we can see how Webb shifts in the rankings. Here is where Webb ranks in differing metrics.

• HOF points – 17th
• All Pros – Tied for 8th
• Pro Bowls – Tied for 5th – 11 HOF players have as many or more than Webb.
• Number of starting years – Tied for 5th, only four HOF tackles have started as many or more games than Webb.
• Games started – number one is 251, Webb has 183. Only four HOF tackles have more starting games than Webb.

Webb should start to hear his name mentioned a bit more but it might be too late for him to get in on a normal vote. The voters have been, well, I’m not sure what they have been thinking lately but needless to say, the HOF classes have not come without their own criticim over the years, including this year with Boselli.

That being said, the door for Webb to make it into the HOF is open once again with the addition of Boselli and the controversy that has been discussed lately could help get Webb where he belongs.

Of course, you can’t talk to Richmond Webb about any of this. He is one of the most humble people you can speak with. In fact, he would probaly answer this by simply saying, “Thank you and it is an honor just to have my name mentioned.” For most, you could chalk it up to lip-service, for Webb, it’s absolutely genuine!