The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced 15 finalists for the Class of 2020 on Thursday night. All of them are worthy, but only five will make it this year.

I’ve been in the room as an alternate voter three times and it’s a fascinating process. The voters take their responsibility very seriously, as they should. They want it to be the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Very Good.

As a veteran writer explained to me the first time I was in the room, anyone that made the finalist list deserved to get in – at some point. But only the best are to get in during a given year. The rest should wait until the right time and their time will come.

That veteran also told me to keep one question in mind when voting – could the history of the game be written without a player. It was all great advice and I always tried to keep those parameters in mind.

I’m not voting this year, but I’ll still keep that advice in mind as I rank this year’s finalists from No. 15 to No. 1. Here we go.

15. Richard Seymour, DL – 2001-08 New England Patriots, 2009-2012 Oakland Raiders

Seymour split his career between defensive end and tackle. That works against him. His 57.5 career sacks aren’t nearly enough for the Hall of Fame.