Defensive lineman Richard Seymour
2001-08 New England Patriots, 2009-2012 Oakland Raiders
Seymour was a seven-time Pro Bowler, a three-time All-Pro, a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots, and he was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame 1st team All-2000s Team. This is his second year as a finalist.
In his career, Seymour recorded 326 solo and 198 total tackles, with 57.5 sacks, and 91 tackles for loss. Among defensive linemen in his era, Seymour ranks third behind Julius Peppers and Jason Taylor in Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value metric, and Seymour is the only one of those three players who truly moved all over the defensive line as opposed to spending most of his time as an edge rusher. This leaves his stats a bit short — for example, he never had a 10-sack season — but looking at his versatility and positional value tells a different story. Right now, he’s more of a borderline candidate whose history will have to excite the voters perhaps more than it has at this point.