Despite being among the 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the second straight year, Ravens greats Terrell Suggs and Marshal Yanda fell short of induction in their second year of eligibility.
Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Adam Vinatieri, Luke Kuechly, and Roger Craig were announced as the members of the 2026 Hall of Fame class at the NFL Honors show in San Francisco on Thursday night.
While it’s a disappointing outcome for two of the Ravens’ all-time great players, their exclusion comes as the Hall of Fame’s unnecessarily complicated voting process is under heavy criticism after six-time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Belichick wasn’t elected to Canton in his first year of eligibility. The good news for Suggs and Yanda is that both made the final group of seven before falling short of the 80% of votes required for induction, which means they are being strongly considered and will automatically be included among the 15 finalists for the 2027 class.
In other words, their inclusion appears to be more a question of when than if at this point.
It’s worth noting that Suggs ranks eighth on the career sacks list (139) with each of the seven in front of him already in the Hall of Fame. However, two of them — Kevin Greene and Chris Doleman — were elected in their eighth year of eligibility or later, which speaks to how long some deserving candidates wait because of voting logjams. Objectively, few would balk at Suggs’ case with seven Pro Bowl selections, an NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, two Super Bowl rings, and more tackles for a loss than anyone in league history, but he also earned only two All-Pro selections and played in the massive shadow of first-ballot Hall of Famers Ray Lewis and Ed Reed for a large portion of his career, which left him underappreciated at times by even Ravens fans watching him every Sunday.
An eight-time Pro Bowl selection and seven-time All-Pro selection in addition to being a unanimous selection to the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 2010s, Yanda has just as strong a case for induction as Suggs, but guards have been historically underrepresented in the Hall of Fame. That Yanda made the final seven over fellow finalist guard Jahri Evans this year should bode well for his eventual election.
That Jonathan Ogden, Lewis, and Reed were all elected in their first year of eligibility reflected their place among the very best of Hall of Fame players even. Suggs and Yanda may not measure up to that group, but they still look like two individuals who will be wearing gold jackets in the near future.
