Is Alan Faneca a Worthy Hall of Famer?

Jason Vida of ESPN makes the case for former Jets guard Alan Faneca to make the Hall of Fame.

Faneca earned nine Pro Bowl trips and was named AP first-team All-Pro six times in his 13 seasons. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Randall McDaniel, Will Shields and Larry Allen are the only players with more Pro Bowl selections as a guard (Bruce Matthews’ 14 Pro Bowls included five as a center). Allen is still two years away from being eligible for the Hall, Shields will be eligible for the first time in 2012 and McDaniel was elected in 2009, his third year of eligibility.

Faneca's best years and the bulk of his argument comes from his time in Pittsburgh. I think the two years he spent with the Jets also help his case.

Evaluating offensive linemen are tricky. There are few statistics out there, and even those that are there can be skewed because linemen are so dependent on each other. One weak link can spoil the line. I have to rely on comments like Faneca was an excellent run blocker when you watched him and one of the best pulling guards ever.

There are other things that happened in New York that are more than coincidence. Thomas Jones improved his average per carry almost an entire yard in 2008 when Faneca joined the Jets. 60% of the offensive line was returning in 2008. Faneca was new. He made that big of an impact. D'Brickashaw Ferguson's play also took off next to Faneca, who reportedly gave him tidbits on improving his game. Faneca also required less help than Adrien Clarke did in 2007. Clarke constantly getting dominated forced Ferguson to deal with a lot more traffic near him.