RB Index, Week 16: Analyzing Ezekiel Elliott and Derrick Henry's Hall of Fame candidacy

#ezekielelliott #derrickhenry

Week 16 could usher in a shakeup to the NFL's all-time leaderboard for career rushing yards, with yours truly potentially getting leapfrogged by not just one running back, but two.

Dallas' Ezekiel Elliott needs just 8 yards against Philadelphia to surpass my career mark of 8,167, while Tennessee's Derrick Henry must rack up 68 against Houston, with both games taking place on Saturday. Congratulations will be in order if -- more like when -- the pair of seventh-year backs leave me in their dust.

My own career -- which included three Pro Bowl nods, a first-team All-Pro selection and a rushing title -- merited a modern-era nomination for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2020. Hopefully, Elliott and Henry enjoy better health in the latter years of their respective careers and make it even further in the process.

Seventeen running backs earned a modern-era nomination for the Class of 2023, but just two were included among the 28 semifinalists: my old teammate Fred Taylor and the great Ricky Watters. We'll see if either of them make it to the next step in January, when the 15 finalists will be announced.

Hall of Fame voters all have their own checklists for determining who deserves a bronze bust in Canton. If I were in the room, I'd look at these five areas for the running back position:

Was the running back the best player at his position for a multi-year span?
Did he rush for 2,000 yards in a season?
Did he reach 10,000 rushing yards in his career?
Did he win (or seriously compete for) a league MVP award?
Did the player and his team enjoy postseason success?
I used that criteria to asses Henry's career two years ago amid his 2,000-yard campaign, coming to the conclusion that he was on his way to earning a gold jacket, but not quite there. With Henry and Elliott nearing the end of their seventh regular season -- and about to pass this RB Index author in career rushing yards -- it feels like a good time to assess where their respective HOF résumés stand right now.