With last week’s enshrinement of the class of 2008 to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, we thought it would be a good chance now to look ahead to Super Bowl weekend, when they will annouce the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

First, we thought we’d look back at the last couple of finalist lists, to see how many have been carrying over, and how many typically drop. In 2007, the finalist list looked like this:

Inductees
Gene Hickerson, G (fourth year as finalist)
Michael Irvin, WR (third year as finalist)
Bruce Matthews, OL (first year of eligibility)
Charlie Sanders, TE (first year as finalist)
Thurman Thomas, RB (second year as finalist)
Roger Wehrli, CB (second year as finalist)

Other Finalists
Fred Dean, DE
Richard Dent, DE
LC Greenwood, DE
Russ Grimm, G
Ray Guy, P
Bob Kuechenberg, G
Art Monk, WR
Andre Reed, WR
Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner
Derrick Thomas, LB
Andre Tippett, LB
Gary Zimmerman, T

Now, looking at the 2008 list of finalists, we see that almost everyone from the 2007 list made the cut again:

Inductees
Fred Dean, DE (second year as finalist, 18th year eligible)
Darrell Green, CB (first year of eligability)
Art Monk, WR (eighth year as finalist, 8th year eligible)
Emmitt Thomas, CB (first year as finalist, 25th year eligible, senior candidate)
Andre Tippett, LB (second year as finalist, 10th year eligible)
Gary Zimmerman, T (fifth year as finalist, 6th year eligible)

Other Finalists
Cris Carter, WR (1st year eligible)
Richard Dent, DE (6th year eligible)
Marshall Goldberg, Back (46th year eligible)
Randy Gradishar, LB (20th year eligible)
Russ Grimm, G (12th year eligible)
Ray Guy, P (17th year eligible)
Bob Kuechenberg, G (19th year eligible)
Randall McDaniel, G (2nd year eligible)
Andre Reed, WR (3rd year eligible)
Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner (contributor, no specific eligibility)
Derrick Thomas, LB (4th year eligible)

So the only 2007 finalist to fall off the list in 2008 was DE LC Greenwood.

Other semi-finalists in 2008 were Terrell Davis, Dermontti Dawson, Kevin Greene, Charles Haley, Lester Hayes, Rickey Jackson, Joe Jacoby, Cortez Kennedy, Ken Stabler, Steve Tasker and George Young.

First year eligibles in 2009 will be Jesse Amrstead, Trace Armstrong, Larry Centers, Marvin Jones, Mo Lewis, Ed McCaffery, Brian Mitchell, John Randle, Bill Romanowski, Shannon Sharpe, Bruce Smith, Aeneas Williams and Rod Woodson. If we’ve forgotten any, let us know.

One change for the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame class will be that a minimum of four, and maximum of seven players may be inducted–up from three and six.

So who will make the cut?

Well, from the first time eligible list, Bruce Smith, Shannon Sharpe, John Randle, Rod Woodson and Brian Mitchell appear to be the cream of the crop (“Mitchell?!?” you cry? “2nd in All-Time total yardage in NFL history,” I reply), and have a shot at making the finalist list.

From the 2008 Semi-finalist list, Dermontti Dawson, Charles Haley, and George Young seem to be most likely to make the finalist cut.

Only problem? Assuming everyone from the 2008 Finalist list makes it back in 2009 (other than Randy Gradishar, who is now 25 years removed and would be considered by the senior committee), that’s eight new guys for only six spots.

Of those eight, we’d guess that the most likely to move on would be Smith, Sharpe, Woodson, Randle, Dawson, and Haley. So that gives us a finalist list that looks like this:

2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame Finalist List:
Cris Carter, WR
Dermontti Dawson, C
Richard Dent, DE
Russ Grimm, G
Ray Guy, P
Charles Haley, DE
Bob Kuechenberg, G
Randall McDaniel, G
John Randle, DT
Andre Reed, WR
Shannon Sharpe, TE
Bruce Smith, DE
Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner
Derrick Thomas, LB
Rod Woodson, DB
(Plus the two other senior nominees)

As for the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinees…(as voted on by ZoneBlitz.com)

Cris Carter, WR – 1987-89 Philadelphia Eagles, 1990-2001 Minnesota Vikings, 2002 Miami Dolphins – Surprising he didn’t make it in his first year, some felt that voters wanted Monk to get in before Carter. Not sure why, either–Carter had the better career, although he never did get to a Super Bowl. But with Carter’s numbers, they can’t keep him out long.

Randall McDaniel, G – 1988-1999 Minnesota Vikings, 2000-01 Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Personally, I thought it was ridiculous that he wasn’t even a finalist in his first year eligible, much less that he didn’t get in that year or last. If he doesn’t get in this year, the whole process needs revamping. And yet, with Kuechenberg and Grimm on the list, there is that possibility–but McDaniel was the better player during his career, with 12 Pro Bowls and nine All-Pro selections.

Shannon Sharpe, TE – 1990-1999, 2002-2003 Denver Broncos, 2000-2001 Baltimore Ravens – This is one of the tougher calls on the list, as Tight End is a thin position at the Hall, with only seven enshrinees. Still, Sharpe led the way in redefining the position, won three Super Bowls, and was the all-time leader among TE in catches (815), yards (10,060) and TDs (62) when he retired. Those are tough numbers to ignore.

Bruce Smith, DE – 1985-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000-2003 Washington Redskins – The most likely of the first year players to make it, even though he may have hung on for a year or two longer than some thought he should. Smith finished with 200 career sacks, the most in NFL history.

Derrick Thomas, LB – 1989-1999 Kansas City Chiefs – Some look at Thomas as a one-dimensional player, ignoring the run while rushing the passer. But Thomas was a nine time Pro Bowl selection, three time All-Pro selection, had 642 career tackles, and 126.5 sacks. Those are hall worthy numbers, and he should finally make it this year.

And one (or two) senior committee nominee–historically, at least one of the senior nominees has gotten in each year since they went to two back in 2004–and 2008 was just the second time that only one of the two nominees got in. It could very easily be a case where, with the new limit of seven inductees that two get in again. Marshall Goldberg was the first senior nominee to have been nominated twice and not be elected either time–so he, along with Bob Hayes, Jerry Kramer, Willie Galimore, Lou Rymkus, Mac Speedie, Lou Creekmur, and Ole Haugsrud are some possible names on the senior committee’s list.

We almost included Bob Kuechenberg on the list of 2009 enshrinees, as there is a recent trend of at least one guy who is nearing the end of his “modern player” status (retired for more than 5, but less than 25 years) getting in (see Fred Dean, Roger Wehrli), but in the end, his momentum recently seems to be headed the wrong way. We also could very easily see the committee choose NOT to have a full slate of seven inductees in the first year they can, just because it seems like something they might do–although the last three years have had the full six spots filled, the two years prior only had four inductees each year.

So how did we do? Leave us your thoughts on the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame class in the comments below…