One player from each NFL team that could make Pro Football Hall of Fame
By Nick Villano
San Francisco 49ers – Trent Williams
Trent Williams is an easy pick with the San Francisco 49ers. There really isn’t an offensive lineman who can touch him in this stretch. He’s the Orlando Pace of the 2010s and 2020s. He’s been a Pro Bowler in 10 of his 12 seasons as a starter with Washington and San Francisco. We’re choosing not to count 2019, in which he didn’t play a game. For whatever reason, it took voters a long time to recognize his greatness because he’s only been voted All-Pro that past two seasons and never before.
Williams has missed some games to injury over the years, but he’s never played less than 10 games since he was drafted in 2010. He might miss a game here or there, but he is reliable to take the brunt of the NFL season from a position that gets hit a lot.
What’s going to make this an easy vote is the eye test. We usually don’t advocate for the eye test, but the Hall of Fame needs it for offensive linemen. Williams can make plays on the field 320-pound men shouldn’t physically be able to. He has ballerina-like movement from side to side, stopping even the fastest pass rushers in their tracks.
Williams can do it for any play. Rushing attack, long passes, short passes, screens, reverses; you name it and Williams can block for it. He’s probably going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer when he decides to end his career.