Fred Taylor put together one of the great running back careers in recent NFL history.
He was also a finalist during Hall of Fame voting a year ago, as you'd expect for the Jacksonville Jaguars' legendary RB.
Except this year, he's not a finalist.
Taylor made it to the semifinal stage of voting again, but when finalists were announced Tuesday, Taylor wasn't a part of the list of 15.
He was one of two players who were finalists last year and not this year, along with former Panthers WR Steve Smith.
Jags fans aren't happy.
Here's a statistical complaint:
Every single player on this list is either in the HOF or is not yet eligible but will be in
— JaguarGator9 (@JaguarGator9NFL) December 30, 2025
Fred Taylor isn’t a finalist
Make it make sense pic.twitter.com/FPJXi3WMl6
MORE: Deion Sanders' reaction to Shedeur's terrible interception tells the whole story
And here's a vibes complaint:
It’s amazing Fred Taylor isn’t on that list. Frank Gore should be in the Hall, but he wasn’t better than Fred. It’s amazing the whiff by the committee. If Fred played in New York, he’d have been in already. The small market talk is real. Https://t.co/jo6pbfXF18
— Pete Prisco (@PriscoCBS) December 30, 2025
It definitely can't have helped Taylor that he played for the Jaguars.
There were also some quality new faces on the ballot for the first time, and a particularly small elected class last year, which made it a bit more crowded.
It's still a bummer of a setback for anyone hoping for Taylor to get his gold jacket.
At this point, he'll need a turnaround in momentum to ever have a hope of making the Hall of Fame.
More NFL news:
- Derrick Henry just set an all-time NFL record
- Aaron Rodgers made an oddball decision with MVS
- Trey McBride set an all-time NFL TE record
- Drake Maye does something no one in NFL has ever done before
- Pope Leo XIV gives the Seahawks a good omen
- Brock Purdy's dance moves were on point during 49ers' win