The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026 process tightened this week, with the selection committee cutting its modern-era players list from 52 to 26 for the semi-final stage.

The new group is headlined by five first-time-eligible stars and several familiar names who once again remain in the hunt for a berth in the bust room in Canton. Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Frank Gore, Philip Rivers and Jason Witten all advanced in their first year of eligibility, having played their final NFL snaps in 2020, and join 19 returning semi-finalists, including Willie Anderson, Torry Holt, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri, who automatically progressed by virtue of finishing in last year’s top seven under a new bylaw introduced in 2025 designed to prevent near misses getting lost in the early round churn of successive election processes.

Two long-served standouts — offensive tackle Lomas Brown and defensive lineman Kevin Williams — reached the semi-finalist stage for the first time despite not being first-year candidates, as the original 128 nominees from September was whittled down to 26. The next stage will see this group further reduced to just 15 candidates ahead of the final vote on who deserves to make the Hall.

The 26 modern-era players join the nine candidates that remain in the seniors category from an initial pool of 182. Advancing are Ken Anderson, Roger Craig, Henry Ellard, L.C. Greenwood, Joe Jacoby, Eddie Meador, Stanley Morgan, Steve Tasker and Otis Taylor. The seniors committee is due to meet today (November 25th) to select three finalists from the category, with the single nomination from the coach category having been selected from nine semi-finalists a week ago. The outcome of both these cutdowns will not be announcd until December 3rd, leaving Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Chuck Knox, Buddy Parker, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer, George Seifert and Mike Shanahan in limbo for another week.

In all, 20 finalists — 15 modern-era players, three seniors, one coach and one contributor — will be presented at the annual selection committee meeting ahead of Super Bowl LX, with between four and eight names ultimately chosen for enshrinement. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 will be announced at the annual NFL Honours event in San Francisco ahead of the Super Bowl, with enshrinement scheduled for next August in Canton.

The full list of modern-era semi-finalists, split 17-9 in favour of offensive positions, is as follows:

Quarterback:
Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Philip Rivers.

Running back:
Frank Gore, Fred Taylor.

Wide receiver:
Larry Fitzgerald, Torry Holt, Steve Smith Sr., Hines Ward, Reggie Wayne.

Tight end:
Jason Witten.

Offensive line:
Willie Anderson, Lomas Brown, Jahri Evans, Richmond Webb, Steve Wisniewski, Marshal Yanda.

Defensive back:
Rodney Harrison, Earl Thomas, Darren Woodson.

Linebacker:
Luke Kuechly, Terrell Suggs.

Defensive line:
Robert Mathis, Vince Wilfork, Kevin Williams.

Place kicker:
Adam Vinatieri.