Nearing the end of his 18th season, Charles Woodson announced on Monday that 2015 would be his final season. With the Raiders eliminated from playoff contention, barring injury, his final game in Oakland will be this Sunday, and final game overall will be 1/3/16 in Kansas City.

He most likely retires in the 5th overall spot for interceptions, with 65 (and an outside chance of catching Night Train Lane, who has 68, and tied for second overall in interceptions returned for touchdowns, one behind Rod Woodson. Barring injury, he will have played in 254 games, and also amassed 18 fumble recoveries, 20 sacks, 155 passes defensed, and at least according to Pro Football Reference, just under 1,000 career tackles.

He has 8 Pro Bowl appearances—four in his first four seasons, then four more consecutively with the Packers from 2008-2011, and three First Team All-Pro selections (and for those that care, he was also a three time 2nd Team All-Pro). He was the 1998 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, the 2009 AP Defensive Player of the Year, and was on the 1st team for the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-2000s Team.

Frank Schwab of Yahoo! Argues that he is a Hall of Fame lock, and the kind of player that shouldn’t have to wait five years to be tabbed. He has even argued that Woodson is the greatest defensive back of all time. For my money, I’m not even sure that Charles is the best defensive back named Woodson of all time–and I would still put Deion Sanders (and maybe a couple others) ahead of him for pure coverage skills, but as an overall defensive back, he’s certainly in the top tier, and probably top 5 in the last 20 years. I’m not sure he’s a lock for his first ballot, but I don’t think he’ll be waiting long.

But let’s hear it Zoneblitz regulars—is he a first ballot HOFer, given the position change, and the difficulty some DBs have had making the Hall?  Is he in your Hall of Good, but not quite Great, due to those years from his injury in 2002 through 2007, before his resurgence in Green Bay?

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