Talk of Fame’s Judge favors Riley as Pro Football HOF senior candidate

Former Cincinnati Bengals great Ken Riley is the favorite as the Pro Football Hall of Fame's senior candidate for its upcoming class, according to analysis Thursday from Clark Judge of SI.com's Talk of Fame Network.

A star defensive back for Cincinnati from 1969 to 1983, Riley's 65 career interceptions ranked fourth in NFL history at the time of his retirement.

From Judge:

Riley was the first runner-up to Drew Pearson as this year’s senior candidate, but there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes politicking going on for Branch. Gradishar is someone else who should be in the mix, but for some reason he doesn’t seem to register with voters. Not yet anyway.

Riley is the favorite for three reasons: 1) He had 65 career interceptions, tied with first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Charles Woodson (Class of 2021) for fifth all time; 2) there is only one other Bengal in Canton, and that’s Anthony Munoz and 3) he pulled more votes than everyone but Pearson the last time a senior was chosen.