It was very difficult for Cortez Kennedy to make it, and Ken Easley didn't make it. I think those two factors need to be kept in mind. There is nobody on our team right now who come close to comparing to Easley and Kennedy in natural talent. Easley had double digit int's in a season. That's very rare. He also played CB, both safeties, LB, and returned punts and played all special teams, plus was widely known as the hardest hitter in the league. Sure his carer was shortened, but there's quite a bit of comedy to me when folks say that Sherman is on his way. I think Mike Reinfeldt once had 10 int's in a season early in his career, and have yet to see him in the hall of fame.
Dave Brown isn't in the hall of fame. That guy was a complete shutdown corner.
The only players we've had who have been really well known and widely known like Tez and Easley from day 1 in their careers are Russell Wilson and Earl Thomas. Earl is solid, but isn't like Bob Sanders in that he is spectacular (Sanders was always hurt, but to me he was a completely spectacular player that was involved in every play). Russell Wilson had a great rookie year, probably equivalent position wise to Easley's early years comparatively. Russ needs to have a season like Tez had in 1992 and every other year of his career needs to be like this season, then he has a chance.
Safeties aren't guys who easily make the hall of fame. QB's, RB's typically make it. Even RB's have a hard time (although I find it comical that Thurman Thomas is in... the guy had a low average YPC and just never seemed that great to me). I think if Richard Sherman was in his 7th or 8th year and still playing like this and was playing in New York they'd refer to him as "Future Hall of Famer Richard Sherman". But this was his first full season. For all we know, everybody will figure him out and he'll have peaked this past season. You just never know. Look at other guys who had lots of picks early. Mark Carrier did, and he isn't a hall of famer. He faded away quite quickly, but was one of the best DB's in the game from week 1 as a rookie and then got figured out and seemed to get worse and worse. It happens.