Saturday's vote for the Pro Football Hall of Fame could be one of the most fascinating in years.
In the past three years, the selectors have respected the past along with being quick to acknowledge the present. Five senior candidates and seven who were being voted on for the first time were enshrined in the past three years. But only two -- linebacker Harry Carson and defensive end Carl Eller -- were voted in after being finalists for years.
That has created an incredible backlog that could start to be sorted out Saturday when the selectors meet in the Miami Beach Convention Center thanks to a change in the voting procedures. Three years ago, the Hall began playing two senior candidates into the finals each year.
While the strategy helped the senior candidates, it has created a bigger class of current players trying to get in. To help here, the Hall decided it would continue to add two senior candidates to the ballot for the next three years, but it would also increase the number of current day finalists to 17.
But it's still a crowded field. It's grown to a point in which seven modern-day players are regular finalists and nine more usually make the final 25.
Among the regular finalists being considered Saturday are wide receivers Art Monk and Michael Irvin, halfback Thurman Thomas, tackle Gary Zimmerman, linebacker Derrick Thomas and guards Bob Kuechenberg and Russ Grimm. They usually make the first cut. (The voters trim the list once to 10 and then a second time to six. Then, they vote on those six to determine who is enshrined in the Hall of Fame.)
Also included on the final 17 are defensive ends Fred Dean and Richard Dent, punter Ray Guy, wide receiver Andre Reed, cornerback Roger Wehrli and linebacker Andre Tippett.
The field is so deep that linebacker Randy Gradishar, defensive end Charles Haley, cornerback Lester Hayes and linebacker Kevin Greene didn't make this year's finals.
The best way to handicap this year's meeting is that center Bruce Matthews is the only likely lock. This is his first time before the panel and it's hard for him not be a first-time Hall of Famer. He had 14 Pro Bowls in 19 seasons and played every position on the Oilers offensive line.
But it might be hard for commissioner Paul Tagliabue to make it in his first year. It took several years for Pete Rozelle to be voted in, and while it's likely Tagliabue will make it in future years, this might be a tough class for him to top.
It also might be difficult for the seniors this year. The Senior Committee recommended tight end Charlie Sanders of the Lions and guard Gene Hickerson of the Browns. With this talented a final list, Sanders and Hickerson face tough competition.
As it has been the past few years, the best battle will be at wide receiver. Irvin and Monk have been battling each other for the past two years. Each seems to take away votes from the other, but the delay in getting either of them in is causing problems.
Since 1989, only five modern-day wide receivers have been enshrined -- John Stallworth, Lynn Swann, James Lofton, Charlie Joiner and Steve Largent. The Monk-Irvin stalemate has kept Andre Reed in the background, too.
The NFL is a passing league so it would figure it would be time to start acknowledging more of the great receivers of the 1980s and 1990s. Since 1989, there have more guards (six) and as many tight ends inducted (five) as wide receivers.
Thomas was close last year, but he should make it this year. Were it not for senior candidates John Madden and tackle Rayfield Wright making it, Thomas might have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Others to watch are the four superstar pass rushers who are under review -- Dent, Dean, Thomas and Tippett. And though Guy is always popular among fans and many voters for being the greatest punter ever, he faces a tough chance of making it against top players who are on the field for 60 plays a game.
The meeting is expected to last about six hours and it should have some of the most interesting results in years.
John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.