One of the qualifiers for being nominated is to be "in the game" or contributing to the sport for either 20 or 25 years. I think that's the only reason that Archer hasn't been nominated. Last year Allen Hopkins and Maurice Daly were nominated with Earl.
I think this year they are starting a new nomination process that includes the current members of the HOF instead of nominations from the industry. I'm not 100% sure about that though.