Pro Bowl Snubs

By: Chris

The Pro Bowl teams were recently announced, and to be honest there were several players that were considered shoo-ins that didn’t make the cut. Some omissions were simply due to depth at the position, while some seem like glaring omissions, so let’s get down to it.

AFC

Ben Roethlisberger is always mentioned this time of year, and with 4100+ yards this year, he seemingly got overlooked, until you notice that that puts him 5th in the AFC (8th in the NFL). Given who was selected, Big Ben just barely missed the cut. Verdict: Not Snubbed

Matt Schaub leads the NFL in passing yards and is tied for 6th in the NFL for touchdowns thrown, so why didn’t he make it? Matt’s biggest problem is that the Texans haven’t had the success the Chargers have, and he isn’t the commodity that Brady and Manning are. While that isn’t fair to Schaub, it happens. Verdict: Snubbed

Thomas Jones has had a phenomenal year and is 2nd in the AFC in rushing yards (7th in the NFL), and is tied for 2nd in the AFC in rushing touchdowns (T3, NFL). So why didn’t he make the cut? When you look at the guys that did make it; Johnson, Jones-Drew, and Rice, they all had phenomenal seasons as well, and had critical acclaim throughout the season, where Jones’ deeds haven’t been as widely recognized. Verdict: Not Snubbed

Cedric Benson is in the same boat as Jones, plus he missed a few games due to injury. Verdict: Not Snubbed

Randy Moss is 5th in the AFC in yards (7, NFL) and 1st in the AFC (1, NFL) in what has been considered an “off year” by some critics. The biggest down side is that in a few games he appeared to give up. Verdict: Snubbed

Vincent Jackson is having the best season of his career and demands the attention of the best corner back on the other team, and still has the ability to put up amazing numbers. Verdict: Snubbed

Leon Hall and/or Jonathan Joseph Both of these guys have really stepped up and helped make the Bengals defense one of the best in the league and with nearly identical stats, it can be argued that one or the other should be on the team, but surprisingly neither is. Verdict: Snubbed

NFC

Ryan Grant has given Aaron Rodgers everything a quarterback wants from a running back, 1000+ yards and 10 touchdowns, yet he didn’t get a ticket to Miami… Unfortunately there were a few backs who did just a little bit more than Grant did this year. Verdict: Not Snubbed

Percy Harvin has had an outstanding rookie season as both a receiver and a returner, but didn’t make it at either position, namely due to the abundance of talent at receiver and DeSean Jackson’s outstanding punt returns. Verdict: Snubbed

Roddy White and Marques Colston both had stats comparable to the 4 receivers selected but neither meant quite as much to their teams success as the receivers selected. Verdict: Not Snubbed

Tony Gonzalez didn’t have the numbers that Witten or Davis had, but there wasn’t a tight end in the league that meant more to his quarterback than Gonzo has. He has been one of Matt Ryan’s favorite targets, and for good reason, he is still one of the best tight ends to play the game. Verdict: Snubbed

London Fletcher has never played in a Pro Bowl, and that includes this year. Fletcher is consistently around the ball, and has led 3 different defenses from the MLB position, all the while being a leader for those teams. Verdict: Snubbed

While this is by no means an exhaustive list, all of these players (and more) deserve credit of one form or another for the spectacular seasons they have had.

Who, in your mind, was snubbed? Who made the team, but didn’t deserve to?