The fan portion of the Pro Bowl voting is underway! Each game takes on just a touch more meaning for some players down the stretch, even if their team has nothing to do with the playoff race.
The Seattle
Seahawks have the enjoyable position of meaningful December football across the board. But several key players are in prime consideration for the Pro Bowl as well.
SumerSports recently released their own perspective on positional rankings. These are not official, and there’s no insider information as to how the votes are going. But in their world, several players have a good shot at making the Games this year, and an appalling snub once again.
First up, the most obvious on the list.
Wide Receiver
No, Puca Nacua did not grade ahead of Jaxon Smith-Njigba. They’re tied and listed alphabetically. Justin Jefferson is here purely by past reputation alone, but Smith-Njigba has firmly cemented his place among the game’s elites.
Fullback
Despite missing four games, Robbie Ouzts lands fourth in the fullback ranking. Unlike the Kyle Juszczyk brand of back, Ouzts has never been featured in the passing game. But his blocking was noticed immediately by the likes of Brian Baldinger.
Tight End
Perhaps a surprise, but absolutely deserved, AJ Barner is getting looks in his second year.
Statistically, Barner is having a middle-of-the-road season; 4 touchdowns and 386 yards aren’t top ten for either among tight ends. This is for the totality of his skill as a blocker and effectiveness in the red zone. His total EPA is quite high, and he’s run about 40% of the routes as Trey McBride.
He also got a shoutout specifically for being Seattle’s Tush Push guy!
Defense – Cornerback
Now we begin to lament the injuries from the beginning of the season. Devon Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori missed far too much time in the first half to be considered here.
Defensive Tackle
And now we’re mad.
I do not understand what goes on here. This is the same story as last year, as if Leonard Williams does not exist. And for a guy that big, with that cool of hair, and his own celebration move, on a first-place team, it’s not like the visual factor isn’t there either.
Let’s just grab last on the list, so you too can be mad if this continues in a month or so.
Leonard Williams vs Kobie Turner:
- 7 sacks to 4.5 sacks
- 50 tackles to 34 tackles
- 7 TFL to 5 TFL
- 19 QB hits to 9 QB hits
- 26 pressures to 13 pressures
Big Cat ranks first with 32 run stops.
In short, not a single meaningful statistic anyone could think of finds Turner on the plus side over Williams. Yet here we are.
We can’t even blame the positional weirdness of defensive line this year, either. SumerSports ranked DTs, Defensive End AND Outside Linebacker.
No Leonard Williams, and no Byron Murphy either who could legitimately be argued has been just as effective this season.
Free Safety
And so, we find ourselves at the end of the list. The NFC’s best defense, second in the entire NFL in scoring, and one defensive player has made the top-six at any position. Coby Bryant with a very cool and deserved shoutout here at free safety. He plays incredibly smart football and has generated four turnovers this season.
I’ll give you another popularity-based garbage metric again: Jalen Ramsey has allowed a Passer Rating of 116 when targeted this year. Worst of his career by 23 points. Coby Bryant has allowed a Rating of friggin 60. Best of his career by 17 points – but, what are we doing here?
Anyway, these things are neither official nor final. The offensive nods are actually pretty cool, to a team not known for its offensive play for about a decade. The defense is emotionally dismembering every team it faces right now, and I’m fascinated how much that will play in the final four games, for even some of these guys like Emmanwori who missed time, will they generate any late-season buzz?
