Pro Bowl 2016: Unconferenced Voting Results, Selections and Alternates

The NFL officially released its pool of 2016 Pro Bowl players Tuesday, and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was the league's top vote-getter alongside Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. 

Not surprisingly, the Panthers and Patriots led the way with 10 and seven players selected, respectively, although those nominations could be moot if they wind up representing the NFC and AFC in Super Bowl 50. The Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals also had seven selections apiece. 

Here's a look at the offensive side of the player pool, courtesy of NFL.com: 

Position	Player	Team
QB	Tom Brady	New England Patriots
QB	Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers
QB	Carson Palmer	Arizona Cardinals
QB	Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay Packers
QB	Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks
QB	Ben Roethlisberger	Pittsburgh Steelers
RB	Jonathan Stewart	Carolina Panthers
RB	Adrian Peterson	Minnesota Vikings
RB	LeSean McCoy	Buffalo Bills
RB	Todd Gurley	St. Louis Rams
RB	Devonta Freeman	Atlanta Falcons
RB	Doug Martin	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
FB	Mike Tolbert	Carolina Panthers
FB	Marcel Reece	Oakland Raiders
WR	Brandon Marshall	New York Jets
WR	Julio Jones	Atlanta Falcons
WR	Calvin Johnson	Detroit Lions
WR	DeAndre Hopkins	Houston Texans
WR	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals
WR	Larry Fitzgerald	Arizona Cardinals
WR	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers
WR	Odell Beckham Jr.	New York Giants
TE	Greg Olsen	Carolina Panthers
TE	Travis Kelce	Kansas City Chiefs
TE	Rob Gronkowski	New England Patriots
TE	Tyler Eifert	Cincinnati Bengals
OT	Trent Williams	Washington Redskins
OT	Andrew Whitworth	Cincinnati Bengals
OT	Joe Thomas	Cleveland Browns
OT	Joe Staley	San Francisco 49ers
OT	Tyron Smith	Dallas Cowboys
OT	Jason Peters	Philadelphia Eagles
C	Mike Pouncey	Miami Dolphins
C	Alex Mack	Cleveland Browns
C	Ryan Kalil	Carolina Panthers
C	Travis Frederick	Dallas Cowboys
OG	Marshal Yanda	Baltimore Ravens
OG	Trai Turner	Carolina Panthers
OG	Josh Sitton	Green Bay Packers
OG	Zack Martin	Dallas Cowboys
OG	Mike Iupati	Arizona Cardinals
OG	David DeCastro	Pittsburgh Steelers

It's hard to argue with any of the selections on offense, particularly in the wide receiver realm. While it would be easy to make a case for Jacksonville Jaguars youngster Allen Robinson over Calvin Johnson, the veteran Detroit Lions wideout has still acquitted himself nicely to the tune of 1,000 yards and seven scores with two games to play.     

Seven of the league's top eight receiving leaders will make a trip to the Pro Bowl, with New York Jets star Brandon Marshall standing out amid a stellar season playing pitch-and-catch with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. 

"I wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for FitzMagic," Marshall said Tuesday, according to the New York Daily News' Manish Mehta.  

Elsewhere on offense, St. Louis Rams running back Todd Gurley was one of three rookies to make the Pro Bowl along with Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters and Seahawks return man Tyler Lockett. 

Speaking of defense and special teams, here's a look at how those selections played out: 

Position	Player	Team
DE	Muhammad Wilkerson	New York Jets
DE	J.J. Watt	Houston Texans
DE	Khalil Mack	Oakland Raiders
DE	Chandler Jones	New England Patriots
DE	Michael Bennett	Seattle Seahawks
DE	Ezekiel Ansah	Detroit Lions
DT	Kawann Short	Carolina Panthers
DT	Gerald McCoy	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
DT	Geno Atkins	Cincinnati Bengals
DT	Aaron Donald	St. Louis Rams
DT	Fletcher Cox	Philadelphia Eagles
DT	Calais Campbell	Arizona Cardinals
OLB	DeMarcus Ware	Denver Broncos
OLB	Von Miller	Denver Broncos
OLB	Justin Houston	Kansas City Chiefs
OLB	Tamba Hali	Kansas City Chiefs
OLB	Thomas Davis	Carolina Panthers
OLB	Jamie Collins	New England Patriots
ILB	Bobby Wagner	Seattle Seahawks
ILB	Clay Matthews	Green Bay Packers
ILB	Luke Kuechly	Carolina Panthers
ILB	NaVorro Bowman	San Francisco 49ers
CB	Aqib Talib	Denver Broncos
CB	Richard Sherman	Seattle Seahawks
CB	Darrelle Revis	New York Jets
CB	Patrick Peterson	Arizona Cardinals
CB	Marcus Peters	Kansas City Chiefs
CB	Josh Norman	Carolina Panthers
CB	Chris Harris	Denver Broncos
CB	Malcolm Butler	New England Patriots
S	Charles Woodson	Oakland Raiders
S	Earl Thomas	Seattle Seahawks
S	Reggie Nelson	Cincinnati Bengals
S	Tyrann Mathieu	Arizona Cardinals
S	Kam Chancellor	Seattle Seahawks
S	Eric Berry	Kansas City Chiefs
K	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots
K	Dan Bailey	Dallas Cowboys
P	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens
P	Johnny Hekker	St. Louis Rams
PR	Darren Sproles	Philadelphia Eagles
PR	Tyler Lockett	Seattle Seahawks
ST	Matthew Slater	New England Patriots
ST	Justin Bethel	Arizona Cardinals

Panthers cornerback Josh Norman may be the most notable name on the defensive list, if only because of his recent on-field spat with Odell Beckham Jr. Should the Panthers fail to reach the Super Bowl, it would be undeniably compelling to see how Norman and Beckham handle a second shot at one another in front of a national audience.      

Chiefs safety Eric Berry will also be making his return to the All-Star stage following a heroic comeback from Hodgkin lymphoma, per Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman: 

A complete look at alternates for this year's festivities can be viewed below: 

Team	Alternates
Arizona Cardinals	Chris Johnson, RB (Short-Term IR)
Atlanta Falcons	N/A
Baltimore Ravens	Kyle Juszczyk, FB; C.J. Mosley, ILB
Buffalo Bills	N/A
Carolina Panthers	N/A
Chicago Bears	N/A
Cincinnati Bengals	Andy Dalton, QB; Carlos Dunlap, DE; Cedric Peerman, ST; Adam Jones, CB
Cleveland Browns	Johnson Bademosi, ST; Gary Barnidge, TE; Travis Benjamin, WR
Dallas Cowboys	N/A
Denver Broncos	T.J. Ward, S; Demaryius Thomas, WR; Brandon Marshall, ILB; Louis Vasquez, OG
Detroit Lions	N/A
Green Bay Packers	John Kuhn, FB; Randall Cobb, WR; Mike Daniels, DT; James Jones, WR; Eddie Lacy, RB; T.J. Lang, OG; Julius Peppers, LB; Sam Shields, CB
Houston Texans	Duane Brown, OT
Indianapolis Colts	N/A
Jacksonville Jaguars	Allen Robinson, WR
Kansas City Chiefs	N/A
Miami Dolphins	N/A
Minnesota Vikings	N/A
New England Patriots	N/A
New Orleans Saints	N/A
New York Giants	Dwayne Harris, KR; Josh Brown, K
New York Jets	Chris Ivory, RB; Nick Mangold, C
Oakland Raiders	Derek Carr, QB; Latavius Murray, RB; Amari Cooper, WR
Philadelphia Eagles	Jason Kelce, C; Malcolm Jenkins, S; Chris Maragos, ST
Pittsburgh Steelers	N/A
St. Louis Rams	N/A
San Diego Chargers	N/A
San Francisco 49ers	Alex Boone, G/T
Seattle Seahawks	Cliff Avril, DE; Doug Baldwin, WR; Steven Hauschka, K; Marshawn Lynch, RB; Russell Okung, OT
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Logan Mankins, OG; Lavonte David, LB
Tennessee Titans	Jurrell Casey, DT; Delanie Walker, TE
Washington Redskins	Ryan Kerrigan, LB; Jordan Reed, TE

As was the case last year, the Pro Bowl will assume a fantasy draft format when the action hits Aloha Stadium in Honolulu on Jan. 31. 

The sides will be captained by former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin and San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice, each of whom has a Pro Bowl win to his name under the revised format. 

Irvin captained the winning team last season in a 32-28 defeat of Cris Carter's side, and Rice led his squad to a 22-21 win in 2014 over Deion Sanders' Pro Bowlers. 

"Being a Pro Bowl captain was a great experience last season," Irvin said, according to an official NFL press release. "The new format brought a fresh excitement to the Pro Bowl Draft and game."

The league also announced Rice and Irvin will make their official selections on Jan. 27 with the assistance of a defensive legend co-captain, two active player captains and an NFL.com fantasy football champion. 

Based on the tremendous amount of young talent at the playmaking positions, this year's exhibition shouldn't disappoint from a pure entertainment standpoint.

So long as explosive plays, top-tier talent and some trickery are part of the equation, fans should have plenty of reasons to tune in and appease their football appetites during the downtime that envelops the NFL universe before the Super Bowl. 

Note: Pro Bowl alternates will be updated as they are released.