2012 NFL Pro Bowl: 7 Players Who Didn't Deserve To Make the Pro Bowl

Another year, another NFL Pro Bowl roster filled with incredible talent, while also filled with players that don't deserve to be invited to Honolulu.  It almost seems like players and coaches just vote based on names they recognize, instead of analyzing the players on field performance. 

The way it works now is that fans, players and coaches each account for 1/3 of the voting for both the AFC and NFC Pro Bowl rosters.  I know it's hard to believe but fans, players and coaches alike are all biased.  At times favoring past performances and "star appeal" more than actual on the field production. 

Sure, there are players every year who are snubbed, that's just a part of the Pro Bowl process.  However, giving players the honor of playing in the Pro Bowl who don't deserve to is a different story.

Here is a list of seven NFL players who made the 2012 Pro Bowl but didn't necessarily deserve to.  

Chicago Bears LB Brian Urlacher

Brian Urlacher is one of the most well-respected and well-liked linebackers in all of the NFL, and that was made clear by his Pro Bowl invitation this year.

Urlacher hasn't had a bad year, with 92 tackles, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries, but he didn't deserve to make the Pro Bowl over players like 49ers linebacker Navarro Bowman or Redskins linebacker London Fletcher.

Fletcher is leading the NFL with 163 tackles, in addition to his three forced fumbles and two interceptions.  Fletcher is having the best year of his career and the best year statistically of most NFL linebackers, yet Urlacher was selected over him.  

Urlacher didn't deserve the Pro Bowl this year, mainly because his play just wasn't up to par with other linebackers in the NFC.   

San Diego Chargers QB Phillip Rivers

I really don't understand why Phillip Rivers made the 2012 AFC Pro Bowl roster.  Sure he's thrown for 4,314 yards, but he's also led his Chargers team out of the playoffs with untimely interceptions and fumbles.  

Rivers isn't a bad quarterback by any means, but his invitation to the 2012 Pro Bowl isn't justified, especially when there are other quarterbacks like Cincinnati's Andy Dalton or Carolina's Cam Newton who deserve it more.  

Rivers is a popular quarterback and that was clear with his invitation to play in the Pro Bowl.  The fans, players and coaches need to do Rivers a favor and stop voting him into Pro Bowls, because it just reinforces the belief that he can play poorly and still be considered one of the NFL's best quarterbacks.  

Jacksonville Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew

Let me preface this by saying that Maurice Jones-Drew is a great running back and he was the one bright spot on a struggling Jaguars offense all season.  With that said, just because a running back leads the league in rushing, with 1,437 yards, doesn't mean he deserves to be in the Pro Bowl. 

Jones-Drew has been stellar on a struggling team, but he hasn't helped his team do anything special this year.  His 1,437 yards came on a league-most 314 carries, which is 26 more than any other running back.  It makes sense that Jone's Drew would league the lead in rushing, especially since he had the most carries.

Jones-Drew only scored eight rushing touchdowns on the season.  While that isn't terrible, I don't think it is necessarily worthy of a Pro Bowl nod.  The problem is, no other AFC running back really seemed to want this Pro Bowl spot other than Dolphin's running back Reggie Bush and Bengal's running back Cedric Benson.   

New York Giants QB Eli Manning

Eli Manning had the best statistical year of his career with 4,587 passing yards and 26 touchdowns.  Manning also threw 16 interceptions in just 15 games so far, proving costly in a majority of the Giant's losses.  Sure Manning has the Giants in good shape to make the playoffs with a regular season finale win against the Cowboys, but that doesn't mean he deserves a Pro Bowl spot.

Lion's quarterback Matthew Stafford, in just his third year in the NFL, threw for 4,518 yards, 36 touchdowns and only 14 interceptions, helping the Detroit Lions make the playoffs for the first time in the last 12 years.  Stafford also had a better quarterback rating than Manning, with 96.3 rating as compared to Manning's 90.3 rating.  

I'm not saying that Manning isn't a great quarterback, but there was one better than him this year in Stafford, and even Matt Ryan, who both had their respective teams locked into the playoffs before their regular season finales.  

That is reason enough why Manning didn't deserve the Pro Bowl nod this year.  

San Diego Chargers TE Antonio Gates

It's not necessarily that Chargers tight end Antonio Gates didn't deserve his Pro Bowl spot, it's just that other players deserved it that much more.  Much like Ray Lewis, Antonio Gates earned this Pro Bowl spot because he is respected in the league as a solidified veteran.

Antonio Gates accounted for 672 yards on 59 receptions with six touchdowns.  While those stats aren't terrible by any means, there is a player who gained more yards and deserved Gates' Pro Bowl spot more than he did.  

Aaron Hernandez of the New England Patriots accounted for 772 yards and six touchdowns which is similar to Gates' production, but unlike Gates, Hernandez helped his team earn a spot in the playoffs. 

Other tight ends like Joel Dreesen of the Houston Texans and Jermaine Gresham of the Cincinnati Bengals produced at a similar rate to Gates, but they also helped their teams into the playoffs, which proves their value. 

Gates is a beast of a tight end and if he could stay healthy for a whole season then he would undoubtedly deserve a Pro Bowl spot, but that didn't happen this year.

Baltimore Ravens LB Ray Lewis

Ray Lewis is one of the greatest linebackers to ever play football and that is exactly why he landed a spot on the AFC Pro Bowl roster.  He didn't do it by outplaying other linebackers in the AFC this year, with only 88 tackles, two forced fumbles and one interception in only 11 games played.

I know that skews his stats, and that is why his production is so low, but it also leads me to think he shouldn't be a pro bowler this year.  There is a linebacker by the name of D'Qwell Jackson who accounted for 145 tackles, 3.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one interception while solidifying the league's 10th-ranked overall defense.  The only problem is that Jackson plays on the Cleveland Browns, and that's what kept him out of the Pro Bowl. 

Lewis is an amazing leader, motivator and captain of the Ravens' defense, but that doesn't earn him a spot in the Pro Bowl every year.  Well, it shouldn't.  

Lewis didn't deserve the Pro Bowl invitation this year because he didn't play in enough games to perform at a Pro Bowl-caliber level.

Denver Broncos CB Champ Bailey

Thirteen-year veteran Champ Bailey is another player who seems to reach the Pro Bowl every year no matter what kind of season he has.  This trip to the Pro Bowl will be Bailey's 11th, but it is his most undeserving by far.  On the Broncos 20th-ranked defense, Bailey has totaled 36 tackles, eight passes defended, two interceptions and one forced fumble. 

Pretty weak stats for a Pro Bowler.

I know that stats for cornerbacks sometimes lie because quarterbacks tend to not throw in the direction of lockdown corners, but as of late Bailey and the Broncos defense has looked sub-par at best.  Statistically speaking, players like Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington and Browns cornerback Joe Haden are more deserving of this Pro Bowl spot.

Arrington totaled 82 tackles, 13 passes defended and seven interceptions, while Haden totaled 61 tackles, 19 passes defended and one forced fumble.  Yeah, those players' production are exponentially better than Baileys.

Statistics aren't everything and they certainly don't show the intangible aspect of the game, but this year the Pro Bowl voters made a mistake by not looking at production at the cornerback position for the AFC Pro Bowl roster.  

Bailey didn't deserve his 11th Pro Bowl trip, and I'm sure he knows that.