NFL Pro Bowl Roster 2014: Captains and List of Available Players to Be Drafted
December 28, 2013
The 2014 Pro Bowl rosters were announced on Friday during a special on the NFL Network. Since the usual AFC-versus-NFC format will no longer be used and a draft-style approach will now take its place, team captains were named.
The captains for this year's Pro Bowl teams are Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders. They will rotate picks during the draft that will take place on the NFL Network at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014.
Just four days later, the Pro Bowl will take place from Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii at 7 p.m. ET on Jan. 26, airing live on NBC.
Both Rice and Sanders discussed their draft strategies on the NFL Network on Friday and gave some insight as to which players they want on their respective teams:
Available players who are eligible to be drafted for each Pro Bowl team are as follows:
Offense:
Pro Bowl Roster - Offense | ||
Pos. | Player | Team |
QB | Tom Brady | New England Patriots |
QB | Drew Brees | New Orleans Saints |
QB | Peyton Manning | Denver Broncos |
QB | Cam Newton | Carolina Panthers |
QB | Philip Rivers | San Diego Chargers |
QB | Russell Wilson | Seattle Seahawks |
WR | Antonio Brown | Pittsburgh Steelers |
WR | Dez Bryant | Dallas Cowboys |
WR | Josh Gordon | Cleveland Browns |
WR | A.J. Green | Cincinnati Bengals |
WR | Andre Johnson | Houston Texans |
WR | Calvin Johnson | Detroit Lions |
WR | Brandon Marshall | Chicago Bears |
WR | Demaryius Thomas | Denver Broncos |
OT | Branden Albert | Kansas City Chiefs |
OT | Jason Peters | Philadelphia Eagles |
OT | Tyron Smith | Dallas Cowboys |
OT | Joe Staley | San Francisco 49ers |
OT | Joe Thomas | Cleveland Browns |
OT | Trent Williams | Washington Redskins |
OG | Jahri Evans | New Orleans Saints |
OG | Ben Grubbs | New Orleans Saints |
OG | Mike Iupati | San Francisco 49ers |
OG | Logan Mankins | New England Patriots |
OG | Louis Vasquez | Denver Broncos |
OG | Marshal Yanda | Baltimore Ravens |
C | Ryan Kalil | Carolina Panthers |
C | Alex Mack | Cleveland Browns |
C | Mike Pouncey | Miami Dolphins |
C | Max Unger | Seattle Seahawks |
TE | Jordan Cameron | Cleveland Browns |
TE | Vernon Davis | San Francisco 49ers |
TE | Jimmy Graham | New Orleans Saints |
TE | Julius Thomas | Denver Broncos |
RB | Jamaal Charles | Kansas City Chiefs |
RB | Matt Forte | Chicago Bears |
RB | Frank Gore | San Francisco 49ers |
RB | Marshawn Lynch | Seattle Seahawks |
RB | LeSean McCoy | Philadelphia Eagles |
RB | Adrian Peterson | Minnesota Vikings |
FB | Marcel Reece | Oakland Raiders |
FB | Mike Tolbert | Carolina Panthers |
NFL.com |
Defense:
Pro Bowl Roster - Defense | ||
Pos. | Player | Team |
DE | Greg Hardy | Carolina Panthers |
DE | Cameron Jordan | New Orleans Saints |
DE | Robert Quinn | St. Louis Rams |
DE | Cameron Wake | Miami Dolphins |
DE | J.J. Watt | Houston Texans |
DE | Mario Williams | Buffalo Bills |
DT | Gerald McCoy | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
DT | Haloti Ngata | Baltimore Ravens |
DT | Dontari Poe | Kansas City Chiefs |
DT | Justin Smith | San Francisco 49ers |
DT | Ndamukong Suh | Detroit Lions |
DT | Kyle Williams | Buffalo Bills |
OLB | John Abraham | Arizona Cardinals |
OLB | Ahmad Brooks | San Francisco 49ers |
OLB | Tamba Hali | Kansas City Chiefs |
OLB | Justin Houston | Kansas City Chiefs |
OLB | Robert Mathis | Indianapolis Colts |
OLB | Terrell Suggs | Baltimore Ravens |
MLB | NaVorro Bowman | San Francisco 49ers |
MLB | Vontaze Burfict | Cincinnati Bengals |
MLB | Luke Kuechly | Carolina Panthers |
MLB | Patrick Willis | San Francisco 49ers |
CB | Brandon Flowers | Kansas City Chiefs |
CB | Brent Grimes | Miami Dolphins |
CB | Joe Haden | Cleveland Browns |
CB | Patrick Peterson | Arizona Cardinals |
CB | Darrelle Revis | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
CB | Richard Sherman | Seattle Seahawks |
CB | Aqib Talib | New England Patriots |
CB | Alterraun Verner | Tennessee Titans |
FS | Jairus Byrd | Buffalo Bills |
FS | Earl Thomas | Seattle Seahawks |
FS | Eric Weddle | San Diego Chargers |
SS | Eric Berry | Kansas City Chiefs |
SS | Kam Chancellor | Seattle Seahawks |
SS | Troy Polamalu | Pittsburgh Steelers |
NFL.com |
Special Teams:
Pro Bowl Roster - Special Teams | ||
Pos. | Player | Team |
P | Brandon Fields | Miami Dolphins |
P | Johnny Hekker | St. Louis Rams |
K | Matt Prater | Denver Broncos |
K | Justin Tucker | Baltimore Ravens |
PR | Antonio Brown | Pittsburgh Steelers |
PR | Dexter McCluster | Kansas City Chiefs |
ST | Justin Bethel | Arizona Cardinals |
ST | Matthew Slater | New England Patriots |
NFL.com |
Rice and Sanders will each have an even number of players from each position at the end of the draft—that part obviously hasn't changed.
However, the new Pro Bowl draft format has brought about some different feelings from players around the league.
San Francisco 49ers senior reporter Taylor Price issued a tweet containing a comment from linebacker Patrick Willis regarding his distaste for the new style:
Other players, such as Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, are simply happy for their teammates who got the nod to play. Briggs tweeted:
There were also many Pro Bowl snubs—as there are every year—and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports made one simple point:
Certain draft strategies must be in place due to several new rules that will be enforced during this year's contest. For example, there will be no kickoffs, each quarter will yield a two-minute warning and a change of possession after, and the game clock can stop under two minutes after a play that does not gain yardage.
Interesting.
Official rule changes for the Pro Bowl can be found on NFL.com.
With many of these new rules favoring the offensive side of the ball, it can be easily assumed that the 2014 Pro Bowl will continue to yield plenty of points.
No matter the outcome, the players that made the Pro Bowl this year will be rewarded, according to a tweet from ESPN's Adam Schefter:
For now, it's up to Sanders and Rice to draft the best possible teams. It will certainly be interesting to see how this all plays out.