Pro Bowl Snubs 2015: Who Was Hosed in This Year's Voting Process?
Pro Bowl voting isn't an exact science.
It's not even an approximate art.
With fan, player and coach voting that opens not long after the regular season starts, closes before the regular season ends and relies heavily on name-brand reputation and single-category stat leaders, the NFL's take on an all-star game takes a beating every year from those who love football and watch it closely—not to mention hardcore fans of all 32 teams who are sure their guys got robbed.
The 2014 Pro Bowl roster is no exception, with big-time snubs and risible oversights all over. The NFL's insistence on dividing defensive players by named position (instead of defensive role) creates a logjam at some positions and a desert at others. The league's statistical shift toward pass-first offenses and multi-receiver sets means you could double the receiver allotment and not get all the worthy candidates in.
Last season's conference-less format corrects some injustices, and the alternate list makes up for some oversights, but there are plenty of players with huge grievances to air this Festivus season.
Might Have a Complaint, But...
1 of 10
In Matt Forte's seventh season, he's gained more than 900 yards on the ground for the seventh time. He's also caught 94 passes, putting him on pace to be the only tailback with 100 receptions since LaDainian Tomlinson did in 2003, per Pro-Football-Reference.com.
However, Pro Bowl voters didn't put the Chicago Bears stalwart among the top six tailbacks in the NFL. They also did not favor San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore or Washington runner Alfred Morris. Justin Forsett led the NFL in average yards per carry almost wire-to-wire, and he's only an alternate.
But whom among the six tailbacks voted in would you take out to put Forsett, Forte, Gore or Morris in?
This is the problem facing certain position groups: There's a statistical logjam.
By the numbers, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan are right up there with (or are better than) some of the guys who got the nod. Still, Brees' season has been disappointing by his standards. Ryan's quietly come on very strong down the stretch—but as we know, getting hot late matters less when the voting closes early.
You could practically double the wide receivers crop and not include everyone with a case. Emmanuel Sanders of the Denver Broncos, Julian Edelman of the New England Patriots and Randall Cobb of the Green Bay Packers were partially overlooked because they wore the same jersey as pass-catchers who got the nod.
Pass-rushers of all stripes had a hard, hard road to the Pro Bowl. Seventeen defenders have already registered double-digit sacks.
More well-rounded edge defenders such as the Seattle Seahawks' Michael Bennett, Washington's Ryan Kerrigan and the Minnesota Vikings' Everson Griffen couldn't have done much more to merit inclusion but were always going to be stuck behind the crop of players chasing the big 2-0.
In the defensive backfield, Griffen's teammate, Harrison Smith, never got the buzz he deserved, largely because the Vikings didn't start turning heads until late in the season. It's also hard to take out any of the beastly players nominated in his favor.
Philip Rivers
2 of 10
San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers was on everyone's MVP shortlist at the halfway mark. A rough stretch right as everyone was filling out ballots likely knocked him off the perch, but a strong stretch run rounds out a Pro Bowl-worthy season.
He currently ranks fourth in completion rate (67.0), fifth in touchdown rate (5.8) and eighth in NFL passer efficiency (95.8). More importantly, he's been the reason the Chargers have scored points this season. Turning elderly Antonio Gates and remember-him Eddie Royal into touchdown machines is quite the accomplishment.
If not for a three-week stretch (Weeks 7, 8 and 9) when Rivers threw six picks and the Chargers went 0-3, Rivers would still be in that MVP conversation. As it is, he's just a Pro Bowl alternate.
Even so, he was one of the six best quarterbacks in the NFL in 2014. It's hard to see how he was left out in favor of Ben Roethlisberger, a huge chunk of whose 2014 production came from back-to-back blowouts.
Jeremy Maclin
3 of 10
After Week 8, I named the top 50 players in the NFL. Despite including Maclin in my honorable mentions group, Bleacher Report readers were furious at my snubbing of the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver.
For some reason, perhaps because of the Eagles' late-season swan dive, they (and NFL coaches and players) didn't vote him as one of their top six receivers.
Maclin is 12th in the NFL in receptions, eighth in yards and 10th in touchdowns. Yet, he's done that as the only legitimate deep threat on an Eagles team that's had major struggles at the quarterback position this year.
Unlike a lot of the second-most productive cogs in high-powered passing offenses he's in Pro Bowl competition with, Maclin has had to do it all himself—coming off a major injury, to boot.
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Joel Bitonio
4 of 10
Nobody gets snubbed quite like offensive linemen...
At a position most fans struggle to take notice of, let alone evaluate, there are very few objective numbers on which to vote.
...except, maybe, rookies. Since Pro Bowl voting is in many ways a popularity contest, non-first-round rookies usually have to put together multiple excellent years to crack the list.
Rookie offensive linemen have almost no shot—especially rookie interior offensive linemen, whose play is almost impossible for casual fans to break down during a live broadcast.
Bitonio's standout rookie campaign didn't fly under Pro Football Focus' radar. He was its top-ranked left guard (subscription required), fourth best among all guards in pass protection and fifth in run blocking. Impressively, Bitonio did it all after the Browns line lost its pivotman, center Alex Mack, just five games into the season.
Bitonio not only won't be going to Hawaii, but he also isn't even an alternate.
Khalil Mack
5 of 10
Rookies always struggle to get Pro Bowl recognition, and players on losing teams do, too.
Given the NFL's stubborn insistence on grouping 3-4 outside linebackers and 4-3 outside linebackers—which makes next to no sense—Khalil Mack had just about everything going against him.
Even worse, his numbers weren't impressive at all: He had four sacks, three passes defensed and a forced fumble, as well as 57 solo tackles and 16 assists.
Those who watched the tape, though, saw an explosive, disruptive, athletic monster who found a way to get his nose in on almost every play.
He was Pro Football Focus' No. 1-ranked 4-3 outside linebacker, ranking ahead of the Denver Broncos' Von Miller (who did get in). PFF also charted Mack as a very close second in both QB hits (10 to Miller's 11) and QB hurries (40 to Miller's 45). No other 4-3 outside linebacker had more than seven hits or 12 hurries.
Had Mack hit home just a few more of those 50 pressures, he may have gotten the Pro Bowl nod he deserved. As it is, he'll have to be content with the alternate list.
Golden Tate
6 of 10
When does the wide receiver with the joint third-most receptions in the NFL and sixth-most receiving yards get frozen out of a list of the top six receivers in the NFL?
When he wears the same helmet as Calvin Johnson.
There's little debate that when Johnson is healthy, he's the best wide receiver in football. There's no arguing that when Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is playing well, Johnson puts up historic numbers.
However, in 2014, Johnson has not been healthy, and Stafford has not been playing well. Johnson, in 11 games, is 31st in receptions, 16th in yards and 27th in touchdowns. If not for Tate's consistently outstanding production while Johnson was out or severely limited, the Lions wouldn't be in the playoffs right now.
Tate's breakout career year, powering the Lions' resurgent run, deserved a slot in the top six.
Martellus Bennett
7 of 10
This one is truly hard to figure out.
The Chicago Bears have been a flaming train wreck in 2014, and nearly all of their talented players have been helplessly strapped in for the doomed ride.
Meanwhile, tight end Martellus Bennett has simply been on fire.
His 82 receptions are tied for 12th most in the NFL and tied with New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski for most among tight ends. His 857 yards are ranked third behind Gronkowski. His six touchdowns are tied for fifth.
Like Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen, Bennett has often been the only part of his team's passing offense that's working. Bennett's numbers, too, are nearly identical to Olsen's. Yet Olsen got a Pro Bowl nod, and Bennett didn't make the alternate list.
DeAndre Levy
8 of 10
DeAndre Levy, as MLive.com's Kyle Meinke put it at the season's halfway mark, has been the best player on the NFL's best defense.
Until the Seattle Seahawks' Week 16 performance dropped their points-per-game-allowed average to 0.3 points lower than the Detroit Lions', Levy's Lions had led the NFL in scoring defense almost wire-to-wire. His athleticism, fire and playmaking ability made him the NFC's Defensive Player of the Month in September.
Levy is Pro Football Focus' No. 3-ranked 4-3 outside linebacker. He has just 2.5 sacks against Von Miller's 13 but has an NFL-best 110 solo tackles compared to Miller's 39. He also has an interception and five passes defense, compared to Miller's zero and two, respectively.
How does an outside linebacker get to the point of leading the NFL in tackles by this much (he's 12 ahead of No. 2), on this good of a defensive unit, having been listed on Bucky Brooks' NFL.com midseason shortlist for Defensive Player of the Year, and not get voted one of the six best outside linebackers?
Andrew Whitworth
9 of 10
Andrew Whitworth has been the best left tackle in the NFL this year.
He's Pro Football Focus' No. 1 left tackle and No. 1 tackle overall.
PFF has charted him as allowing (among 15-game starters) a league-best zero sacks, a league-best one quarterback hit and a league-best eight hurries. He's also been a dominant run-blocker, getting PFF's third-best grade there, too.
Offensive line is a reputation position, when it comes to the Pro Bowl, and guys need to build up that reputation. Worthy players who get snubbed in one season often get in the following year—whether they deserve it the following year or not.
Let's hope Whitworth, who didn't even make the alternate list, can benefit from that boost in 2015.
Russell Wilson
10 of 10
OK, look: Other than interception rate, Russell Wilson can't claim a spot among the league leaders in any statistical category.
When it comes to making plays? To elevating the play of his teammates? To single-handedly conjuring huge wins out of sure defeats? Russell Wilson embodies elite quarterback play.
Even if you forget about his fleet feet, even if you pooh-pooh on him for playing with a dominant defense (which wasn't quite so dominant for much of the year), there are very, very, very few quarterbacks in the NFL who could have their only dangerous receiver traded away midseason and not miss a beat.
Wilson has taken a huge step forward as a passer and leader in 2014, and this'll be the first year of his three-year career he won't be in the Pro Bowl.
Figure that one out.
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