Pro Bowl 2016 Roster: Full List of Players, Final MVP Predictions and Top Snubs

For NFL fans unable to handle a Sunday without football, the Pro Bowl fills the void.

Before the Denver Broncos meet the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50, some of the league's brightest stars from the other 30 teams will partake in the annual exhibition. While nothing beats the glory of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, a trip to Hawaii offers a nice consolation prize.

Multiple late swaps make it difficult to keep up. Before replacing Super Bowl participants and conducting the fantasy draft on Wednesday night, let's take a look at the current Pro Bowl rosters, 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 (I)	Green Bay Packers
QB	Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks
QB	Ben Roethlisberger (I)	Pittsburgh Steelers
QB	Derek Carr (R)	Oakland Raiders
QB	Eli Manning (R)	New York Giants
RB	Jonathan Stewart	Carolina Panthers
RB	Adrian Peterson	Minnesota Vikings
RB	LeSean McCoy (I)	Buffalo Bills
RB	Todd Gurley	St. Louis Rams
RB	Devonta Freeman	Atlanta Falcons
RB	Doug Martin	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
RB	Chris Ivory (R)	New York Jets
FB	Mike Tolbert	Carolina Panthers
FB	Marcel Reece	Oakland Raiders
WR	Brandon Marshall (I)	New York Jets
WR	Julio Jones	Atlanta Falcons
WR	Calvin Johnson (I)	Detroit Lions
WR	DeAndre Hopkins	Houston Texans
WR	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals
WR	Larry Fitzgerald	Arizona Cardinals
WR	Antonio Brown (I)	Pittsburgh Steelers
WR	Odell Beckham Jr.	New York Giants
WR	Allen Robinson (R)	Jacksonville Jaguars
WR	Jarvis Landry (R)	Miami Dolphins
WR	Amari Cooper (R)	Oakland Raiders
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 (I)	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
OT	Branden Albert (R)	Miami Dolphins
C	Mike Pouncey (I)	Miami Dolphins
C	Alex Mack	Cleveland Browns
C	Ryan Kalil	Carolina Panthers
C	Travis Frederick	Dallas Cowboys
C	Nick Mangold (R)	New York Jets
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

Position	Player	Team
DE	Muhammad Wilkerson (I)	New York Jets
DE	J.J. Watt (I)	Houston Texans
DE	Khalil Mack	Oakland Raiders
DE	Chandler Jones	New England Patriots
DE	Michael Bennett	Seattle Seahawks
DE	Ezekiel Ansah	Detroit Lions
DE	Everson Griffen (R)	Minnesota Vikings
DE	Carlos Dunlap (R)	Cincinnati Bengals
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 (I)	Kansas City Chiefs
OLB	Tamba Hali	Kansas City Chiefs
OLB	Thomas Davis	Carolina Panthers
OLB	Jamie Collins	New England Patriots
OLB	Sean Lee (R)	Dallas Cowboys
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 (I)	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
CB	Jason Verrett (R)	San Diego Chargers
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
LS	Morgan Cox	Baltimore Ravens

MVP Predictions

In the last two years since installing the fantasy-draft format, a pair of players have shared MVP honors. Two years ago, Nick Foles—yes, Pro Bowl MVP Nick Foles—split the honor with Derrick Johnson. Matthew Stafford and J.J. Watt each received recognition in 2015. 

It may prove a fluke rather than trend, and it's also difficult to forecast a winner without knowing the locked-down rosters and teams. Oh well, let's highlight two top MVP candidates anyway.

DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Looking at the previous winners, the Pro Bowl MVP doesn't differ much from the regular-season award. Quarterbacks get a massive advantage, as eight have won since 2000. It's also, however, better to be a reserve, who often receive more playing time during higher-leverage situations. Without knowing the league pick to replace Cam Newton, there's no easy choice.

Let's instead pinpoint a wide receiver in what should be a pass-heavy contest light on blitzing and tight coverage. If DeAndre Hopkins earned a trip to Honolulu playing with Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, Brandon Weeden and T.J. Yates, imagine what he can accomplish with above-average passers.

The Houston Texans wideout carried an otherwise bleak offense this season, collecting 111 receptions for 1,521 yards and 11 scores. Perhaps most impressive of all, he logged 100-yard games with each of the four previously listed signal-callers. 

Look for the 23-year-old to make the most of his first (of many) Pro Bowl appearances.

Khalil Mack, DE/OLB, Oakland Raiders

Joe Mahoney/Associated Press

For a defender to get noticed in an offensive-fueled friendly, he can't just simply fill his gaps and play sound, fundamental defense. He needs to wreak havoc, devouring the opposition and obliterating plays before they can develop.

It's impossible to not notice Khalil Mack. During his second season, the Oakland Raiders pass-rusher compiled 77 tackles and 15 sacks, including five in Dec. 13's upset over the Super Bowl-bound Broncos. He also forced two fumbles and received credit for four passes defended, so he's far from a one-dimensional edge-rusher.

In fact, he's so good that the Pro Football Writers of America honored him twice, an unprecedented accomplishment:

The Associated Press allotted him the same historic feat, naming him an All-Pro defensive end and outside linebacker. No matter where he lines up on Sunday, the 24-year-old will make his mark in a major way. With the injured J.J. Watt unable to go for consecutive MVP trophies, Mack looks poised to make a move on his throne.  

Top Snubs

Pro Bowl snubs tend to work themselves out. The player pool for Wednesday's draft will prove drastically different from the original roster selections, many of whom bowed out due to injuries or Super Bowl preparation.

Leaving Allen Robinson off the original roster made no sense, but the Jacksonville Jaguars' star wideout will replace Calvin Johnson. Expect these snubs to get remedied as well. Taking the Broncos and Panthers off the table vacates 14 spots, one each at these players' respective positions, and the following players should be next on the waiting list.

Kirk Cousins, QB, Washington Redskins

Nick Wass/Associated Press

The league has already had to replace two of the six initially chosen quarterbacks, swapping Aaron Rodgers for Derek Carr and Ben Roethlisberger for Eli Manning. They'll have to dig deeper down the catalog with Newton going to California instead of Hawaii.

Kirk Cousins is easily the most deserving alternative. In fact, he would have made a far better selection than Carr or Manning, besting both in completion percentage, yards per pass attempt and quarterback rating:

Player	CMP %	PASS YD	YPA	TD	INT	QB RTG
Kirk Cousins	69.8	4,166	7.67	29	11	101.6
Derek Carr	61.1	3,987	6.96	32	13	91.1
Eli Manning	62.6	4,436	7.18	35	14	93.6

Given everyone's infatuation with judging quarterbacks by the team's record, it's surprising not to see the 27-year-old rewarded for taking Washington into the postseason. Perhaps whoever made the decision stopped watching before December, when Cousins averaged 9.13 yards per pass while tossing 13 touchdowns in five games.

A panel of four ESPN.com writers declared Cousins the season's NFC East MVP. John Keim, while giving credit to the entire passing offense, noted the quarterback's progress protecting the football:

"

He made better decisions with the ball, cutting down on the picks (he threw just three in his last 10 regular-season games). The next step without a doubt for Cousins and the Redskins is to beat winning teams and then a playoff game. But to deny him credit for how he played this season would be silly. The Redskins’ offense evolved because of his growth at quarterback. Cousins wisely took advantage of the talent around him.

"

It seems like an easy call, but he'll have to beat out bigger household names like Drew Brees and Philip Rivers. Carr and Manning benefited from gaudier touchdown tallies, and Blake Bortles tied Manning, Carson Palmer and Newton with 35 passing scores behind Tom Brady's NFL-high 36. Whoever makes these calls apparently likes that more than efficiency. 

Delanie Walker, TE, Tennessee Titans

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

This is another injustice the Super Bowl should fix. Greg Olsen has bigger fish to fry, so a spot just opened up at tight end. Although Jordan Reed also has a case for a late invite alongside Cousins, Delanie Walker should fill the abandoned position.

Walker led all tight ends with 94 receptions, and his 1,088 yards placed third behind Rob Gronkowski and Olsen. Also a strong blocker, his absence in lieu of Travis Kelce and Tyler Eifert is a head-scratcher:

Player	REC	TAR	REC YD	TD
Delanie Walker	94	133	1,088	6
Travis Kelce	72	100	875	5
Tyler Eifert	52	72	615	13

Most athletes diplomatically shrug off a snub. The Tennessee Titans star, however, admitted his frustration to the Tennessean's Jason Wolf. 

“Is that surprising? No, it’s not,” Walker said. “C’mon. No one looks at the stats. Fans don’t look at stats. It’s all about popularity and who’s a big name, who the NFL pumps. That’s who the fans look at, so it’s not surprising to me that I’m not even in the top 10.”

The underrated Walker deserves more notoriety. After the conference championship games, he should become Tennessee's lone Pro Bowl representative.