Pro Bowl 2017: AFC and NFC Starters, Full Rosters and Predictions

While football fans across the country are salivating over the potential offensive showcase that is this year's Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons, there is still football to be played this Sunday, Jan. 29th, as the 2017 Pro Bowl will take place in Orlando, Florida.

Yes, it's in Orlando, not Honolulu, this year. And while there are changes to the Pro Bowl format, including a return to the old AFC vs. NFC game instead of a fantasy draft, there will be some familiar faces playing in this year's all-star game.

Every year, players pull out of the Pro Bowl because of injury or because they're playing in the Super Bowl, but there are still great players in this year's game. 

Let's take a look at who will be taking the field this year to represent their conferences.

Note: Players with an (I) next to their name were voted into the game, but won't be playing. Players with an (R) next to their name are replacements. Players with ** next to their names were voted in as starters.  

AFC Players Selected	Position	Team
Tom Brady (I) **	QB	New England Patriots
Derek Carr (I)	QB	Oakland Raiders
Alex Smith (R)	QB	Kansas City Chiefs
Andy Dalton (R)	QB	Cincinnati Bengals
Ben Roethlisberger (I)	QB	Pittsburgh Steelers
Philip Rivers	QB	San Diego Chargers
Le'Veon Bell (I) **	RB	Pittsburgh Steelers
Melvin Gordon (R)	RB	San Diego Chargers
DeMarco Murray	RB	Tennessee Titans
LeSean McCoy (I)	RB	Buffalo Bills
Jay Ajayi (R)	RB	Miami Dolphins
Antonio Brown (I) **	WR	Pittsburgh Steelers
Amari Cooper	WR	Oakland Raiders
A.J. Green	WR	Cincinnati Bengals
T.Y. Hilton	WR	Indianapolis Colts
Demaryius Thomas	WR	Denver Broncos
Joe Thomas **	OT	Cleveland Browns
Donald Penn (I) **	OT	Oakland Raiders
Andrew Whitworth (R)	OT	Cincinnati Bengals
Taylor Lewan	OT	Tennessee Titans
Marshal Yanda **	OG	Baltimore Ravens
Kelechi Osemele **	OG	Oakland Raiders
David DeCastro	OG	Pittsburgh Steelers
Rodney Hudson **	C	Oakland Raiders
Maurkice Pouncey	C	Pittsburgh Steelers
Jeremy Zuttah	C	Baltimore Ravens
Travis Kelce **	TE	Kansas City Chiefs
Delanie Walker	TE	Tennessee Titans
Kyle Juszczyk **	FB	Baltimore Ravens
Khalil Mack **	DE	Oakland Raiders
Cameron Wake **	DE	Miami Dolphins
Jadeveon Clowney	DE	Houston Texans
Geno Atkins **	DT	Cincinnati Bengals
Ndamukong Suh **	DT	Miami Dolphins
Jurrell Casey	DT	Tennessee Titans
Von Miller **	OLB	Denver Broncos
Lorenzo Alexander **	OLB	Buffalo Bills
Brian Orakpo	OLB	Tennessee Titans
Dont'a Hightower (I) **	MLB	New England Patriots
C.J. Mosley (I)	MLB	Baltimore Ravens
Zach Brown	MLB	Buffalo Bills
Ryan Shazier	MLB	Pittsburgh Steelers
Marcus Peters **	CB	Kansas City Chiefs
Aqib Talib **	CB	Denver Broncos
Casey Hayward	CB	San Diego Chargers
Chris Harris	CB	Denver Broncos
Stephon Gilmore	CB	Buffalo Bills
Devin McCourty (I) **	FS	New England Patriots
Eric Weddle	FS	Baltimore Ravens
Reggie Nelson	FS	Oakland Raiders
Eric Berry (R) **	SS	Kansas City Chiefs
Darian Stewart (I)	SS	Denver Broncos
Pat McAfee (I) **	P	Indianapolis Colts
Dustin Colquitt (R)	K	Kansas City Chiefs
Justin Tucker **	K	Baltimore Ravens
Tyreek Hill	RS	Kansas City Chiefs
Morgan Cox	LS	Baltimore Ravens
Matthew Slater (I)	ST	New England Patriots
D.J. Alexander	ST	Kansas City Chiefs
NFC Players Selected
Matt Ryan (I) **	QB	Atlanta Falcons
Aaron Rodgers (I)	QB	Green Bay Packers
Kirk Cousins (R)	QB	Washington Redskins
Drew Brees (R)	QB	New Orleans Saints
Dak Prescott	QB	Dallas Cowboys
Ezekiel Elliott **	RB	Dallas Cowboys
David Johnson	RB	Arizona Cardinals
Devonta Freeman (I)	RB	Atlanta Falcons
Darren Sproles (R)	RB	Philadelphia Eagles
Julio Jones (I) **	WR	Atlanta Falcons
Dez Bryant (R)	WR	Dallas Cowboys
Odell Beckham Jr. **	WR	New York Giants
Mike Evans	WR	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Larry Fitzgerald (I)	WR	Arizona Cardinals
Doug Baldwin (R)	WR	Seattle Seahawks
Tyron Smith **	OT	Dallas Cowboys
Trent Williams **	OT	Washington
Jason Peters (I)	OT	Philadelphia Eagles
David Bakhtiari (R)	OT	Green Bay Packers
Zack Martin **	OG	Dallas Cowboys
Brandon Scherff (I) **	OG	Washington
Trai Turner (R)	OG	Carolina Panthers
T.J. Lang (I)	OG	Green Bay Packers
Jason Sitton (R)	OG	Chicago Bears
Travis Frederick **	C	Dallas Cowboys
Alex Mack (I)	C	Atlanta Falcons
Jason Kelce (R)	C	Philadelphia Eagles
Greg Olsen **	TE	Carolina Panthers
Jordan Reed (I)	TE	Washington
Jimmy Graham (R)	TE	Seattle Seahawks
Mike Tolbert **	FB	Carolina Panthers
Everson Griffen **	DE	Minnesota Vikings
Cliff Avril **	DE	Seattle Seahawks
Michael Bennett	DE	Seattle Seahawks
Aaron Donald (I) **	DT	Los Angeles Rams
Linval Joseph (R)	DT	Minnesota Vikings
Gerald McCoy **	DT	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Fletcher Cox	DT	Philadelphia Eagles
Vic Beasley (I) **	OLB	Atlanta Falcons
Anthony Barr (R)	OLB	Minnesota Vikings
Ryan Kerrigan (I) **	OLB	Washington
K.J. Wright (R)	OLB	Seattle Seahawks
Thomas Davis	OLB	Carolina Panthers
Bobby Wagner **	MLB	Seattle Seahawks
Luke Kuechly (I)	MLB	Carolina Panthers
Sean Lee (R)	MLB	Dallas Cowboys
Janoris Jenkins **	CB	New York Giants
Patrick Peterson **	CB	Arizona Cardinals
Richard Sherman	CB	Seattle Seahawks
Xavier Rhodes	CB	Minnesota Vikings
Harrison Smith **	FS	Minnesota Vikings
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix	FS	Green Bay Packers
Landon Collins **	SS	New York Giants
Johnny Hekker **	P	Los Angeles Rams
Matt Bryant (I) **	K	Atlanta Falcons
Matt Prater (R)	K	Detroit Lions
Cordarrelle Patterson **	RS	Minnesota Vikings
Dwayne Harris **	ST	New York Giants
Jake McQuaide **	LS	Los Angeles Rams

While it's disappointing that the likes of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones won't be playing this weekend, football fans can find solace in the fact that they will be playing in the Super Bowl and giving 100 percent effort.

That's about 75 percent more effort than they would've showcased to NFL fans had they played in the Pro Bowl instead. The Pro Bowl has been a hotbed for discussions about how much effort players give during the game. After all, the season is over, and no one wants to get hurt.

Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

But with younger players hoping to make names for themselves, the tide is slowly beginning to turn.

While last year's Pro Bowl had the most replacement players in the game's history, it was also one of the more dynamic and exciting games we've seen from the NFL's version of an all-star game. Team Irvin, led by Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, demolished Team Rice, led by Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, by a score of 49-27.

The game might've been a blowout, but with 76 points combined, what's not to like if you're a fan looking to watch an exciting game?

With first-year players like Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and Melvin Gordon, the Pro Bowl is becoming more of a showcase of young talent than a competitive football game, which is how it should be.

Having said that, this year's game will be one you don't want to miss.

Prediction

Both rosters are full of talented football players, but the NFC is stacked with elite talent the AFC can't compete with. Just look at the AFC's quarterback situation. Andy Dalton replacing Tom Brady? Alex Smith replacing Derek Carr?

How are they realistically supposed to compete with Drew Brees and Kirk Cousins?

This game could easily turn out to be another blowout, but this time it will be the NFC that has the last laugh. Elliott will put on a show for the fans and demonstrate why he's the future of the NFL with 80 yards rushing and a couple of scores.

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Look for some lackadaisical pass coverage from the AFC's corners as Dez Bryant burns the secondary all game long. It may be an exhibition game, but Bryant brings a level of intensity to the field every time he plays. And he'll be especially motivated to play hard in this game because he wasn't voted in as a starter after a statistical down year with the Dallas Cowboys.

The game will start out cagey as each team tries to dissect the other's defense, but look for Brees to put on an aerial display with touchdown passes to Beckham Jr. and Mike Evans in the second quarter. 

The AFC will try to have a balanced offense with Dalton and Smith running the show, getting Gordon the ball as much as it can until it falls behind on the scoreboard. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Dalton turn the ball over a couple times as Janoris Jenkins takes one to the house to increase the NFC's lead shortly after the half.

It won't take long for this game to get out of hand, but at the end of the day, it's all fun and games. 

Prediction: NFC dominates, beats the AFC 45-17.