San Francisco 49ers: 6 Possible First-Time Pro Bowlers

The San Francisco 49ers could not have made the jump from one of the worst teams in the NFL this time last year to one of the top five teams this season without certain players taking their games to the next level.

San Francisco had a few different regular Pro Bowl performers in the mix prior to this renaissance: Patrick Willis, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis and Andy Lee come to mind first.

Now, as a 5-1 team that is destined to win the NFC West and host a playoff game, San Francisco can add a few different players to that list.

Today, I am going to focus on six different San Francisco 49ers players that could make their first Pro Bowl appearance following the 2011 season. You will see veterans that have played solid, other veterans that have struggled and young players who have stepped up.

The majority of the players that I have on this list should make the Pro Bowl if their solid play continues, but there a few will be victims of circumstance. Certain positions in the NFC are stacked, so taking the jump to the conference's elite will be more difficult.

So let's take a look at six 49ers players who would deserve their first Pro Bowl appearance if the team was picked today.

6. Ray McDonald

The fact that Ray McDonald is on pace to match his career sack total just this season alone really doesn't serve him justice.

Last season, McDonald ranked second among 3-4 defensive ends in quarterback hurries, behind teammate Justin Smith. Still, he didn't record a sack and was a perceived liability in rush defense.

After the 49ers retained him during the offseason on a five-year contract, many people were skeptical about his ability to handle the run and became a three-down player.

Well, those questions have been answered and then some. He is once again among the league leaders in quarterback pressures from a 3-4 scheme, but that isn't what continues to impress me. Instead, he has quickly become one of the best run-stuffing defensive ends in the NFL.

A quarter of McDonald's tackles have come at the line of scrimmage or behind it. He continues to maintain the edge, which allows oncoming pass rushers from the linebacker position to hit the offensive backfield without much of an issue.

The combination of Smith and McDonald along the exterior of the 49ers defensive line continues to dominate the edges and force offensive tackles past the line of scrimmage and into the backfield. He has been double-teamed multiple times, which opens up avenues for the likes of Aldon Smith and other personnel blitzing from the back seven.

Stats be damned, McDonald deserves a long look at the Pro Bowl this season.

5. Alex Smith

Of course, Alex Smith has stiff competition in the NFC with the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees guaranteed spots in the Pro Bowl. Matthew Stafford and Eli Manning are also having great seasons.

Still, you have to look at the whole body of Smith's work thus far in 2011. He is coming off his worse performance of the season last week against Detroit, if you can call it that. Smith threw his first game-winning touchdown pass inside of two minutes in his seven-year career to lead the 49ers to a 5-1 record entering their bye.

Pro Bowl selections are usually dictated by the numbers, not other factors, and this is magnified at the quarterback position. Well, lets see where Alex Smith stands in that regard.

He is fourth in the NFC with a 95.2 quarterback rating, fifth in completion percentage and second in TD/INT ratio, However, stat nuts could point to the fact that Smith ranks 14th in passing yards per game. That said, it should be noted that he ranks 15th in passing attempts per game.

Through six games, Alex Smith is on pace for about 3,000 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and just five interceptions. These numbers promise to get better with Braylon Edwards returning to the lineup, the offensive line improving and defenses focusing more on Frank Gore as the season progresses.

After facing tough pass defenses against Cleveland and Washington following this week's bye. San Francisco will take on some of the worse pass defenses in the league in the likes of the New York Giants, Arizona (twice) and St. Louis. He should be able to continue these improvements and pad those numbers.

The chances that Alex Smith actually makes the Pro Bowl this season are extremely minimal, but the fact that we are actually talking about it is yet another sign of his continued progression as a quarterback under Jim Harbaugh.

4. Mike Iupati

Last season the 49ers averaged 5.3 yards per rush when they ran behind Mike Iupati, who performed extremely well as a rookie guard. After initial struggles this season, Iupati has been extremely stout in both pass and run blocking.

If you look at some of Frank Gore's success over the last few weeks, a lot of it has come running on the opposite side of where Iupati occupies the line, but that isn't the point. Iupati is strong in the zone-blocking scheme and cuts off the middle with physically destructive play. Just look at what he did in some of No. 21 's runs last week against Detroit.  Sealing the edge is one of the most important aspects of an interior lineman's job, and Iupati is already one of the best in the league at doing that.

Sometimes, the success of one play along the offensive line gets overlooked because overall success of the unit depends on more than one person. That said, look closely at how Iupati dominates the line of scrimmage when watching the 49ers next game against the Cleveland Browns. Better yet, take a look at Frank Gore highlights over the last two seasons, and pay close attention to the second-year guard from Idaho.

Many people, including myself, believed that Iupati should have been named to the Pro Bowl last season. There is no doubt in my mind that he makes it in 2011.

3. Aldon Smith

After being somewhat quiet over the course of the first two games, Aldon Smith is quickly proving why the San Francisco 49ers made him a top-10 pick. He has dominated over the last three games, recording 11 tackles. 5.5 sacks, a forced fumble, a safety and a lot more quarterback pressures. Simply put, Aldon Smith is playing at Demarcus Ware levels right now.

He is quick off the snap, recognizes the play and shows a much better ability to drop back into coverage than many people expected. Don't get me wrong, his bread and butter in the NFL is going to be putting pressure on the quarterback and creating sacks. This is one of the primary reasons Smith is in on a very large majority of nickel packages. It enables Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman to man the middle of the field and gap off the outside, while San Francisco only rushes four.

This is one of the primary reasons San Francisco leads the NFL in passes defended and red-zone defense.

Expect Aldon Smith to continue this progression as the team's best pass-rushing linebacker. Currently he is on pace to break the rookie sack record. All those people who criticized San Francisco for "reaching" on Smith in April and attacked me for saying he would be Defensive Rookie of the Year are eating crow right now. How does it taste?

If Smith records 12+ sacks this season, there is no reason to expect that he will be left off the Pro Bowl roster.

2. Carlos Rogers

Carlos Rogers has been one of the most unheralded cover corners in the NFL over the last six seasons since being drafted in the first round by Washington in 2005. He was the de facto No. 1 corner for the Skins' during that time, but a myriad of different players got a lot of the recognition.

One major hit on Rogers is that he had a major case of the drops with Washington over the course of six seasons. Still, it cannot be denied that he can cover with the best of them.

This has been magnified during Rogers' first six games with the San Francisco 49ers after he came in to replace the under-performing Nate Clements as the team's No. 1 corner. So far this season, Rogers ranks in the top five in passes defended (8), interceptions (3) and completion percentage against. He stays with the best opposing receiver when asked to and creates confusion by lining up in all three corner positions, including the nickel slot.

It is safe to say that Rogers has taken the step to elite status after being an above-average corner for the last half-decade. He has to be considered one of the best man-coverage corners in the NFL and can play bump and run as well as zone schemes.

Rogers is also only 29 years old and is in the prime of his career. If he continues this play, San Francisco will give him a nice payday during or following the season, and he will make his first Pro Bowl.

1. NaVorro Bowman

When NaVorro Bowman was drafted in the fourth round of last year's draft, many people had questions as to whether he could make the transition from outside to inside linebacker. He struggled a great deal in coverage last season, which just added fire to those skeptical beliefs.

When Takeo Spikes bolted (pun intended) for the San Diego Chargers in the offseason, the inside linebacker job was Bowman's to lose opposite Patrick Willis. Apparently, he showed a lot during training camp and the preseason, because Bowman has been on the field more than any San Francisco 49ers defender not named Patrick Willis or Justin Smith.

Bowman currently leads the 49ers in tackles with 58, which is good for fifth in the entire league and fourth among linebackers. More importantly, he leads the NFL in tackles on third down. This is a stat that best represents the success of a player because it gets the defense off the field and ends drives.

Right now, Bowman and Willis have to be considered the best inside linebacker tandem in the entire NFL, which is an amazing feat at this point considering some of the great backers in the league. Bowman and Willis are extremely good in coverage, fast on the outside and stifle opposing offenses with great play recognition up the middle.

Bowman has done a great job recognizing run from pass and dropping back in coverage when necessary. This is surprising considering how much he struggled with that as rookie. His lateral movement is probably second among NFL linebackers behind Willis.

If Bowman does not make the Pro Bowl this season, don't fret. He will be a perennial All-Pro performer for the next decade. That said, if he compiles over 150 tackles, it would be hard to leave the former Penn State star off the team.