2012 NFL Pro Bowl: The 5 Most Overrated Players in Roster's Early Voting

For reasons unknown to anyone that watches football, the voting for the NFL Pro Bowl opened around a month ago. With seven weeks yet to be played in the NFL, the current votes have been tallied and released to the public. 

Pro Football Talk got a hold of the results and posted them today. You can check out that piece here. 

With fan voting, there's always going to be some head-scratchers in the bunch, but the following five (or maybe six?) players are the most overrated of the fans' selections. 

Michael Oher, Ravens

In the fan voting, Ravens tackle Michael Oher will always have some likability due to the fact that his life was put on the big screen in The Blind Side.

The non-Hollywood reality is that Oher is far from the best tackle in either conference.

According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), 12 tackles in the AFC are having better seasons than Oher. His 24 pressures allowed are the sixth-most allowed in the NFL this season. Michael Roos of the Tennessee Titans is the obvious selection in the AFC.

Roman Harper, Saints

Some Saints fans may vehemently disagree with calling Harper overrated in 2011, but that's exactly what he is. 

Yes, his 6.5 sacks leads all defensive backs. But let's look into some of the rest of his stats that are far less appealing. 

Harper's nine missed tackles and four accepted penalties this season rank as fourth-worst amongst NFL safeties, and no player at his position has given up more passing touchdowns (five) in 2011. 

Overall, PFF ranks Harper as the 75th-best safety (out of 90 total players at the position). Don't be lulled to sleep by the sacks number. 

Dwight Freeney, Colts

It's good to know that Colts fans are still loyal to their top players despite an 0-10 start. 

Still, Dwight Freeney does not belong in the Pro Bowl this season. 

Of 4-3 defensive ends, PFF ranks Freeney as the 30th-best in 2011. The 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles simply aren't enough to make up for the deficiencies in the run game. 

A guy like Carlos Dunlap or Lamaar Houston makes a lot more sense in this spot than Freeney, who hasn't been the same dominant force on a bad football team.

Chad Clifton and T.J. Lang, Packers

The Packers' 9-0 start has fueled their fanbase to go crazy in voting for their team into the Pro Bowl. Two of the worst picks are on the left side of the offensive line in Chad Clifton and T.J. Lang.

Clifton hasn't played since Week 5 when he hurt his hamstring, and he wasn't playing at an elite level even before the injury. The Packers right tackle, Bryan Bulaga, has a much better case to go to Hawaii in 2011, as do Jordan Gross and Jason Peters.  

Lang has played the entire season but hasn't been anything more than average. His teammate, Josh Sitton, has thoroughly outplayed him and is a better choice. Carl Nicks of New Orleans has also had a fantastic season. 

Morgan Burnett, Packers

Not to pick on the Packers and their loyal fans, but there's no way Morgan Burnett should be leading the vote at the other safety spot. 

Burnett certainly started off hot, but his broken hand (and the club that's gone with it) has severely hampered his playmaking ability. 

Kam Chancellor of Seattle and Adrian Wilson in Arizona have much better cases to be a starting safety in Hawaii than Burnett.