Minnesota Vikings: 10 Players That Should Have Been Considered for the Pro Bowl

The Minnesota Vikings season continues to plummet to new lows. With every loss, it's looking more and more like 2011 will rival the worst Vikings team since the "Great Les Steckel Debacle" of 1984 when the team finished 3-13.

If the team were to finish 2-14, and it's not that big of a stretch, it would become the worst season in franchise history, matching the fewest wins with the 1962 team that finished 2-11-1. 

In total, the team looks terrible. Even the switch to Christian Ponder at quarterback has lost any luster it had after going 1-1 in his first two starts after the terrible 27-21 loss to Oakland.

While the Minnesota Vikings' season continues to plummet to new depths, Jared Allen and Adrian Peterson are playing at a level, without question, that deserves your Pro Bowl votes.

Only two seasons ago, when a 12-men-in-the-huddle penalty pushed the Vikings out of field goal range late in the NFC Championship game against the Saints, and cost them a shot at the Super Bowl, the Vikings had 10 Pro Bowl players on their roster.

Since 2001 the Vikings have averaged eight wins, and sent players to the Pro Bowl.

At this point I'm sure head coach Leslie Frazier would like a "do-over." If only the Vikings could rewind the season and start over, things might be different. 

Outside of Allen, who is on pace to set the single-season sack record, and Peterson, who leads the NFL is rushing touchdowns, it looks like the Vikings don't have another Pro Bowler on the roster.

Here's a look at 10 other players that should, or could, be getting some consideration for the Vikings, if only some different decisions were made, or if the bounces went another way.

Cornerback Antoine Winfield

Antoine Winfield entered 2011 with three straight Pro Bowl appearances, including 2009 when he was limited to only 10 games.

After missing four games with a neck injury, Winfield's season ended in his first game back after suffering a broken clavicle against the Packers in Week 10. 

With only five games played this season, Winfield is still fifth on the team with 34 tackles—only three behind middle linebacker E.J. Henderson who has played in all 10 games this season.  

Include the fact that his one interception ties him for second on the team, shows just how poorly the Vikings defense has been this season.

If Winfield could have remained injury-free, he would be getting consideration for his fourth straight Pro Bowl. 

Defensive Tackle Kevin Williams

Kevin Williams entered the season with five straight Pro Bowls, and six out of the last seven seasons.

Having missed the final two preseason games due to plantar fasciitis, Williams then opened the season serving a two-game suspension after finally losing his long-running battle with the NFL over his use of the diet supplement, StarCaps.

Against the Raiders on Sunday, Williams finally had a game that resembled a six-time Pro Bowler. He recorded his first sack of the season, and led all defensive linemen with three tackles and five assists. 

There's virtually no chance that Williams will make the Pro Bowl. If only he could have started the season healthy and in the lineup.

Special Teams Player Heath Farwell

Linebacker Heath Farwell was only a special teams player. In five seasons with the Vikings he didn't start a single game for Minnesota defense.

He did, however, make the Pro Bowl as a special teams player in 2009.

The kickoff coverage team is averaging 24.8 yards per return this season, the highest average since 2005 when Farwell joined the team.

With two returns for touchdowns this season, one off a punt and the other on a kickoff, the Vikings have given up as many in any season since 2005 except 2008 when they surrendered four—a number still within reach for this year's team.

Offensive Guard Steve Hutchinson

If only Steve Hutchinson could have returned to the form that earned him seven consecutive Pro Bowls from 2003 to 2009.

The string was literally broken last season when Hutchinson missed five games due to a fractured thumb. 

While his reputation may garner him some consideration, the truth is, his best days are passed, and Hutchinson, in his 11th NFL season, is on the decline. 

Left Tackle Bryant McKinnie

If Leslie Frazier had to do it all over again, he might try making his point with a less critical position than the player that protects his quarterback's blind side.

When Bryant McKinnie showed up to training camp overweight and out of shape, instead of whipping the 2009 Pro Bowler into shape, Frazier released him from the team. 

The Vikings loss has been the Ravens gain. Reunited with center Matt Birk, McKinnie finds himself on a first-place team, instead of the last place Vikings.

If the Vikings had retained McKinnie, perhaps the pass protection would have been better, and the quarterback play improved to the point of helping the team to a few more victories.

Linebacker Chad Greenway

I don't blame Chad Greenway for accepting the huge contract extension the Vikings offered him. 

The five-year, $41 million contract extension pays Greenway $5.5 million this season. That's more than all but one of the starting linebackers in the NFC North—Brian Urlacher of the Bears who will be paid eight million this season.

While he has been the Vikings' leading tackler every season since 2008, Greenway has not been a dominating force that gets enough attention from the league to earn a spot in the Pro Bowl.

Middle Linebacker E.J. Henderson

Surprisingly, middle linebacker E.J. Henderson did not earn a Pro Bowl berth following, arguably, the best season of his career in 2007. He finished with a team-leading 95 tackles and added 4.5 sacks.

Last season, Henderson led the defense with three interceptions, and finished second on the team with 65 tackles, enough to be named to the 2011 Pro Bowl. 

The Vikings really needed Henderson to step up and have another Pro Bowl season if they were going to turn things around. So far in 10 games, he is fourth on the team with 37 tackles. 

Henderson has added a couple of sacks, but has yet to intercept a pass.

Wide Receiver/Running Back/Kickoff Returner Percy Harvin

Percy Harvin should be a defensive coordinator's nightmare. Able to break off an explosive play from anywhere on the field, it would seem that offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave is struggling to get the ball in Harvin's hands when it counts the most.

Adrian Peterson, who leads the Vikings with 12 touchdowns, has as many touchdown catches as Harvin. 

So far on the season, Harvin has only three touchdowns—one on a kickoff return, one rushing and one receiving.

The 2009 rookie of the year, and one-time Pro Bowler, should be having a bigger impact on this offense. Sure, he's leading the team in receptions, but that's not really anything to brag about.

If Harvin is going to make it to the Pro Bowl he will need to start scoring more.

Cornerback Chris Cook

The Vikings used a second-round draft pick in 2010 on Chris Cook, the highest selection of a defensive back since they drafted Cedric Griffin in the second round in 2006.

If not for the indefinite suspension from the team after his arrest for felony domestic assault, Chris Cook would be the star of the Vikings defensive backfield—especially with all the games Antoine Winfield has missed this season.

According to a report by Judd Zolgad, it's a good bet that Cook will not play again this season, making even four wins for this team a stretch.  

Quarterback Donovan McNabb

Leslie Frazier has indicated that he would make the same decision to bring in Donovan McNabb to the Vikings for this season.

That scares me, as I don't see Frazier as a coach unwilling to admit when he made a mistake.

If the Vikings were truly only a decent quarterback away from contending for a playoff berth, and if McNabb were still able to play at the Pro Bowl level he did in 2009, his last season in Philadelphia, then the Vikings would be in a much better place, and there would be talk about 2010 being an aberration for McNabb in Washington.

But the cold hard truth is that Andy Reid saw something two years ago that prompted him to get rid of McNabb following a season when he threw for over 3,300 yards and 22 touchdowns. How good would his 92.9 passer rating of 2009 look this season?