New Orleans Saints: Handicapping the Likely Pro Bowlers on the 2011 Squad

With just one day remaining in fan voting for the 2012 Pro Bowl, here is a quick handicap of the likely selections from the 11-3, likely NFC South-winning New Orleans Saints. 

Keep in mind teams from smaller markets often get shafted in this popularity contest. But also remember teams with great records—and 11-3 sure isn't bad—generally get a pretty fair number of players. 

Because of the Saints explosive offense and a defense which has a poor reputation, it is likely to see more offensive than defensive players, though at least two guys from that other side of the ball are deserving in my opinion. 

QB Drew Brees: A Mortal Lock

If it weren't for Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees would be the 2011 NFL MVP, hands down. Even with Rodgers, Brees maintains a slight chance of winning the award. 

But that is beside the point of this article. The point is, Drew Brees wrapped up his trip to Hawaii long ago. Eleven wins, 305 yards short of breaking Dan Marino's seasonal passing yardage record, 37 touchdowns and a surgical precision displayed at a position which has seen its share of nightmares this season. 

Those numbers and qualities make this the surest thing since a Charlie Sheen meltdown. 

WR Marques Colston: Probable Alternate

It is likely that 2011 will be another year in which The Best Receiver in Football Without a Pro Bowl appearance will continue for the Saints' Marques Colston. 

Despite great numbers—66 receptions for 917 yards and five touchdowns—Colston will have to settle for making big time catches in more meaningful games come January, and hopefully February. 

Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Steve Smith and Victor Cruz figure to take the NFC Wide Receiver Pro Bowl bids with Colston again on the outside looking in. 

RB/Returner Darren Sproles: Not a Lock, but Should Get in

Darren Sproles' value cannot be seen merely by statistics, though his are very good. He is just four yards shy of 500 yards rushing with two touchdowns. More impressively, he has caught 79 passes for 659 yards and five touchdowns. And as a returner, he of course has one touchdown and numerous other long returns. 

More importantly, he is just one more guy for defenses to game plan against. His presence has made the Saints even more explosive than they have been in years past. 

Any of those things by themselves would leave Sproles out of the Pro Bowl, but since it all comes in one package, well, Sproles has to find a spot on a flight to Hawaii in February, compliments of Mr. Roger Goodell. 

TE Jimmy Graham: Surest Thing in the League

Jimmy Graham hasn't just been a good tight end this season. He's been dominant. 

He's so far ahead of the next tight end in the NFC they aren't even in sight. His numbers are wide receiver type numbers, with 87 receptions for 1,171 yards and nine touchdowns. If he technically played wide receiver, he'd be the second most automatic selection in the NFC. 

The impact Graham has had on the Saints offense is amazing. Granted, he is aided by sharing defenses' attention with Darren Sproles, Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Pierre Thomas and the list goes on. 

He's also aided by the most tight end friendly quarterback in the league. But make no mistake, Graham is a stud and the most deserving of Pro Bowl prospects around. 

LG Carl Nicks: Pretty Much a Sure Thing

The New Orleans Saints are among the best teams in the NFL in rushing yards per attempt and rushing touchdowns. And when the team runs to the left or center of the line, they only have 16 negative runs. To the right, they have 14. 

And in recent weeks, the sack numbers and QB hits numbers have dropped significantly and are getting closer to league leading numbers. All this means at least one Saints lineman will represent New Orleans in Hawaii. Carl Nicks is the odds-on favorite as the first choice. 

RG Jahri Evans: Perennial Selection Gets in Again

Pro Bowl voting for the offensive line is kind of like the United States General Elections. Status quo almost always wins out. It really doesn't matter how well someone has done in their position. Once they're in the club, they're in for life. 

Jahri Evans is probably among that elite group. Despite a regression in his play the past two years, Evans is still considered by many as the finest right guard in the league. That sounds like he has a yearly spot in Hawaii until he decides to retire from the game of football. 

DE Will Smith: Probably Not Gonna Get Jiggy with It in Hawaii

Since returning from a two-game suspension, Will Smith has been the Saints best defensive lineman. He has been a steadying force on a unit which struggled mightily to slow down rushing attacks early in the season. 

His 6.5 sacks, though, are not numbers that get a 4-3 defensive end into the Pro Bowl. No matter how good a guy is against the run, the Pro Bowl is about flash, something which defined Smith's game early in his career. 

He's become the veteran team player, which has made this defense better. Unfortunately, it won't get him a free trip to Hawaii. 

Safety Roman Harper: You Can Count on It

When you're leading your team with 7.5 sacks as a safety, you're going to get a nod to the Pro Bowl. I don't even care what else you do. He also has 67 total tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. 

Missing is even one interception, but it's likely voters will overlook that fact. The guy has provided a necessary physical aspect to this Saints defense, which it has been missing in recent seasons, even with Harper playing an integral role in the defense. 

Harper has stepped his game up this season, and Gregg Williams has been wise to mostly use him as a run defender/blitzer. It has made him yet again a Pro Bowl-caliber safety. 

Safety Malcolm Jenkins: Too Hard to Say for Sure

Football experts who watch film know that Malcolm Jenkins is one of the finest safeties in the game. But they also recognize one trait that seems to be missing from Jenkins' game at this venture of his career. 

He is inconsistent when it comes to making big-time plays. Whereas the 2009 Saints feasted on opponents' turnovers caused by Darren Sharper, this unit struggles to take the football away. 

It's the area Jenkins most needs to improve upon, though it's hard to really determine how a player improves in this area. Some of that is a God-given ability, some is luck and some of it be studying and better positioning yourself as a player. 

Jenkins is still only in his third professional season and second as a full-time safety. My guess is that in years to come Jenkins will grow in this area, since he has shown early in his career an ability to make big plays. 

He may not make the Pro Bowl this season, but 2011 may be the last year he gets snubbed for a long, long time. 

CB Jabari Greer: Deserving but Underrated

Few players in the NFL are more deserving a Pro Bowl bid and seem unlikely to attain it. 

Though the Saints defense ranks 28th in passing yards surrendered, it is not because their defensive backs are bad players. In fact, one could make an argument—as I have here—that the New Orleans Saints possess the finest secondary in the entire league. 

Jabari Greer has mostly shut down the best receivers he's played this season, or made life very difficult on them. Of the three likely Pro Bowlers he's gone against—Megatron, Andre Johnson (not this year but every other year he is) and Steve Smith—only A. Johnson has gone over 100 yards receiving on the day. 

In other matchups against top receivers, Greer is performed very well on the road covering Roddy White, and pretty much shut down the Giants' Hakeem Nicks.

It's unfair that Greer will likely be shafted from this year's Pro Bowl.  

Punter Thomas Morstead: Tied in a Two-Man Race

Among punters with more than 10 attempts on the season, Thomas Morstead ranks second in the entire league in net average, a much more important statistic than total punt yardage. 

No. 1 is Andy Lee, who does share kickoff duties the way Morstead does. With Morstead's touchback pedigree included, Morstead should be the obvious selection as NFC punter, with Andy Lee being his alternate. 

7 Likely Pro Bowlers

It seems to be a slam dunk that the New Orleans Saints will have seven representatives in Hawaii in February. They could seemingly have up to 11, but Marques Colston, Malcolm Jenkins, Jabari Greer, and Will Smith, in my opinion, are unlikely to get that initial call. 

All could possibly end up in the game as an alternate, though. 

As always, Geaux Saints!