2012 NFL Pro Bowl Voting: Who Deserves Top Fan Votes?

The results of the fan voting portion of NFL Pro Bowl nominations were released today, and as usual it's a cast of familiar names getting most of the votes.

In the following slides, I examine five players who deserved the high number of votes they received, based on their respective performances in the 2011 season.

NFC: QB Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

With a record 100 million Pro Bowl votes cast by fans this season, the top vote-getter was Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who received nearly 1.6 million votes.

It's no surprise Rodgers leads the vote—he's the quarterback of the reigning Super Bowl champions and a very popular team in its own right. The Packers have just one loss to their names this season and Rodgers is having the best year of his career.

This season, Rodgers has completed 68.1 percent of his passes for 4,360 yards, 40 touchdowns and six interceptions, and has even rushed for 239 yards and three additional scores.

He's one of three quarterbacks on pace to beat Dan Marino's single-season passing yardage record, and the Packers are yet again favorites to not just play in, but also win, the Super Bowl.

It would be shocking if any other player garnered more of the fans' vote than Rodgers.

AFC: QB Tom Brady, New England Patriots

It's never surprising that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is perennially one of the top performers in Pro Bowl fan voting, despite his general opposition to playing in the game.

He's extremely popular, his down years are the kinds of seasons other quarterbacks only dream of having, and this season he's one of three quarterbacks on pace to break Dan Marino's passing record.

This season, Brady has thrown for 4,593 yards, 35 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He's averaging 328.1 yards per game and has completed 66.2 percent of his passes.

Once again surrounded by a high level of talent on offense, and still one of the most accurate and intelligent passers in the game, it's yet another year that Brady gets the AFC's top Pro Bowl spot, at least according to the fans.

NFC: QB Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

Pro Bowl fan voting is normally very quarterback-heavy, and this year is no different considering how well some of the league's top passers have been performing.

Arguably, none are having a better year than the New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees. Brees is also on pace to break Dan Marino's passing record, but he has the best shot of doing so first and holding the record when the season has wrapped.

Brees is the most accurate quarterback in the league through 15 weeks, completing 71.5 of his 583 passes for 4,780 yards, 37 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

With just shy of 1.2 million fan votes, Brees is the No. 2 overall vote-getter in the NFC and the third in the NFL. He's earned every single one of those votes this year and he's guaranteed to play in the Pro Bowl game should the Saints fall short of their Super Bowl goal.

NFC: WR Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson is the top non-quarterback vote-getter in the fan portion of Pro Bowl voting this year, and he's worked hard to gain that recognition and earn that accolade.

Johnson has been one of the top receivers through the last four years, but 2011 has marked his best season yet. With Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford remaining healthy, Johnson has been his primary target and his stat line belies this.

With 81 catches, 1,335 yards and 14 touchdowns on the year, he's got the second-highest yardage total of any wide receiver this season.

The Pro Bowl is supposed to recognize the best of the best in the NFL, and that's certainly what Johnson is, among both fellow receivers and all offensive players in the league.

AFC: TE Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots

With 2011 supposedly the year of the quarterback, one would think wide receivers would be having stellar seasons as well.

They certainly are, as evidenced by what the Detroit Lions' Johnson and the New England Patriots' Wes Welker have accomplished this year, but a number of tight ends have emerged as some of the most dynamic pass catchers in the league.

None have emerged quite like the Patriots' Rob Gronkowski, however. Gronkowski has the makings to be the best tight end to play the game, though this is just his second year in the league.

This season he has caught 75 passes for 1,141 yards and 15 touchdowns, and has a two-yard touchdown run to his name as well. His 2010 performance hinted at what was possible, and though he ended that year with fewer than half the yards and receptions he has now, he scored 10 touchdowns last season.

Now, he's quarterback Tom Brady's most explosive target and has a long, fruitful career ahead of him. There's no other tight end in the AFC more worthy of this honor, and it's clear the fans agree, awarding him just over 936,000 total votes this year.