AFC Pro Bowl Roster 2012: QBs Not Named Tom Brady Who Deserve Trip to Hawaii

In recent seasons, the AFC has been home to some pretty great quarterback play. Names like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger immediately spring to mind.

In 2011, only Brady has really stood out in the AFC. That would be cool, but it makes picking quarterbacks out for the Pro Bowl a little difficult. Brady's the only quarterback who has had what can be deemed a Pro Bowl-caliber season.

Nevertheless, the AFC roster is going to need three quarterbacks, and we're going to find out which three quarterbacks made the cut on Tuesday night.

I don't have a crystal ball, but I do have a list of five quarterbacks that deserve to go. If we've learned anything from recent history, it's that the powers that be are going to need as many options as possible. 

5. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

So you can probably already tell that this list is going to be scraping the bottom of the barrel, huh?

Yeah, just a little bit. We are, after all, talking about a guy in Philip Rivers who is tied for the NFL lead with 19 interceptions. He has not had a great season.

However, he hasn't had an awful season either. Only Tom Brady has thrown for more yards than Rivers in the AFC, and only Brady has thrown more touchdown passes than Rivers. Take away half of his interceptions, and Rivers has had a pretty good year.

I won't put Rivers any higher than this, though. In fact, No. 5 is a good spot for him, as he is currently No. 5 in the AFC in passer rating. 

4. Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals

By numbers alone, Andy Dalton has had an okay season. Not great, not bad. Okay.

But for a rookie, Dalton did better than okay. On the contrary, he played quite well.

That Dalton has passed for over 3,100 yards and 20 touchdowns is all well and good, but the reason he deserves a trip to Hawaii is because of what he's done for the Bengals. They had virtually no hope heading into this season, and he's put them on the doorstep of the postseason. 

That's pretty awesome, and he deserves to be rewarded for his efforts.

3. Mark Sanchez, New York Jets

The funny part is that Mark Sanchez has actually had a pretty good season this year. At least, by Mark Sanchez standards, anyway.

We can harass Sanchez all we want, but he has as many touchdown passes (24) as Philip Rivers, and the only active quarterback in the AFC with a better TD/INT ratio than Sanchez's +9 mark is Mr. Brady.

Brady's TD/INT ratio, for the record, is +25.

So you see, Sanchez is catching up to Brady. Perhaps a trip to Hawaii will make him try even harder. 

2. Tim Tebow, Denver Broncos

Okay, so maybe Tim Tebow isn't heaven-sent after all. He's had a rough couple of weeks.

But relative to the time he's been given under center, Tebow has done pretty well. In his 10 starts, he has 11 touchdown passes and six rushing touchdowns. His completion percentage sucks and his yards are nothing special, but at least Tebow has found his way into the end zone.

And yes, it is worth mentioning that the Broncos have won seven of Tebow's 10 starts. It's been a team effort, but you can't look me in the eye and tell me they would have done it without him.

Besides, sending Tebow to the Pro Bowl will spice things up a bit. Goodness knows the Pro Bowl could do with a bit of spiciness.

1. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers

Big Ben likely won't be willing or able to play in the Pro Bowl, but he definitely deserves to go. He hasn't had a great year, but he's been solid enough.

As of right now, the only active AFC quarterback with a better passer rating and a better completion percentage than Big Ben is Brady. To boot, Big Ben has a shot at topping 4,000 yards passing for the second time in his career.

Keep in mind that Big Ben has done all of this behind a shoddy offensive line, and has done some of it with a left ankle held together with duct tape and popsicle sticks.

Not bad. Not bad at all.