Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Lance Briggs is playing very well, outside of special teams he's probably the only Bear who deserves to go.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Sharper's a no-brainer.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Jabari Greer

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Miles Austin! But if he goes, then Roy has to go to, because we all know he's the #1 WR... ;)

How about Vincent Jackson? Ronnie Brown and Ray Rice seem pretty damn deserving as well...

I can even imagine a universe in which Cedric Benson makes it.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

I've only seen Revis play twice this year but he got lit up both times. It was particularaly funny when it was Chad Henne doing it immediately after Jon Gruden called him "the best cornerback in the NFL bar none".

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

MJD
Steven Jackson
Ryan Clady?-OT-DEN
Sharper
V.Davis-TE-SF
J.Freeman-QB-TB
Big Ben
Manning/Wayne
Benson

One of those was a glaring mistake...which one?

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

I have to confess that, as a Steelers fan, I got the CB section of the ballot and spent several seconds contemplating the question "Who the hell is Ivan Taylor?"

I guess I learned something today.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

If favre got in last year, then he's a no-brainer. I'm glad to see someone else giving Steven Jackson some love. Which team's gonna have the most pro-bowlers this year? The least? (cue hate for the "dikes" or the "cheatriots")

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

As a Saints fan, I'm going to say QB Brees, G Jahri Evans, G Carl Nicks, S Darren Sharper, & CB Greer need to be strongly considered. LB Vilma and WR Colston should also be in the conversation. Sedrick Ellis will likely miss too much time to be 'worthy' for the season, and Shockey will likely be left out because there's a lot of good TE's in the NFC.

I'll wait to see what others say before I come up with my ballot, but I want to make sure the Saints' guards are in the conversation. I'm not an expert on line play, but that position is key for the offense they run with Brees, and the players are routinely praised whenever articles 'break down' the Saints line play.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Zach Miller, Nnamdi Asomugha for Raiders.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Steven Jackson,
Vincent Jackson,
DeSean Jackson,
Fred Jackson,
Tavaris Jackson, and
Michael Jackson

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Eh, in previous years, when I had time to watch four or five games a week in detail, I didn't think I saw enough players to have a informed opionion on who is playing the best. This year, I'm down to about two games a week. I haven't a clue, and neither does anyone else who isn't watching many games a week. I'd love it if each team's director of pro personnel, the guys who break down hours and hours and hours of coach's film, of opposing players, each week, were to have an anonymous poll for their Pro Bowl/All Pro selections.

What I can do is rate previous Vikings selections, as to how their play compares this year.

Jared Allen: obviously maintaining an extremely high level.
Kevin Williams: not as flashy, still great.
Pat Williams: effective, but not as dominant.
Antione Winfield: mostly very good, except for a couple of plays in the first Packer game, then hurt.
Adrian Peterson: better, due to better pass blocking on his part.
Steve Hutchinson: back injury allowed for an occasional bull-rush, but coming into form again.

I'll put a word in for the old fart on the basis that once again the receivers he is throwing to all of a sudden look to be terrific.

Percy Harvin is an obvious candidate as a kick returner.

It's not a robbery that Bryant Mckinnie has never been selected; he has his limitations. However, after a couple weeks in which the offensive line and qb seemed to be working out their assignment calls, he has been extremely solid out on the island in pass protection.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

I'd give home team votes to Matt Light (who actually deserves it this year), Wes Welker, and whoever made the Pats D suddenly respectable again. Of course, they won't look respectable this week, because they have terrible issues with gimmick packages like the wildcat, but they've been a lot better than 2007/2008.

captcha: "slow kannada". Misheard lyrics?

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

As a Redskins fan, I can say that no one on the Skins will get my vote. The best (and only) candidate would be Haynesworth, but I refuse to vote for any player acquired by Cerrato since Schottenheimer was fired. That leaves me with Chris Samuels (IR), Fred Smoot, and long-snapper Ethan Albright. Technically Smoot was a Cerrato FA addition, but he was originally drafted by the Skins under Marty.

OK, I would be willing to vote for Albright at LS.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

You know what is odd. Kickers. I mean, voting for a pro bowl kicker is so bizarre. Basically they should let people vote for people who they feel are unworthy as kickers and go from there. Whether Robbie Gould scores 20 or 3 points in a game has almost nothing to do with him. Completion % is alot of luck, and the better a kicker you are the lower it will usually be because your team will have you kicking the 57 yard FG attempts.

Peyton Manning goes to the Pro Bowl IMO.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Dumervill. Allen is putting up huge numbers with Williams&Williams and Edwards by his side. Dumervill? Ronald Fields and Vonnie Holliday. I think.

Reminds me: Brian Dawkins has been fantastic for the Broncos. I know there's little chance of getting him in with Reed and Polamalu in the conference. Had he played at this level in the NFC - he would've been a no brainer. That guy simply DO NOT miss tackles.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Guys - who not to pick? Bailey, Asomugha or Revis? Hmm... Am I just a homer?

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

doublepost

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Who will be picked from Witten, Gonzalez, Celek, V.Davis ?
D.Jackson might not have the stats, but when you score on PR, sweeps and long TDs, shouldn't you get a chance to get to the Pro Bowl ?
And to finish with my homer picks :

A.Samuel, S.Brown could both go(in theory). They are playing outstanding football. I guess only SamuelS will. Bunkley deserves to go too IMO, he's an unsung hero of that defense. On offense, Celek, Weaver and D.Jackson could pretend to go.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

I can't believe Dallas Clark has never been to the Pro Bowl, but I guess that's what happens when the AFC has had two default selections for years in Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez. Now that Tony's in the NFC, the door's wide open. It's a shame that Owen Daniels was injured, I think he and Clark would both have been no-brainers this year.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Some of my off-the-cuff picks:

Brandon Meriweather
Haloti Hgata
Antwan Odom, IR be damned
MJD
Peyton Manning
Marques Colston
Darrelle Revis
Chris Johnson
Darren Sharper
Elvis Dumervil
Jared Allen
Vincent Jackson
Saints OL
Wes Welker
Tony Gonzalez
Adrian Wilson
Larry Fitzgerald

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Miami Dolphins worthy of Consideration:

Ronnie Brown
Jake Long
Justin Smiley
Jake Grove
Vern Carey

And that's it!

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

I think this is sort of a futile exercise except for a few very clear players. Here would be a quick list of hands down guys. Much past this and I think it can be argued 3 or 4 different ways.

P Manning
D Brees
A Peterson
C Johnson
A Johnson
L Fitzgerald
J Allen
D Sharper
A Samuel

I don't think I know enough about all the players on the line or the other defensive positions to really pick anyone who stands out. Some guys pop to mind of course, but I just don't have the information to evaluate them without knowing their assignments etc. And I worry about missing guys from teams I haven't watched more than once.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

I thought he'd be mentioned by now, but maybe it's because he's a given,

Patrick Willis

3rd in NFL in solo tackles, 2.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 INTs, 1 touchdown on the currently 2nd ranked rush defense in the league, 6th overall Def DVOA, 3rd v. Run.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Of the Texans, Daniels would have been a no brainer had he not been hurt. Johnson still is a no-brainer. DeMeco Ryans, who played hurt last year and had a down season as a result, is having his best season and should almost certainly go. Brian Cushing is having an outstanding rookie season: he's certainly a DROY candidate, but I think pro-bowl consideration would not be inappropriate. Schaub is playing well, but not as well as his numbers, conventional and advanced, would suggest. He'd be a marginal selection at best. Mario Williams is banged up and it's clearly affecting him. If his shoulder heals over the bye and he plays the second half at full strength, he might do enough to deserve a place. If his current level holds for the remainder of the season, he won't.

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

Corey Webster

Re: Pro Bowl / All-Pro ballots

OK, after killing plenty of time today, I've made some potential Pro Bowl rosters if I'm selecting. Mostly based on performance of course, but if it's close, I've picked the more well known player, except for NFC QB... And geez I was struggling to find some standout Strong Safeties based on the ballot lists.

NFC:
QB (3): Drew Brees, Kurt Warner, Aaron Rodgers
RB (3): Adrian Peterson, Frank Gore, Michael Turner
FB (1): Brad Hoover
WR (4): Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Smith (NYG), Marques Colston, Miles Austin
TE (2): Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten
OT (3): LT - Jason Peters, Bryant McKinnie, RT - Kareem McKenzie
OG (3): LG - Kyle Kosier, RG - Chris Snee, Jahri Evans
C (2): Shaun O'Hara, Todd McClure

DE (3): Trent Cole, Justin Smith, John Abraham
DT (3): Kevin Williams, Albert Haynesworth, Pat Williams
OLB (3): DeMarcus Ware, Thomas Davis, Aaron Kampman (injury cover for Davis: Clark Haggans)
ILB (2): Patrick Willis, London Fletcher-Baker
CB (3): Antoine Winfield, Sheldon Brown, Jabari Greer
FS (1): Darren Sharper
SS (1): Quintin Mikell

K (1): David Akers
P (1): Andy Lee
KR (1): Percy Harvin
ST (1): Heath Farwell

Team Totals:
Minnesota: 7 (Peterson, McKinnie, K.Williams, P.Williams, Winfield, Harvin, Farwell)
New Orleans: 5 (Brees, Colston, Evans, Greer, Sharper)
Philadelphia: 5 (Peters, Cole, S.Brown, Mikell, Akers)
Atlanta: 4 (Turner, Gonzalez, McClure, Abraham)
Dallas: 4 (Austin, Witten, Kosier, Ware)
NY Giants: 4 (S.Smith, McKenzie, Snee, O'Hara)
San Francisco: 4 (Gore, J.Smith, Willis, A.Lee)
Arizona: 2 (Warner, Fitzgerald)
Carolina: 2 (Hoover, T.Davis)
Green Bay: 2 (Rodgers, Kampman)
Washington: 2 (Haynesworth, Fletcher-Baker)

Chicago, Detroit, Seattle, St.Louis, Tampa: 0

AFC:
QB (3): Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Carson Palmer
RB (3): Maurice Jones-Drew, Chris Johnson, Ronnie Brown
FB (1): Le'Ron McClain
WR (4): Reggie Wayne, Chad Ochocinco, Andre Johnson, Vincent Jackson
TE (2): Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates
OT (3): LT - Joe Thomas, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, RT - Vernon Carey
OG (3): LG - Ryan Lilja, RG - Stephen Neal, Bobbie Williams
C (2): Nick Mangold, Matt Birk

DE (3): Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, Mario Williams
DT (3): Vince Wilfork, Kelly Gregg, Sione Pouha
OLB (3): James Harrison, Brian Cushing, Keith Rivers
ILB (2): Ray Lewis, Daryl Smith
CB (3): Darrelle Revis, Champ Bailey, Johnathon Joseph
FS (1): Ed Reed
SS (1): Jim Leonhard

K (1): Sebastian Janikowski
P (1): Shane Lechler
KR (1): Josh Cribbs
ST (1): John Wendling

Team Totals:
Indianapolis: 6 (Manning, Wayne, D.Clark, Lilja, Freeney, Mathis)
Baltimore: 5 (McClain, Birk, Gregg, R.Lewis, Reed)
Cincinnati: 5 (Palmer, Ochocinco, B.Williams, Rivers, Joseph)
NY Jets: 5 (Ferguson, Mangold, Pouha, Revis, Leonhard)
Houston: 3 (A.Johnson, M.Williams, Cushing)
Cleveland: 2 (J.Thomas, Cribbs)
Jacksonville: 2 (Jones-Drew, D.Smith)
Miami: 2 (R.Brown, Carey)
New England: 2 (Neal, Wilfork)
Oakland: 2 (Janikowski, Lechler)
Pittsburgh: 2 (Roethlisberger, Harrison)
San Diego: 2 (V.Jackson, Gates)
Buffalo: 1 (Wendling)
Denver: 1 (Bailey)
Tennessee: 1 (C.Johnson)

Kansas City: 0