Pro Bowl Rosters And Snubs (Offense): Victor Cruz Leads the Way
Every year there are countless players who are pro-bowl snubs and this year is no different. Though keep in mind having a good year doesn’t mean you deserve to be in the pro-bowl if you’re not having one of the absolutely best seasons at your position in your conference.
I’ll go position by position (maybe not offensive line)
Quarterback
NFC: Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Eli Manning
SNUBS: NONE
There are other players who have had great years at quarterback in the N.F.C. Matthew Stafford, Tony Romo, and Cameron Newton all come to mind. As does Alex Smith, but are any of those three having better years than Eli Manning? No.
Eli Manning has tied the record for fourth quarter touchdown passes in a season. And his third in the conference in passing yards. His 8.3 yards per attempt is second in the conference. He has a few less touchdowns than Tony Romo and Matthew Stafford (both players who play the majority of their games in a dome), but to say any of those players have had a better season than Eli Manning would be unfair to Eli.
AFC: Tom Brady, Big Ben, Philip Rivers
SNUBS: NONE
The quarterback play in the A.F.C this year has just been brutal. How bad is it? Mark Sanchez is second in the conference in touchdown passes. I think you could make a case for Ryan Fitzpatrick based off of numbers, but who is willing to do that? Not me.
Running backs:
NFC: LeSean McCoy, Matt Forte, Frank Gore
SNUBS: Marshawn Lynch
To me, I think Marshawn Lynch got snubbed a bit here and he’s had a better season than Frank Gore. Lynch has 12 touchdown runs is averaging 4.2 yards per carry as the main weapon in Seattle and is 1,118 yards his only slightly behind Gore’s 1202 yards. But he does have about a 100 yards more receiving than Gore. Gore’s had a really good season as well, but I personally would prefer Lynch a bit because of his edge in touchdowns and becuase he’s had some really big runs against better defenses (I mean he had to play against the 49ers Gore gets to play the Seahawks).
AFC: Ray Rice, Arian Foster ,MJD
SNUBS: NONE
Who are you going to replace off that roster?
Ryan Matthews, Reggie Bush, and Willis McGahee have all had excellent seasons, but not quite as good. Clearly, Fred Jackson who is still 18th in the league in rushing despite not playing in over a month and a half is still 18th in the league in rushing yards.
Wide Receivers:
NFC: Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Smith, Greg Jennings
SNUBS: Victor Cruz. Honroable mention Roddy White
Greg Jenning is 19th in the league in receiving yards and Jennings has 9 touchdowns.
Victor Cruz is 3rd in the league in receiving yards averaging 17.9 yards per reception and he has 8 touchdowns. What’s even more impressive is that Victor Cruz only had 2 receptions for 17 yards the first two weeks of the season when he was an afterthought. Since then in 13 games he’s averaged 103 yards per game receiving. Cruz has made huge plays all season.
Fitzgerald, Smith, and Johnson have all had big years so I don’t get too worked up about them being on the roster, but no, Greg Jennings did not deserve it this year over Victor Cruz and Roddy White. Roddy White has an argument as a replacement for Steve Smith or Fitzgerald,but both actually have better numbers playing with lesser quarterbacks (though Newton’s potential is great).
AFC: Wes Welker, Wallace, Green, Marshall
SNUBS: None
I think they got this right. No one has really outproduced those who are listed here. Vincent Jackson and Dwayne Bowe are similar production, but not greater production.
Tight End:
NFC: Jimmy Graham, Tony Gonzalez
SNUBS: None
You could replace Gonazlez with Jason Witten and no one would complain, but again production is similar. Witten has more yards, Gonzalez has more touchdowns. Fred Davis has had a great second half of the season before he was suspended. Brent Celek a great last few games, but again hard to say anyone was much better.
AFC: Rob Grnokowski, Antonio Gates
SNUBS: Aaron Hernandez
similar productoin, Hernandez has more catches, yards, and the same number of touchdowns. Not a big snub though, as it’s close. The passing game for the A.F.C. was really down this year.