Chiefs Getting Zero Respect In Pro Bowl Voting
The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t have any players in the Pro Bowl last year and really, other than punter Dustin Colquitt, you could make an argument they didn’t deserve any.
In 2010, however, the Chiefs are much improved and have a number of players worthy of a Pro Bowl birth. Unfortunately, the voting so far seems to indicate that NFL fans disagree.
The NFL released a list of top vote-getters yesterday and there are no Kansas City players in the mix.
This list shows that the average NFL fans kind of tend to vote for the same “name” players every year. There are a few new additions here but there are also a lot of emerging players across the league who are having better seasons than the current top vote-gertters.
Fortunately, the Pro Bowl players are selected by a combination of fan vote, coaches and players which helps balance things out a little bit.
After the jump, I’ll run down some KC players I think are deserving of a trip to Honolulu
this year
next year.
Dwayne Bowe
Bowe is not a lock for the Pro Bowl yet but if he plays out the rest of the season like he has the last seven games or so, he has to go to Hawaii.
Let’s look at the numbers. These are league-wide.
Bowe ranks first among all receivers in TD’s with 11.
Bowe ranks 23rd in receptions(45) but 10th in yardage(715).
Bowe ranks 29th in dropped passes with 4. 4 is the same amount as Santonio Holmes, who just started playing a couple of weeks ago.
Pro Football Focus ranks Bowe as the 6th best receiver in the league.
Jamaal Charles
The voters are ignoring Jamaal Charles because he isn’t getting a ton of carries but if they would just look at his average yards-per-carry they would see he should be a lock for the Pro Bowl.
Let’s look at the numbers:
Charles has the highest YPC (6.1) of any back in the league that has been in for at least 50% of his team’s snaps.
Charles is 17th in attempts (146) and 4th in yards. Think about that for a second. At his average, if Charles were to have as many attempts as Arian Foster who leads the NFL with 194, he would have 1183 yards from scrimmage right now.
Charles is 9th in the NFL in yards-after-contact. He is ahead of guys like Frank Gore, Peyton Hillis and Maurice Jones-Drew.
Once thought to be “fumble-prone” Charles has fumbled only once this season.
Charles is also 5th in receiving yards for a back (356) while he is 9th in receptions (30). Of backs who have played at least 50% of their team’s snaps, Charles averages the most per reception with 11.9.
Charles may not have big touchdown numbers but he is without a doubt the most productive back in the NFL. If he does not make the Pro Bowl it will be a crime.
Brandon Flowers
Flowers is having an unbelievable season and he is not getting enough respect for it. Even after a couple of tough games, he is still one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL.
Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the numbers:
Flowers has been thrown at 75 times. That is 2nd in the league among CB’s who have been in for at least 50% of their team’s snaps yet only 48% of the passes thrown at Flowers have been completed. That ranks 8th in the NFL.
Flowers is in a 3-way tie for 1st (along with Brandon Carr) for passes defended with 10.
When throwing at Flowers, QB’s have a QB rating of 55.4 which is 3rd in the NFL.
The only thing that is holding Flowers back seems to be how much he is getting targeted. In fact, Brandon Carr has been targeted only 3 less times than Flowers and has given up the same amount of receptions (36). By comparison, Nnamdi Asomugha has only been thrown at 20 times, allowing 8 receptions.
The other thing that is so great about Flowers is that if you watch him you know he is more than a cover corner. Flowers is 1 of 4 CB’s this season who has 0 missed tackles. None. Zlich. Zip.
The only difference is that of those 4 players, Flowers has been on the field 656 snaps, whereas the next closet guy with 0 missed tackles, Joselio Hanson, has only played 420 snaps.
Derrick Johnson
DJ is having a heck of a season and if he can pull in a few more interceptions he could find himself in paradise this January.
The numbers (for 3-4 ILB’s):
DJ ranks first in the NFL in passes defended with 8. The next closest is Stewart Bradley with 5.
DJ is 3rd in the NFL in tackles with 67.
Pro Football Focus grades DJ as their 4th best 3-4 ILB.
DJ’s problems right now are his missed tackles and his inability to bring in the interceptions that are bouncing off his hands. He is 4th in the league in missed tackles with 8 and while he ranks high at pressuring the QB, he does not have any sacks.
I would say DJ is on the fringe. He is having a very good season but he needs to step it up to be a Pro Bowler.
Tamba Hali
Tamba is a beast this season. In my opinion, he is the best pure pass rusher in the NFL.
The numbers:
Pro Football Focus agrees with me on Hali. They rank him far and away the #1 3-4 OLB.
PFF gives Hali credit for 45 QB pressures. 45! The next closest is Lamarr Woodley with 32. Clay Matthews of the Green Bay Packers has 23.
PFF currently has Hali listed at 10 sacks. Keep in mind that PFF does their own grading and while they are not official, they are more accurate. In regards to sacks, Niel from PFF told me this today:
"We don’t award half sacks – we think they’re an abomination to simply make things add up. Why should a guy only get 0.5 of a sack because coincidently another guy got there as well?"
On Clay Matthews:
"Regarding Matthew’s sack in the Vikings game – while the scorers at Minnesota may have given him it, he won’t get it from us. Favre is flushed and scrambles out of the pocket chased by Matthews. He then slides because B.J. Raji is blocking his way effectively tackling himself. If anyone should get the sack it’s Raji so in cases like this we will also differ."
On Hali vs. Matthews:
"When it comes to rushing the passer I agree Hali is on a different planet at the moment– he’s doing that as well as anyone we’ve ever seen and obviously far better than Matthews. The only issue is that neither is playing the run that well (although not poorly). However Matthews is only marginally better in this regard so I would very much concur with your view."
Yep. Hali for President.
That is it Addicts. I don’t feel any other Chiefs are in the conversation at this point. Lilja had a good start to the season but he has since tapered off and I wouldn’t label him a Pro Bowler.
What do you think? Is there anyone I left off? Which players listed above, if any, will end up in Hawaii come January?