Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce among 2021 Pro Bowl vote leaders

The 2021 Pro Bowl early vote totals are out and Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are early leaders.

The National Football League released the early leaders from fan voting results for the 2021 Pro Bowl—the league’s annually held all-star exhibition—and the Kansas City Chiefs have several early leaders at their respective positions, as well as two of the top five vote-getters overall.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes leads all NFL players in Pro Bowl votes so far with over 143,000 votes, which is 3K more than the next closest player: Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who has nearly 140,000.

Chiefs All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce is not only among the top overall vote leaders with nearly 128,000, right behind Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook for fourth overall, but he also has a ridiculous vote lead over his NFC counterpart as the top vote getter at tight end. Kelce has nearly 74K more than T.J. Hockenson of the Detroit Lions, who leads as NFC tight ends.

The Chiefs also have two vote leaders at their respective positions on defense. Chris Jones is the AFC’s  vote leader at defensive tackle with over 54,000 entries. Meanwhile, Tyrann Mathieu landed a safety spot with just over 70,000 votes.

The Chiefs also have other players who have likely paths to the game if fan votes don’t go their way. Tyreek Hill is having a monster year for the Chiefs at wide receiver, one in which he’s on pace for a franchise single-season scoring record, and should earn mention beside current leader Stefon Diggs of the Buffalo Bills. Eric Fisher has also earned league-wide respect for holding up well along a patchwork offensive line for the league’s top offense.

This year, the Pro Bowl will take on a virtual form in a partnership between the league and EA Sports. In the face of a global pandemic, the game has already been cancelled from its in-person exhibition to a series of online, collaborative events during a week-long celebration of the NFL’s best players. You can find more details on Pro Bowl changes here.