Pro Bowl Rosters

The NFL announced the 2021 Pro Bowl rosters this week. For some reason, the league started leaking the names on Monday with the final reveal coming on Wednesday. The surging Indianapolis Colts had the most selections with seven players. The Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers were next with six. The obligatory Tom Brady mention has him with his record 15th Pro Bowl nod. Congratulations Tom. 

Six teams had no Pro Bowl players:

New York Giants

New York Jets

Denver Broncos

Jacksonville Jaguars

Houston Texans 

Detroit Lions

The Broncos shouldn’t be on this list because safety Justin Simmons should be on the team. Speaking of safeties. It’s ridiculous that the Pro Bowl rosters include two strong safeties and a single free safety. There should be two of each. Besides, many safeties play a bit of both. 

The three players that the fans, players, and coaches did get right:

Dalvin Cook

Justin Jefferson

Harrison Smith

Those are, of course, the 2021 Pro Bowl players from the Minnesota Vikings. It’s a very deserving trio. The most deserving trio. It’s short a few names as Eric Kendricks, Brian O’Neill, C.J. Ham, and Kene Nwangwu should’ve made the team as well. 

When is Eric Kendricks going to get the league-wide respect that he’s long deserved? Despite playing at an All-Pro/Pro Bowl level for most of his seven years in the league, he’s been All-Pro once and gone to the Pro Bowl once. It’s been years since Bobby Wagner has played at either level yet he still gets the inside linebacker nod every year. Even worse than the All-Pro and Pro Bowl snubs, it’s a surprise when I don’t hear a game’s broadcast team not refer to “Eric Kendricks” as “Mychal Kendricks.” Come on! The greatest thing that the elder Kendricks achieved was going to Cal. The disrespect of ERIC Kendricks is pathetic.

Here are the 2021 NFC Pro Bowl Rosters:

Offense

Quarterbacks

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals

Running Backs

Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings 

James Conner, Arizona Cardinals 

Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints 

Fullback

Kyle Juszczyk, San Francisco 49ers 

Wide Receivers

Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams 

Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers 

Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings 

Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers 

Tight Ends

George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers 

Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons

Offensive Tackles

Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers 

Tristan Wirfs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Tyron Smith, Dallas Cowboys 

Offensive Guards

Zack Martin, Dallas Cowboys 

Brandon Scherff, Washington Football Team 

Ali Marpet, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Centers

Jason Kelce, Philadelphia Eagles 

Ryan Jensen, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Defense

Defensive End

Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers 

Brian Burns, Carolina Panthers 

Cameron Jordan, New Orleans Saints 

Defensive Tackles

Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams 

Jonathan Allen, Washington Football Team 

Kenny Clark, Green Bay Packers 

Outside Linebackers

Chandler Jones, Arizona Cardinals 

Robert Quinn, Chicago Bears

Shaquil Barrett, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Inside Linebackers

Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys

Bobby Wagner, Seattle Seahawks

Cornerbacks

Trevon Diggs, Dallas Cowboys 

Jalen Ramsey, Los Angeles Rams 

Darius Slay, Philadelphia Eagles 

Marshon Lattimore, New Orleans Saints 

Free Safety

Quandre Diggs, Seattle Seahawks 

Strong Safety

Budda Baker, Arizona Cardinals 

Harrison Smith, Minnesota Vikings 

Special Teams

Kicker

Matt Gay, Los Angeles Rams

Punter

Bryan Anger, Dallas Cowboys

Returner

Jakeem Grant, Chicago Bears

Long Snapper

Josh Harris, Atlanta Falcons 

Special Teamer

J.T. Gray, New Orleans Saints 

***

And the 2021 AFC Pro Bowl Rosters:

Offense

Quarterbacks

Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs 

Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Running Backs

Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts 

Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns

Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals 

Fullback

Patrick Ricard, Baltimore Ravens

Wide Receivers

Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs

Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals 

Stefon Diggs, Buffalo Bills

Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers 

Tight Ends

Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens 

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs 

Offensive Tackles

Rashawn Slater, Los Angeles Chargers 

Orlando Brown, Kansas City Chiefs 

Dion Dawkins, Buffalo Bills 

Offensive Guards

Quenton Nelson, Indianapolis Colts 

Joel Bitonio, Cleveland Browns 

Wyatt Teller, Cleveland Browns 

Centers

Corey Linsley, Los Angeles Chargers

Ryan Kelly, Indianapolis Colts 

Defense

Defensive Ends

Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns 

Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders

Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals 

Defensive Tackles

Deforest Buckner, Indianapolis Colts 

Chris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs 

Cameron Heyward, Pittsburgh Steelers 

Outside Linebackers

T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers 

Joey Bosa, Los Angeles Chargers 

Matt Judon, New England Patriots

Inside Linebackers

Darius Leonard, Indianapolis Colts 

Denzel Perryman, Las Vegas Raiders

Cornerbacks

J.C. Jackson, New England Patriots 

Xavien Howard, Miami Dolphins 

Denzel Ward, Cleveland Browns 

Kenny Moore II, Indianapolis Colts 

Free Safety

Kevin Byard, Tennessee Titans

Strong Safety

Derwin James, Los Angeles Chargers

Tyrann Mathieu, Kansas City Chiefs 

Special Teams

Kicker

Justin Tucker, Baltimore Ravens 

Punter

A.J. Cole, Las Vegas Raiders

Returner

Devin Duvernay, Baltimore Ravens 

Long Snapper

Luke Rhodes, Indianapolis Colts 

Special Teamer

Matthew Slater, New England Patriots 

***

Rookie Pro Bowl Presence

Kyle Pitts

Micah Parsons

Ja’Marr Chase

Rashawn Slater

For what it’s worth, all four were taken in the top half of the first round. 

In addition to the Pro Bowl roster stupidity of selecting one free safety and two strong safeties, I’ve always found it stupid that defensive ends and outside linebackers aren’t grouped together as edge rushers. Blitzing is banned in the Pro Bowl. The pass rushing talents of all six of the outside linebackers on the Pro Bowl rosters will be wasted in the game. No one wants to see Chandler Jones, Robert Quinn, Shaq Barrett, T.J. Watt, Joey Bosa, and Matthew Judon cover a back out of the backfield. Even in an all-star game in which barely a lick of defense is played, people would rather see these players chase quarterbacks. It’s just stupid to pick players for doing something that they aren’t allowed to do in the game. Again, this would be a stronger argument if the teams actually played defense in this game. There was a time that they did. 

Dallas Cowboys rookie linebacker Micah Parsons absolutely should be on the team. He’s having one of the great rookie seasons in recent memory. He’s already locked up defensive rookie of the year. He’s also played his way into the conversation for defensive player of the year. I don’t understand why he made the team as an inside linebacker. The Cowboys list him as a strong-side linebacker. I haven’t seen all of his games. Every time I have seen him, he’s ripping apart offenses with his rushing and range off the edge. He should make the Pro Bowl at the position that he plays. Replace Shaq Barrett with Parsons on the outside and hand that inside linebacker position to a player that’s earned it. Eric Kendricks.