With three quarters of the season gone, it's the time of year when I start thinking about Pro Bowl Ballots. So, here's my first draft at a ballot.
AFC Quarterbacks Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger
Running Back LaDainian Tomlinson, Corey Dillon, Edgerrin James
Wide Receiver Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Jimmy Smith, Chad Johnson (I’d put Brandon Stokely ahead of Chad Johnson but the official ballot only lists 2 picks per team.)
Fullback Lorenzo Neal
Tight End Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez
Kicker Mike Vanderjagt
Punter Mike Scifres
Guard Toniu Fonoti, Alan Faneca, Joe Andruzzi
Tackle Tarik Glenn, Matt Light, Roman Oben
Center Jeff Saturday, Nick Hardwick
Cornerback Ty Law, Chris McAlister, Tyrone Poole
Strong Safety Ed Reed
Free Safety John Lynch
Defensive End Dwight Freeney, Jason Taylor, Kenard Lang
Inside Linebacker Donnie Edwards, London Fletcher
Outside Linebacker Keith Bulluck, Akin Ayodele
Interior Lineman Jeff Zgonina, Monte Reagor, Richard Seymour
Not much to quibble about with these picks, but Troy Polamalu has been playing at a Pro-Bowl level this year, and James Farrior has been arguably the NFL Defensive Player of the Year to this point, so I think he has to be on there somewhere.
(Way too early) Super Bowl Prediction: Steelers 27, Eagles 17
Wait, you put the Chargers punter on there? Damn the Chargers really are legit.
I can't argue with Neal though - without Neal, Tomlinson is just another top level back. With him, he's the man.
It's good to see the love for Gates as well. I hope he can keep up the numbers he has been putting up.
Osgood probably shouldn't be on the list, even though I really like him. That's my biggest AFC nitpick - even as a Chargers fan it looks a little Charger heavy.
Willful ignorance of science is not commendable. Refusing to learn the difference between a credible source and a shill is criminally stupid.
As I biased Steeler fan, I'd put Jerome in place of Corey Dillion. Its hard to not to take all the Steelers' O line. I will say that Heniz Ward needs to be in the Wide Recievers, guy is the best all around Wide reciever in the league. Ahman Green doesn't deserve to be on the list, but Westbrook does. Overall, not a bad list.
"All faith reguires is giving into the possibility of hope."
I'd dispute putting Roethlisberger in there. The Steelers are carried by their running attack and stout D; Big Ben's just making sure not to make any mistakes.
How can Adam Vinatieri not get your vote for AFC kicker? Especially when you already passed him up on QB despite his 1:1 TD pass to pass attempt ratio. ;-)
Seriously, Automatic Adam had lived up to his name this year, again.
And I'd put Brady in over Big Ben, but I'm horribly biased.
"He is the most overrated piece of crap in the league. He bitched and whined after he got his ass beaten in New England last year, so the NFL changed the rules. Then he got his ass beaten in New England again. Every year he's the top MVP candidate. Every year he's supposed to be the best. Every year he's going to carry the Colts to the Super Bowl. And every single year he goes to New England and gets his ass beaten. And his brother's a whiny little bitch." -A friend of mine, on Peyton Manning
This is really kind of a goofy thing since no one sees everyone play and it's mostly based on reputation. But re: the Steelers, let me shout out my own glaring biases.
- James Farrior definite, Alan Faneca definite, Aaron Smith should be definite.
- Troy Polamalu would be nice, but I assume he's going to have trouble with Ed Reed and R. Harrison ahead of him.
- Hines Ward should be, but I can see him getting forced out because his catches have dropped off since they don't do a whole lot of throwing.
- It'd be nifty to recognize another offensive lineman like Jeff Hartings or Marvel Smith, but there are probably more dominant individual talents at C and T.
- There's the four-person logjam at QB and, all things considered, Uncle Ben should be the odd man out, for the reasons that the Bronco Lanche says (not that he hasn't dazzled at times). But I could see him making it anyway because of the story.
- As fun as he's been, Bettis isn't even the leading rusher on his team so no.
I went Manning, Brady and Palmer. I'm even a little more biased. :-)
I can see why someone would say Big Ben, but I'm with Broncolanche. He fits very well into Steeler football and looks, at least at this point, to be their franchise QB for years to come. I like him, but he's not a Pro-Bowl QB yet.
Vinatieri absolutely deserves every vote he gets. Simply awesome clutch kicker.
Let me give you some of my thinking as to why I made the picks I made.
Kassim Osgood got thrown in cause I really wasn't sure who to take at that position and I enjoyed seeing him blow up a couple of Broncos yesterday.
I agree Troy Polamalu has been playing very well this year, but there's no way he's been better than Ed Reed or Rodney Harrison, my number 2 at that position. Farrior was probably the most difficult decision I made although I don't think he's the defensive player of the year. Ultimately, I felt that Donnie Edwards and London Fletcher were doing more with less help than Farrior and that swayed me towards them, but your mileage may vary.
I like Bettis, but when you're not the starter on your own team, it's kind of hard for me to think you're really a Pro Bowler. As for the Steelers O-line, I think you can say the same thing about the New England, Indianapolis, and San Diego lines so I kind of split the votes among those dominant lines. Hines Ward was never even a consideration for my ballot. He's a good receiver, but his year doesn't compare with the receivers I named. Green is better in every rushing statistical category than Westbrook and is arguably a better blocker while Westbrook is a better receiver and my emphasis is on the running part of running back so Green easily wins out.
As for Roethlisberger, Manning and Brees were automatics. They are both on pace for record breaking seasons, Manning with td's and yardage and Brees with td to interception ratio with at least 20 td passes. That left Brady, Roethlisberger, Plummer, and Green as serious contenders for the third spot. Four picks yesterday eliminated Plummer from consideration. Roethlisberger wins out over the others when you note that his Quarterback rating is double digits better than Brady and about 7.8 points better than Green while also having half as many interceptions and about three quarters as many touchdown passes as either Brady or Green.
Bert Berry I just forgot about:) I should probably knock Kearse off my ballot and replace him with Berry.
For me, Vinatieri and Vanderjagt are a tossup and I like Vanderjagt better. His scoring is down this year because the Colts score touchdowns like other teams score points, but I still think he's the best kicker in the game.
Actually, thanks to the magic of Sunday Ticket, I've seen every team play at least once this year and have seen most of the teams more than that. Aaron Smith is having a good year, but I strongly believe that the others I named are having better ones.
Tim
Vocatus atque non vocatus, Deus aderit. -- Erasmus
"Actually, thanks to the magic of Sunday Ticket, I've seen every team play at least once this year and have seen most of the teams more than that."
Gotcha boss.
"I felt that Donnie Edwards and London Fletcher were doing more with less help than Farrior and that swayed me towards them, but your mileage may vary."
Farrior is really the only one that I cannot forgive you on, but you make amends by generously giving QB3 to Roethlisb over Brady.
I appreciate the Eagles love in the NFC picks, but I question the number of guys you took from our O-line. Runyan in particular I have issues with. Can't think right now who I'd take instead, but GB's line does a good job keeping Brett healthy, and I've always thought Wahle was under-rated, so I'll go with him.
Westbrook on the other hand should definitely be there. Ahman Green, not so much.
I'd have Brady over Ben, and Andre would be my Johnson of choice rather than Chad, but other than that I guess Farrior would be the only one who I'd calss as anything approaching a glaring omission.
EDIT: Just noticed a lack of 'Skins on the defensive side of things there. Antonio Pierce and Marucs Wahington have both been pretty awesome whenever I've seen them, especially given that they don't have Arrington to help them out. Griffin's worthy of consideration too if you didn't put him in
The list looks good, I would just make a few changes:
QB: Rothelsbuger is not a Probowl QB yet. I picked Brady here. An arguement could be made for Penington if not for his injury.
WR: I took A. Johnson from Houston over Jimmy Smith, Smith has had a good year, but Johnson has had a breakout year. in the NFC I took Walker over Bruce, their yard numbers are about the same but the TDs make the difference for me.
TE: Eric Johnson over Witten, Witten's numbers are better, but Johnson, IMO, is the best TE in the NFC. His team is pathetic holding him back.
K: Vinatieri, best in the league.
P: Lechler, best in the league, putting up some of the alltime best numbers. Tupa has slightly better numbers in the NFC.
G: My only problem is Allen, he is going on rep. only at this point.
T: McKinnie and Jones are dominating in the NFC.
C: Mawae may be the best in the league this year. Making blocks few centers even think about.
CB: Robinson, incredible rookie year. James, an INT machine this year. Woodson, shuts down the best reciver every week with no pass rush to help. Harris over Lucas, having a great year in GB.
SS: Wilson over Archuleta
FS: Coleman, complete package, INTs, Tackles and coverage.
DE: Abraham and Smith over Taylor and Lang. Berry and Peppers over Kearse and Ellis.
ILB: Farrior over Edwards, and Pierce over Quarles.
OLB: Suggs over Ayodele
DT: Henderson has to be in there for the AFC. And Rogers over Simon.
KR: Hall and Mcgee are a toss up for me, but Hall gets it because he returns punts too.
ST: I gave Curry a nod for what he did this season recieving. Purely a Homer pick.
Sunday ticket is a both a blessing and a curse. I love being able to see every game. But I get nothing done all day and watching the Raiders has been painful.
Are you kidding me? I'm as big a Pats honk as you can find and I can barely justify Law let alone Tyrone Poole!
You have to take Champ Baily who has shut down everyone he's faced other than Porter in the snow game, even then some of those catches were unstoppable.
Tackle Tarik Glenn, Matt Light, Roman Oben
I like Johnathan Ogdon and Willie Roaf who just dominate their side of the ball.
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoYou have to take Champ Baily who has shut down everyone he's faced other than Porter in the snow game, even then some of those catches were unstoppable.
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoI like Johnathan Ogdon and Willie Roaf who just dominate their side of the ball.
Big Willie Style's been to nine PBs already and surely that won't change after the 8 rushing TD game. And Brian Waters was the first offensive lineman to be named AFC offensive player of the week for that same game, so his name will probably be in the running, too.
I would take Brady over both Ben and Brees, but Brees would be my #3. Priest led the league in rushing before his injury and still leads in TD's, I think, so not voting for him is a crime against both nature and humanity from where I sit. GET WELL SOON
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Fercryinoutloud, people, make this the year. William Henderson for starting NFC fullback!
Star wipe, and...we're out. Thrillin' ain't easy.
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