The 2021 Pro Bowl won’t be played in its traditional format due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Los Angeles Rams still had two players selected to the NFC team. On Monday night, the NFL announced that Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey have been named to the Pro Bowl, the only two Rams players selected.
It’s the seventh time Donald has been named a Pro Bowler, being selected each year he’s been in the NFL. For Ramsey, it’s his fourth time being honored, all of which have come since 2017. Both he and Donald are in the midst of tremendous seasons, helping lead a Rams defense that ranks third in points allowed and first in yards.
Pro Bowl bound.
Congratulations @AaronDonald97 + @jalenramsey! 👏
📰 » https://t.co/VH3cRbYcBV pic.twitter.com/KOvClhRNfB
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 22, 2020
Donald has 12.5 sacks through 14 games, also adding 11 tackles for loss and 25 quarterback hits. He’s been as dominant as ever up front, playing a traditional defensive tackle role, as well as rushing from the edge in certain situations.
Ramsey has been equally versatile, doing everything in the secondary. He has just one interception, but he’s only allowed 29 catches on 57 targets for 273 yards.
The Rams had a number of strong candidates for the Pro Bowl this year, but they simply didn’t generate enough buzz to drum up a large number of fan votes. John Johnson is having a tremendous season, as is Leonard Floyd and Darious Williams. On offense, Austin Blythe was deserving of being selected, as was Andrew Whitworth before injuring his knee.
Johnny Hekker was the leading vote-getter at punter for fans, but it seems the coaches and players didn’t give him enough votes to earn him a Pro Bowl spot. Incredibly, Ramsey didn’t finish in the top 10 of all cornerbacks in fan voting, so he has his fellow players and coaches to thank for rightfully voting him into the Pro Bowl. Donald led all defensive tackles in fan voting, which comes as no surprise.
Pro Bowlers are selected based on voting from fans, players and coaches, with each group counting as one-third of the final tally.