Category: Pro Bowl

After Eagles win, Danielle Hunter could be headed to Pro Bowl

Hunter is the first alternate for the Pro Bowl and could be on his way back

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 in the NFC Championship game to advance to the Super Bowl. When teams advance to the Super Bowl, the players on that roster typically don’t participate in the Pro Bowl, meaning that alternates get selected in their place.

For Minnesota Vikings outside linebacker Danielle Hunter, this means he’ll get the opportunity to replace Eagles outside linebacker Haason Reddick.

It’s not a certainty that Hunter wants to go to the Pro Bowl, but if he chooses to go to the Pro Bowl in Reddick’s absence it would be Hunter’s third pro bowl in his career.

Hunter put together a solid season for the Vikings this year after missing the 2020 season with a neck injury and most of the 2021 season with a torn pectoral muscle, which placed him on injured reserve. He was able to play in all 18 games this season, and he accumulated 70 pressures and 12 sacks. His sack total was tied for 14th in the NFL this season.

Dalvin Cook added to the NFC Pro Bowl Games roster

Cook was added due to the injury of Tony Pollard

When the initial NFL Pro Bowl rosters came out, Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook was named the first alternate running back. With the injury suffered by Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard on Sunday afternoon, Cook was added to the NFC roster as a replacement per The Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling.

The Pro Bowl nod for Cook marks the fourth-consecutive season that he has make the Pro Bowl roster. He had his second-highest total yards rushing this season at 1,173 yards and eight touchdowns while also registering his lowest yards per carry with 4.4.

As a receiver, Cook took steps in that department catching 39 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns. He will join fellow teammates Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson, Kene Nwangwu, Andrew DePaola and Za’Darius Smith in Las Vegas for the even on Sunday, February 5th.

Full 2023 NFC Pro Bowl roster

Check out the full 2023 NFC Pro Bowl roster.

The NFL announced the 2023 Pro Bowl rosters for the NFC and AFC this week.

The Arizona Cardinals only had one player selected, while the Dallas Cowboys had seven and the San Francisco 49ers had six selected.

Check out the full NFC roster below.

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J.J. Watt, Zach Allen understandable Pro Bowl snubs

Watt and Allen have been fantastic but are listed as defensive ends, making it that much harder to make the Pro Bowl.

The Arizona Cardinals had only one player selected to the 2023 Pro Bowl. That was safety Budda Baker, which comes as no surprise.

Baker was selected for the fifth time in his career and for the fourth consecutive year.

Two players perhaps deserved to make the Pro Bowl — defensive ends Zach Allen and J.J. Watt.

Allen is having a career year with 47 total tackles, 5.5 sacks, 19 quarterback hits, 10 tackles for loss and eight pass breakups.

All are great numbers among interior defenders.

Watt, who added three sacks on Sunday, has 9.5 sacks, 27 tackles, 12 tackles for loss 19 quarterback hits, six pass breakups and a forced fumble.

These are also fantastic numbers for a defensive lineman.

However, both are listed as defensive ends.

The NFC Pro Bowlers at defensive end are Nick Bosa of the 49ers, who has the NFL lead with 15.5 sacks, the Panthers’ Brian Burns with his 10.5 sacks and the Cowboys’ Demarcus Lawrence, who has six sacks.

Lawrence’s selection is the one perhaps questionable one in the NFC.

The problem is Watt had three of his sacks after final numbers already were tabulated. Listed as defensive ends, Allen and Watt would need even bigger numbers. Both play the interior defensive line mostly and their stats and impact are undeniable.

But full-time edge defensive ends will almost always get the nod for honors like the Pro Bowl over guys who move back and forth, especially when Watt is considered past his prime and Allen has not yet established himself.

They are snubs, for sure. But they are understandable snubs.

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Bears QB Justin Fields dubbed one of NFL’s biggest Pro Bowl snubs

Justin Fields has been one of the NFL’s most exciting players this season, but the Bears’ second-year QB was a notable snub in the Pro Bowl.

For the first time in five years, the Chicago Bears were shut out of the Pro Bowl. They joined the Jacksonville Jaguars as the only two teams who don’t have a representative in the All-Star event.

It’s not a huge surprise considering Chicago has one of the worst rosters in the NFL. But following the emergence of second-year quarterback Justin Fields, there was a belief that perhaps Fields should garner a nod in an underwhelming NFC quarterback group.

The NFC representatives at quarterback were Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts, Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins and Seattle’s Geno Smith. There’s no questioning the Hurts nod. But you could make an argument for Fields to crack that top three.

NFL.com’s Eric Edholm compiled a list of the league’s biggest Pro Bowl snubs, and Fields topped the list for the NFC.

Some might argue that Fields has room to grow as a thrower, but he’s taken big leaps in that department, completing 68.1% of his passes with 10 TDs and four interceptions in his past six games. That included a strong showing in a loss to the Eagles. Considering his supporting cast, Fields’ passing growth has been admirable.

But we all know why Fields is here, first and foremost. He’s become one of the most dangerous runners at the quarterback position, recently joining Michael Vick and Lamar Jackson as the only NFL QBs to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. In fact, he’s currently on pace to break Jackson’s single-season rushing record (1,206 in 2019).

Fields was also declared one of the most egregious Pro Bowl snubs by the folks over at For The Win.

Stiff competition here too, with Jalen Hurts, Geno Smith and Kirk Cousins getting the nods at the NFC quarterback position.

But I could make an argument for Fields over Smith.

Fields has been magic on the field since the mini-bye week, where he’s made the most of a bad situation in Chicago. Fields has one of the worst offensive lines in pass protection and an underwhelming supporting cast at receiver. Still, he’s singlehandedly kept the Bears in games while making NFL history on an almost-weekly basis.

While we don’t know if Fields was named an alternate (that will be announced later), it’s safe to say Fields will no doubt be in contention to make the Pro Bowl in 2023. Especially when GM Ryan Poles starts surrounding him with a strong supporting cast.

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No Chicago Bears players made the 2023 Pro Bowl roster

There won’t be any Bears at this year’s Pro Bowl, but a couple of former players earned a spot on the roster.

The 2023 Pro Bowl rosters were announced on Wednesday evening and for the first time since 2018, no Chicago Bears players made the cut, including quarterback Justin Fields.

The second-year signal caller hasn’t popped off the stat sheet with his passing totals, but has been an elite runner this year which gave fans hope he could make a case for a spot. Fields has 2,048 passing yards with 15 touchdowns to 10 picks, but has rushed for 1,000 yards on the dot with eight touchdowns in 13 games. He is eyeing the NFL record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single season, set in 2019 by Lamar Jackson.

The quarterbacks who made it over Fields were Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles, Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings, and Geno Smith of the Seattle Seahawks.

The news of any Bears players not making the team isn’t totally surprising, but a couple of former Bears did earn Pro Bowl honors. Linebacker Roquan Smith, who spent half the year in Chicago before getting traded, made the squad for the first time in his career as a member of the Baltimore Ravens. Smith has 130 total tackles, nine for a loss, 4.5 sacks, and a career-high three interceptions.

Los Angeles Chargers pass rusher Khalil Mack, who was traded in the offseason, also made the squad for the seventh time in his career. Mack has 45 total tackles, 10 for a loss, seven sacks, and two forced fumbles.

The Pro Bowl rosters were voted on by fans, players, and coaches. For the first time ever, a live football game will not be played. Instead, a flag football game will take its place, along with various skills competitions. The Pro Bowl events will take place Sunday, February 5th in Las Vegas.

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Budda Baker is Cardinals’ lone Pro Bowler; 2 named alternates

Baker is named to the Pro Bowl for the fifth time and fourth straight year. Dennis Gardeck and Matt Prater are named alternates.

The Arizona Cardinals have one singular Pro Bowler for 2022. The player is no surprise.

Safety Budda Baker was selected to the Pro Bowl for the fifth time in his career and for the fourth consecutive season.

Special teamer Dennis Gardeck and kicker Matt Prater were named Pro Bowl alternates.

Baker leads the Cardinals with 102 tackles this season, adding two interceptions, six pass breakups, two QB hits, a forced fumble and a tackle for loss. It is his fourth season with at least 100 tackles. Dating back to his first season as a starter in 2018, he is the only defensive back in the NFL with at least four seasons of 100 or more tackles. Also dating back to 2018, Baker leads all NFL defensive backs with 565 total tackles. That is 100 more than the next player — Jessie Bates of the Cincinnati Bengals, who has 465.

Baker is the only safety in the NFL to be named to the Pro Bowl each of the last four seasons.

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5 Vikings make the Pro Bowl, 9 are alternates

The Vikings will end up well represented in the Pro Bowl

The NFL just unveiled the rosters for the 2023 Pro Bowl and the Minnesota Vikings have quality representation.

On the 2023 Pro Bowl team, the Vikings have five players that made the initial roster.

  • QB Kirk Cousins
  • WR Justin Jefferson
  • TE T.J. Hockenson
  • OLB Za’Darius Smith
  • LS Andrew DePaola

They also had multiple alternates, including four that are the first alternate.

The biggest surprise here is that after leading the NFC in voting for special teamers, Kris Boyd is only a third alternate.

Christian Darrisaw being a second alternate signifies that he was the fifth-best overall tackle, as they don’t classify left and right tackles.

When it’s all said and done, the Vikings will likely have 7-8 representatives for the NFL’s new rendition of the all-star game.

Kyler Murray throws 3 TD passes in Pro Bowl

He had the best statistical game of all the quarterbacks in the Pro Bowl on Sunday but it came in a losing effort, as the AFC won 41-35.

The NFL’s top players were together in Las Vegas for the 2022 Pro Bowl. Five Arizona Cardinals players were in the Pro Bowl and quarterback Kyler Murray had the best statistical game on the field, although the NFC did lose the game 41-35 to the AFC.

Murray completed 18-of-27 passes for 160 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

He threw touchdown passes to Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans, Atlanta Falcons rookie tight end Kyler Pitts and Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook. He also completed a two-point conversion to Dallas Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb, Murray’s former Oklahoma teammate in college.

Murray also threw a pick-six in the first quarter. Indianapolis Colts Darius Leonard picked him off and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown.

NFC quarterbacks threw four interceptions and AFC quarterbacks threw three.

The other Cardinals players in the Pro Bowl didn’t do much.

Running back James Conner ran the ball three times for three yards and caught the ball twice for 13 yards.

Tackle D.J. Humphries played 46 snaps.

Neither linebacker Chandler Jones nor safety Budda Baker amassed any statistics in the game. Jones played 49 snaps and Baker 38.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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