Tag: 2021 Pro Bowl

Pro Bowl: Vote for Falcons LB Foye Oluokun, K Younghoe Koo

The Atlanta Falcons want you to do your part in sending linebacker Foye Oluokun to the 2021 NFL Pro Bowl.

The Atlanta Falcons want you to do your part in sending linebacker Foye Oluokun and kicker Younghoe Koo to the 2021 NFL Pro Bowl.

Retweeting this embedded tweet will count as one vote towards Oluokun. It’s hard to imagine a Falcons defensive player being up for such accolade, but Oluokun has been a solid bright spot for this unit.

Thus far, Oluokun has accumulated 74 tackles, forced four fumbles, five quarterback hits, and one interception. Foye doesn’t possess the name recognition around the league quite yet, but his play on the field has made him a household name in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, Younghoe Koo is currently leading the way for all NFC kickers. During Week 12, Koo was a perfect 9-for-9 (5 field goals, 4 extra points), while playing through an injury. Help send the 26-year-old to the Pro Bowl below.

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Mekhi Becton, Braden Mann leading AFC Pro Bowl voting at their positions

Jets rookies Mekhi Becton and Braden Mann are leading the AFC at their positions in fan voting for the 2021 Pro Bowl after one week.

While there’s a huge difference between Mekhi Becton and Braden Mann, they both could be headed to the Pro Bowl in their first season in the league.

Becton leads all AFC tackles in fan voting with 41,193 votes, while Mann leads all AFC punters with 26,248 votes.

While Becton has played just seven of New York’s 10 games, he’s proven to be one of the best players at his position already. He has helped keep Joe Flacco and Sam Darnold’s blindside clean while being an immovable force in the run game for Gang Green.

As for Mann, the sixth-round pick out of Texas A&M is averaging 44.8 yards per punt. The rookie punter leads the NFL in punts, but of those 50, only three of them have gone for touchbacks. He also leads all NFL specialists in tackles.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Pro Bowl will be held virtually as a week-long event. The Pro Bowl rosters will be featured on Madden 21 as a part of an alternative event. The fan vote started on Nov. 17 and will end on Dec. 17.

In a lost season, the Jets don’t have a lot to hang their hats on, but the play of the rookies, specifically Becton and Mann, is something they can use as a building block for the future. Even though they’re winless, fans around the league have taken notice.

Marshon Lattimore leads all NFC cornerbacks in Pro Bowl fan voting

New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore leads his position group in fan votes for the 2021 Pro Bowl roster representing the NFC.

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The NFL announced the early results for fan votes on the 2021 Pro Bowl rosters this week, and New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore led his position group in the NFC with 31,053 ballots in his favor. It’s early, but he was the only Saints player to lead his position in voting so far.

Expect that to change. The Saints had 11 players voted onto the 2020 Pro Bowl roster, with Lattimore among five starters. However, the fourth-year cornerback wasn’t able to participate while recovering from offseason hand/wrist surgery. It was his second Pro Bowl nod after getting in back in 2017, when he also won Defensive Rookie of the Year recognition.

Here are the other four Pro Bowl starters from New Orleans in last year’s all-star game, and who currently ranks ahead of them in fan voting:

  • Wide receiver Michael Thomas (DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona Cardinals)
  • Defensive end Cameron Jordan (Brian Burns, Carolina Panthers)
  • Kicker Wil Lutz (Younghoe Koo, Atlanta Falcons)
  • Returns specialist Deonte Harris (Cordarrelle Patterson, Chicago Bears)

Fans interested in voting can do so at this link. The final rosters will count fans’ votes as one-third of the official tally, also taking votes from active players and coaches. If the Saints continue to flourish down the stretch, Lattimore should be joined by plenty of his teammates.

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Khalil Mack, Cordarrelle Patterson lead Bears in fan voting for Pro Bowl

There are already a couple of Bears that have garnered a lead at their positions early on in fan voting for the Pro Bowl.

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With fan voting officially underway for the 2021 Pro Bowl, there are already a couple of Chicago Bears that have garnered a lead at their positions early on in the process.

Khalil Mack leads all NFC outside linebackers with 47,689 votes. Mack leads the Bears with 6.5 sacks this season, and he’s rebounded following an underwhelming year in 2019. Mack is the second-highest graded edge rusher in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. Mack’s ability to impact games has been something that continues to resonate with fans.

Then there’s Cordarrelle Patterson, who leads all return specialists in the NFC with 79,010 votes. Patterson leads the NFL with 787 kick return yards with an average of 30.27 yards per return, which ranks second in the league. Patterson returned a kickoff 104 yards for a touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings back in Week 10.

There are also a handful of other deserving players on this Bears team, including inside linebacker Roquan Smith, who is having not only a Pro-Bowl year but an All-Pro year. Also, Allen Robinson remains one of the best receivers in the NFL, as he continues to thrive in a struggling offense.

Fans can continue to vote for their favorite players through Dec. 17 at NFL.com/ProBowlVote. In the final two weeks — from Dec. 1-17 — fans can also vote on Twitter by tweeting the first the first and last name of the player, the player’s official Twitter handle, or a hashtag including the player’s first and last name. They must also include the hashtag: #ProBowlVote.

Fan voting will count for one-third of the vote, with the coaches and players each accounting for the other third. Those players and coaches will cast their votes on Friday, Dec. 18.

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2021 Pro Bowl ballot snubs Trey Hendrickson, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Emmanuel Sanders

The 2021 Pro Bowl ballot failed to list New Orleans Saints playmakers like Trey Hendrickson and Emmanuel Sanders, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

The NFL revealed its 2021 Pro Bowl ballot (the numbering convention still doesn’t really make sense, does it?), and there are plenty of familiar names for New Orleans Saints to vote for. Pro Bowl veterans like Drew Brees (13 Pro Bowl nods), Cameron Jordan (5 appearances), Alvin Kamara (3 trips in 3 years in the NFL) each made the list of nominees alongside their teammates, including special teams aces Wil Lutz, Deonte Harris, and J.T. Gray, each of whom were selected for last year’s all-star event. 11 different Saints players were voted into the 2020 game, second-most in the league (the Baltimore Ravens had 13).

But there were a couple of glaring snubs: defensive end Trey Hendrickson and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders top the list, as were nickel back C.J. Gardner-Johnson and fullback Michael Burton. It’s ridiculous that Hendrickson didn’t get a mention. He’s tied with Jason Pierre-Paul for the sixth-most sacks in the league (7.5) but technically hasn’t been a starter with Marcus Davenport back in the lineup. The same issue holds true on offense, where Sanders has taken a backseat to Tre’Quan Smith, apparently because Smith plays more frequently, though not as well.

Another problem is the antiquated roster setup that puts players with very different responsibilities in conflict with each other, like outside linebacker Demario Davis, who is competing for votes against pass rushers like Khalil Mack and Bud Dupree. The issue is compounded by the NFL treating it as if every team fields three linebackers on a majority of downs. If the system they’re using makes backup linebacker Kaden Elliss (5 snaps played) eligible for the Pro Bowl and not Gardner-Johnson (503 snaps played), well, it clearly has some bugs to work out.

Now that our gripes are out of the way: here’s which Saints players you can actually vote for to be recognized at this year’s Pro Bowl, listed in order of appearance on the ballot:

2021 Pro Bowl to be played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas

The 2021 Pro Bowl will be played in late January at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the new home of the Raiders.

The NFL announced on Tuesday that the 2021 Pro Bowl will be played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada – the new home of the Las Vegas Raiders who have relocated from Oakland for the 2020 season.

The game will be played on Sunday, January, 31, 2021 and will be aired on ABC and ESPN.

The Pro Bowl has been hosted in Orlando for each of the past four seasons, and has been primarily played in Hawaii, where it was played consecutively every year from 1980-2009, and again from 2011-2014 and in 2016.

The NFL did not say whether the move to Las Vegas would be a multi-year deal or just a one-off event to celebrate the new stadium, but it seems entirely likely folks will prefer the game in Las Vegas over Orlando, which was not a popular destination for the league’s All-Star festivities.

The NFL also indicated the typical events that occur during Pro Bowl week, including the skills challenge and the NFL FLAG Championship games, will go on as usual in Las Vegas.

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NFL announces the 2021 Pro Bowl will be played in Las Vegas

2021 NFL Pro Bowl to be played in Las Vegas

The NFL is proceeding with the 2020 NFL season and as the Raiders make the move to Las Vegas, the league is rewarding fans by moving the 2021 Pro Bowl to Vegas as well.

The move signals the end of the NFL’s deal with Orlando while moving the league’s all-star showcase into a new state of the art venue.

Last season the Eagles had five players selected to 2020 Pro Bowl and six if you include Darius Slay who made it with the Lions.

The 2021 Pro Bowl will take place in Las Vegas at the Raiders’ new home of Allegiant Stadium on Jan. 31.

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4 Chargers primed to make first Pro Bowl

The Los Angeles Chargers have a handful of players that could represent them in the 2021 Pro Bowl for the first time.

Every year, the Chargers send a few players to the Pro Bowl.

Sure, awards are the more highly coveted recognition for players, but Pro Bowl selections do matter. The game isn’t as popular to watch anymore, but in a league with over 1,600 players, being in that top 5 percent is an honor.

There is a lot of talent on this year’s roster and the Bolts will likely send some to the annual all-star game that hasn’t been there before.

Here are four that could find their way to Orlando, FL at the end of the season:

RB Austin Ekeler

The fact that Ekeler didn’t make the Pro Bowl this past year is still absolutely shocking. Each year since coming into the league, he showed promise. But he bursted onto the scene in 2019 as he was used all across the formation. Even after Melvin Gordon returned from his holdout, the former Western Colorado product was still productive. Ekeler finished the year with 557 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, 92 catches, 993 receiving yards, and eight receiving scores. As a result, he earned a four-year contract extension earlier this offseason. The former Western Colorado product should only continue to be a focal point as a do-it-all skill player moving forward.

WR Mike Williams

After being banged up during his rookie season in 2017, Williams has been the model of consistency since then. In 2018, Williams surpassed the 10-touchdown mark. In 2019, he eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark. His 20.4 yards per reception ranked first in the league. Whether it’s Tyrod Taylor or Justin Herbert under center, more deep ball opportunities should be there for the big-bodied target this upcoming season.

LB Drue Tranquill

Tranquill, the fourth-round selection of the 2019 NFL draft, made an impact upon arriving. As the season went on he grew into an integral part of the defense. In the 15 games played, three of which he started, Tranquill racked up 64 tackles (50 solo), four tackles for loss and one pass defended. On top of that, he finished with the most special teams tackles by any rookie (11). The former Notre Dame product could start the season as the starting Mike linebacker, while rookie Kenneth Murray plays the Will linebacker.

TE Hunter Henry

In four seasons, Henry has proven to be one of the league’s complete tight ends. The only issue is injuries. He has yet to play a full 16-game slate, all due to injury. However, when he is on the field, he is a matchup nightmare. Henry has a career average of 8.9 yards per target, which was among the top nine last year. In 2019, Henry managed to still put up 652 yards on 55 receptions with five touchdowns in only 12 games. Even though there will be a change at quarterback, Henry should flourish both on deeper routes and short crossing patterns, as well as in the red-zone. Staying healthy will be key, though.

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Rex Ryan compares Chase Young to Khalil Mack; predicts Pro Bowl in rookie year

Chase Young is the best defensive prospect in years, and some are predicting he will make the Pro Bowl in 2021.

Draft month is upon us, and with it comes wild speculation as to what team might pick which player, and which prospect has the most boom or bust potential.

For the Washington Redskins, months of anticipation have been building as they get ready to boost their roster with the addition of a No. 2 overall pick, which many believe they will use to draft Chase Young, a generational defensive end out of Ohio State. While the question of whether or not Young lands in Washington isn’t much up for debate, putting a ceiling on his future performance is a worthy discussion.

For ESPN’s Rex Ryan, who was a longtime coach in the NFL, putting any ceiling on the young man is dangerous, as he may be the best defensive prospect we’ve seen in years.

“I think a comparison is Khalil Mack,” Ryan said on ESPN’s Get Up. “Not only does this guy sack the quarterback, but he forces fumbles; he’s a turnover machine waiting to happen. I think he’s going to have a higher upside than Mack. This kind of guy comes around once every 10 years.”

Comparing Young to a player like Mack seems a little outlandish, but it’s exciting for Redskins fans to say the least. Over the past several years, Mack has become the most dominant defensive player in the game, save maybe Aaron Donald, and he single-handedly changes the dynamic of a defensive front.

So if the comparison is Khalil Mack, and a ceiling is too restrictive, how soon will we have to wait to find out just what exactly Young can become? Will it take a few years for him to grow into his own? According to Ryan, probably not.

“Realistically, this is a can’t miss guy, and he’s going to fit right into Washington’s plan and probably be a Pro-Bowler as a rookie.”

High expectations for a can’t-miss prospect.

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