The rosters for the 2018 Pro-Bowl were announced today and 4 players from the Dallas Cowboys were selected. The usual suspects on the offensive line, Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin will represent the Dallas offense. On the defensive side of the ball DE DeMarcus Lawrence was the only player chosen on the strength of his 13.5 sacks. Every single one of these players deserves to be selected but should anyone else on the Cowboys have been selected?
Each year there are always several talented players who are snubbed from the initial Pro-Bowl roster. As injuries pile up and the Super Bowl participants are decided more spots will open up but as it stands currently the Dallas Cowboys have several players on the outside looking in. With a roster full of star power like Ezekiel Elliot, Dak Prescott, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten and Sean Lee to name a few there are always going to be some disappointed fans. Of all the Cowboy players NOT named to the Pro-Bowl, who is the biggest snub?
Ezekiel Elliott and Sean Lee are likely the MVP’s of the offense and defense respectively. The Cowboys have been a different team when those guys are not on the field. That is the problem, both of them have missed significant time for either suspension or injury and in my opinion it is justifiable to leave them off the Pro-Bowl roster this season. That principle applies for DT David Irving as well. He has been productive but has not played enough games to deserve a selection.
I thought Dak Prescott has played well this season despite his 3 game slump but the 3 quarterback candidates chosen ahead of him have all had MVP calibre seasons. Russell Wilson, Carson Wentz and Drew Brees all deserve to be selected over Prescott. The same can be said about the WR’s that were chosen ahead of Dez Bryant. Even the staunchest supporter of the Dallas Cowboys has to acknowledge that whether it is due to poor play or poor chemistry with Dak, Dez has not been great this year.
Jason Witten may not be the pass catcher he once was but he is still putting up impressive numbers at his advanced age. His true value is enhanced by his consistency, durability and his ability to be block. Unfortunately these little things are not valued as heavily as pass catching when it comes to Pro-Bowl voting and Zach Ertz and Jimmy Graham are more dynamic than Witten in that regard.
Kavon Frazier and Ryan Switzer are both performing well on special teams this season but I can’t say with certainty that either one was snubbed. I am sure Pharoah Cooper and Budda Baker are more than deserving of their selections.
No, despite none of the players above being named to the Pro-Bowl, I cannot say that any one of them was the victim of a snub. There is only one Dallas Cowboy player that I feel deserved to be selected and was truly snubbed. That player is punter Chris Jones. I am sure that Johnny Hekker of the Rams is an excellent punter, after all he was selected to the Pro-Bowl the previous 2 seasons, but is he truly having a better season than Chris Jones? Jones may have been snubbed because his per kick average is not as high but he is a master at pinning teams inside the 20 yard line. Jones is also one of the most athletic punters in the league, as we saw on the fake punt against the Raiders, and he can tackle too.
The punter is not the most revered player on a football team and recognition for those players is scarce. The game of football, however, is a game of inches and a good punter could have a monumental impact on winning or losing. The Cowboys are fortunate enough to have one of the best in the business in Chris Jones, whether he is recognized as a Pro-Bowler or not.
*Photo by Kieth Allison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
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