The Pro-Bowl has become more of a popularity contest than an accurate gauge of how well a player has performed in a given season. Name recognition and players that benefit from playing in larger markets have led to some less than deserving players getting the pro-bowl nod while the list of pro-bowl snubs seems to grow year after year. When Pro-bowl voting concludes tomorrow there is no doubt that several of our Dallas Cowboys will be named, but who is most deserving? OFFENSIVE LINE The big three of Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin are all shoe-ins as usual. This season a strong case can be made for RT Laeal Collins. He struggled early in the season against the Broncos but he has filled in admirably for the retired Doug Free and has arguably been the most consistent offensive lineman for the Cowboys in 2017. TIGHT ENDJason Witten is a future hall of famer and has had another stellar season. He has some stiff competition in the NFC though with big time pass catching TE’s Zach Ertz, Jimmy Graham and Evan Engram. I feel as though Witten is more than deserving for his value as a pass catcher and a blocker. WIDE RECEIVER I love Dez Bryant but it is hard to argue voting him into the pro-bowl this season. His numbers in all the major receiving categories are well below the other leading NFC receivers like Julio Jones, Adam Thielen, Michael Thomas, Doug Baldwin and the ageless wonder Larry Fitzgerald. RUNNING BACK Ezekiel Elliott is in my opinion the best running back in the NFL. He has missed 5 games and is still top 10 in the league in rushing yards! I don’t think you could justify sending him to the Pro-Bowl having served a 6 game suspension but there have been far worse decisions made in the past. QUARTERBACK Dak started off having a great season but when the Ezekiel Elliott suspension was handed down he had the worst 3 game stretch of his career. He recovered nicely the last 2 games but you have to consider that Drew Brees, Carson Wentz and Russell Wilson are all having MVP calibre seasons. DEFENSIVE LINEDeMarcus Lawrence has been a beast and he should get voted in. David Irving has been impressive as well but he has missed too many games. Tyrone Crawford and Maliek Collins are having solid seasons, just not Pro-Bowl worthy. LINEBACKERSean Lee would have been a perennial All-Pro every season of his career if he could only stay healthy. The question is has he done enough this season to compensate for all the games he has missed? His value to the team is beyond measure and I love him as a player but I personally feel that it is important to play the majority of the season to earn a Pro-bowl spot. DEFENSIVE BACK The Cowboys secondary has been the weakest link of this team and none of them will be in consideration for the Pro-Bowl. They are young group and there have been some players who have shown some potential. Perhaps in a few years Jourdan Lewis, Chidobe Awuzie or Xavier Woods could be making regular appearances in the Pro-Bowl. SPECIAL TEAMS Although Dan Bailey is neck and neck with Justin Tucker as the best kicker in the league he has missed significant time this season and should not be considered. I think punter Chris Jones deserves a spot this season and Rookie return man Ryan Switzer has made a strong case for himself of late. When voting concludes and the Pro-Bowl rosters are named, I am certain we will see several Cowboys make the cut based on their performances thus far. But, with 3 games remaining in the season and a chance to make a wild card spot, the time for them to shine is now.
*Photo by Kieth Allision https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode