NFL Pro Bowl snubs include Dolphins’ QB Tua Tagovailoa
The NFL Pro Bowl rosters were just released, and with still almost 20 percent of the season left to be played, it seems a bit too soon to be naming the best players for the year. Nevertheless, some of the best players this season were left off the Pro Bowl rosters. Here are some of the most notable snubs.
Andrew Thomas was potentially the biggest snub on the roster. The New York Giants’ offensive tackle has been one of the best offensive tackles in the entire league this season. According to Pro Football Focus, Thomas has been the fourth most valuable offensive lineman this season, and the three ahead of him are all Pro Bowlers. It’s downright disrespectful that he was not selected.
Tua Tagovailoa led all players – not just quarterbacks – in fan voting, yet he still missed the Pro Bowl. This means that most players and coaches left the Miami Dolphins quarterback out of their top three quarterbacks in the AFC this season.
There may be a lot of great quarterbacks in the AFC to choose from, but Tagovailoa has been exceptional this season. He leads the league in passer rating, touchdown-to-interception ratio, touchdowns per attempt, yards per attempt, and yards per completion. Not to mention, Tagovailoa has been one of – if not the most efficient – quarterbacks in football and an MVP candidate this season when healthy.
Christian McCaffrey was similar to Tagovailoa in that he led all NFC running backs in fan voting but still didn’t make it due to players and coaches. McCaffrey was traded to San Francisco back in November, and since switching teams, he’s been nothing short of unstoppable. He’s first in all-purpose yards among NFC running backs with 1,578 yards. The players in second, third, and fourth all made the Pro Bowl over him. Shocking.
Matt Milano has been a leader on a Buffalo Bills defense that has been ravaged by injuries all season. In every Bills game this season, the linebacker has been wreaking havoc in coverage. In the one game Milano missed this season, the Bills lost to the New York Jets. However, in the rematch, Milano led the Bills with nine tackles, a tackle for loss, a fumble recovery, and two passes defended. The Bills won the game 20-12.
Milano has carried the Bills’ defense on his back this season, and it’s a shame his hard work was not rewarded with a spot on the Pro Bowl roster.
Javon Hargrave, just like Tagovailoa and McCaffrey at their positions, had the most fan votes for a defensive tackle in the NFC, yet he still did not make the Pro Bowl,. This doesn’t make sense, as the Philidelphia Eagles defensive tackle has been one of – if not the best player – on potentially the best pass-rushing corps in the whole league.
Hargrave has a career-high 10 sacks on the season, and last year he made the Pro Bowl despite only having 7.5 sacks. This year, Hargrave has taken his game to another level, forcing a fumble and recovering two more. He also ranks second in pass-rush win rate. The seventh-year veteran is easily playing the best football of his career on maybe the best team in the NFL. Yet, the Eagles, who led the league with the most Pro Bowlers, still had players get snubbed.