Field Gulls
The fan portion of the Pro Bowl voting is underway! Each game takes on just a touch more meaning for some players down the stretch, even if their team has nothing to do with the playoff race.
The Seattle Seahawks have the enjoyable position of meaningful December football across the board. But several key players are in prime consideration for the Pro Bowl as well.
SumerSports recently released their own perspective on positional rankings. These are not official, and there’s no insider information as to how the votes are going. But in their world, several players have a good shot at making the Games this year, and an appalling snub once again.
First up, the most obvious on the list.
No, Puca Nacua did not grade ahead of Jaxon Smith-Njigba. They’re tied and listed alphabetically. Justin Jefferson is here purely by past reputation alone, but Smith-Njigba has firmly cemented his place among the game’s elites.
Despite missing four games, Robbie Ouzts lands fourth in the fullback ranking. Unlike the Kyle Juszczyk brand of back, Ouzts has never been featured in the passing game. But his blocking was noticed immediately by the likes of Brian Baldinger.
Perhaps a surprise, but absolutely deserved, AJ Barner is getting looks in his second year.
Statistically, Barner is having a middle-of-the-road season; 4 touchdowns and 386 yards aren’t top ten for either among tight ends. This is for the totality of his skill as a blocker and effectiveness in the red zone. His total EPA is quite high, and he’s run about 40% of the routes as Trey McBride.
He also got a shoutout specifically for being Seattle’s Tush Push guy!
Now we begin to lament the injuries from the beginning of the season. Devon Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori missed far too much time in the first half to be considered here.
And now we’re mad.
I do not understand what goes on here. This is the same story as last year, as if Leonard Williams does not exist. And for a guy that big, with that cool of hair, and his own celebration move, on a first-place team, it’s not like the visual factor isn’t there either.
Let’s just grab last on the list, so you too can be mad if this continues in a month or so.
Leonard Williams vs Kobie Turner:
Big Cat ranks first with 32 run stops.
In short, not a single meaningful statistic anyone could think of finds Turner on the plus side over Williams. Yet here we are.
We can’t even blame the positional weirdness of defensive line this year, either. SumerSports ranked DTs, Defensive End AND Outside Linebacker.
No Leonard Williams, and no Byron Murphy either who could legitimately be...
