Ten players who should've made the Pro Bowl
— -- The New Orleans Saints have allowed 29.5 points per game in their six victories this season, by far the highest figure in the NFL. They didn't claim those long-shot victories by accident. They won them largely because their quarterback, Drew Brees, has produced about as well as he ever has through 14 games in a season.
Brees' league-leading totals for passing yards and passing touchdowns were not enough for him to earn Pro Bowl honors Tuesday, making the veteran QB one of the more obvious snubs.
With input from NFL personnel evaluators, we take a look at 10 notable players who should've made the Pro Bowl team, starting with Brees and another NFC quarterback.
1. Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints
Brees is once again covering for a brutally bad defense, but he can do only so much. None of the other 508 teams in ESPN's data warehouse dating back to 2001 has allowed as many points in its victories as the 29.5 figure for the Saints this season. That is an exceptionally high bar for the Brees-led offense to clear. It shows how much the Saints ask from their quarterback in relation to what others ask from theirs.
Brees' 14-game total for yardage (4,559) is the second-highest for his career. He also has 34 touchdown passes, a figure Brees has surpassed through 14 games just twice in his career previously. Brees is averaging a league-high 42.1 pass attempts per game.
2. Matthew Stafford, QB, Detroit Lions
Stafford is the league leader in fourth-quarter comeback victories with eight, making him the other notable NFC quarterback left out as Dallas Cowboys rookie Dak Prescott joined obvious choices Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers on the all-conference roster.
No quarterback in Pro Football Reference's annals has as many fourth-quarter comeback victories in one season as Stafford has had this season.
Prescott is enjoying a fantastic rookie season for a team with the NFL's most dominating offensive line, a top-five running back in Ezekiel Elliott and front-line weapons in Dez Bryant and Jason Witten. Stafford is grinding along behind an improved line with no front-line running back and less margin for error.
"No question," an AFC personnel director said, "Stafford doesn't have near the supporting cast that Prescott has, but he keeps pulling out games for them."
3. Leonard Williams, DL, New York Jets
Williams is a very good player on a very bad team. He has seven sacks, 11 tackles for loss and 19 quarterback hurries. But with the Jets all but surrendering this season, it was apparently easy for Pro Bowl voters to focus their attention elsewhere.
"He is just an outstanding player by any stretch," one evaluator said.
4. Kevin Zeitler, G, Cincinnati Bengals
Zeitler lost out to AFC North rival David DeCastro, who ranks third in the NFL with 15 penalties this season, 10 more than Zeitler has committed.
"Zeitler is better than DeCastro, who is in Pittsburgh and gets credit for wearing that Steelers helmet," a personnel director said. "DeCastro is a good player, but not elite. Zeitler is getting overlooked. He is strong, good in pass pro, good on the run. There is nothing he cannot do."
5. Olivier Vernon, DE, New York Giants or Damon Harrison, DT, New York Giants
The Seahawks got two defensive linemen into the Pro Bowl. The Giants got none. The feeling was that Seattle's Cliff Avril was definitely deserving and that teammate Michael Bennett would have been more deserving had he not missed games to injury. Having both make the NFC squad at the expense of any Giants lineman qualifies as snub material.
Vernon has 8.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss playing for a defense that has helped the Giants go 10-4 despite a lackluster offense. Harrison has a career-high 80 tackles, a rather amazing figure for a two-down run-stuffer listed at 350 pounds.
There were lots of choices here. Another Giants defensive lineman, Jason Pierre-Paul, was one. New Orleans' Cameron Jordan and Philadelphia's Brandon Graham were a couple of others.
6. Jimmy Graham, TE, Seattle Seahawks
Graham ranks second to Greg Olsen in receiving yards (816) and yards per reception (13.8) among NFC tight ends, but Jordan Reed got the nod to join Olsen on the roster.
Reed has a 61-59 edge over Graham in receptions, but he trails 816-646 in yardage and averages 2.2 fewer yards per catch. Tampa Bay's Cameron Brate also might have been a better choice than Reed, but Graham is in another category.
"My Lord, Graham is playing like a Pro Bowler," an AFC personnel evaluator said. "I would absolutely take him over Jordan Reed. Graham is a top-five tight end right now."
7. Andrew Luck, QB, Indianapolis Colts
Ben Roethlisberger beat out Luck for the AFC squad. There's no shame in that. Roethlisberger was one of only three top-tier quarterbacks in our 2016 QB Tiers survey last summer. Luck has done more with less help this season, however. He is about the only reason Indy has a shot at finishing .500 or better with a shaky roster featuring the NFL's oldest starting defense.
8. K.J. Wright, LB, Seattle Seahawks
One personnel evaluator said he'd take Wright over teammate Bobby Wagner, who made the NFC Pro Bowl roster at middle linebacker. That was less a knock on Wagner than it was an acknowledgement of Wright, a do-it-all defender who rarely misses a tackle.
"I think Wright makes them go," one evaluator said. "He is instinctive. All he does is line up and play every game and produce. He is one of the more underrated players in the league."
9. Melvin Ingram, OLB, San Diego Chargers
Ingram has seven sacks and also plays the run effectively. He could have gotten the call over the?Bills' Lorenzo Alexander or the Titans' Brian Orakpo,?who made the AFC team at outside linebacker with? Von Miller. Houston's Whitney Mercilus was another consideration here.
"Mercilus has had a good year, but Ingram has been rushing by himself for a lot of the year, 'til they got [Joey] Bosa going."
10. A.J. Bouye, CB, Houston Texans
Marcus Peters made the AFC team over Bouye, and the Chiefs cornerback has the interception numbers (five) to back it up. Bouye has only one pick. He might be the better coverage player at this point, although Peters has proved he'll take away the ball if tested frequently enough.
"Bouye has come out of left field," one evaluator said. "They ask him to play a lot of man coverage. He is very instinctive and a good cover player, but he hasn't taken away the ball, which Peters [has] shown he can do."
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