Despite being one of the most efficient QBs in the NFL, Russell Wilson was snubbed as a starter for the 2015 Pro Bowl.
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Tom Brady, Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Tony Romo – all of them made the 2015 Pro Bowl as starting QBs this season but none of them except maybe Rodgers and Romo have been as efficient with the football as Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, who was left out of the prestigious game.
Sure Wilson made the Pro Bowl in his first two years in the league, but in this year perhaps more than the last two his development into a franchise QB has been the difference in the Seahawks being just a good defense to a well-balanced team that can win any number of ways. His INT% is the 4th lowest in the league – Rodgers is the only QB in the Pro Bowl with a lower rating. He has one of the highest QB ratings in the league and has been named Offensive Player of the Week three times while recording 7 games with a passer rating over 100.
It’s times like these where the Pro Bowl gains a reputation for being more about name recognition than performance on the field.
Here are the five biggest Pro Bowl snubs as starters for the 2015 Pro Bowl:
5. TE Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys – The Cowboys may be over-represented in the Pro Bowl with six offensive players, it’s a shame that TE Jason Witten didn’t make it. His productivity for the Cowboys defies his career lows in numbers. Witten has been invaluable on third down and always seems to win his matchups.
4. DT Sheldon Richardson, New York Jets – With 7.0 sacks, a safety and over 60 tackles as an interior defensive lineman, Sheldon Richardson is one of the best defenders in all of football, let alone the interior defensive line. And yet he got snubbed for not one, but three Buffalo Bills defensive lineman and Chiefs DT Dontari Poe – none of whom had as big an impact as Richardson this season.
3. RB Justin Forsett, Baltimore Ravens – With 8 rushing TDs this year Forsett has matched his total from his first six NFL seasons. He is in the top ten of every major rushing category and has been the key to the Ravens success when QB Joe Flacco has not been up to the task. He has more rushing yards and carries than Chiefs Pro Bowl RB Jamaal Charles.
2. WR Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants – Since starting the season in Week 5 of the 2014 season Beckham has been without a doubt the best receiver in football. At his current rate of 101.8 yards/game he would easily be the leader in receiving yards at the end of the 2014 season. And the same thing goes for receiving TDs. Beckham Jr. is the clear favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year but his exclusion from the first round of Pro Bowl starters is a travesty.
1. QB Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks – Only Aaron Rodgers has a lower INT% while throwing as many TDs as Wilson. He is the leader of one of the most efficient offenses in football and has had 10 games this year with a passer rating of 98 or better – Pro Bowl starter Andrew Luck only has six, and he also has more than twice as many INTs.
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