Reviewing The 2022-23 NFL Pro Bowl Teams

Every year around this time the NFL releases its rosters for what I believe to be the worst "All-Star Game" in sports. The Pro Bowlers are decided off a fan vote, player vote, and coach vote, and with this format there will always be some bad selections mostly due to fan bias. However, that's not the only issue with the Pro Bowl. In years past the game has been basically unwatchable, but they thankfully did away with that and turned it into an all skill challenges event. The voting ends before the season so we don't get a full season to judge the players, and a majority of the players couldn't care less to be there. With all of that being said, let's take a look at the teams.

Quarterbacks: In the AFC the QBs are Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow, I think they got these perfectly correct. You could point to guys like Lamar (who I think would be deserving if not for the injury) Herbert, and Tua, but I believe they have the 3 best in there. Herbert is having a slight down year mostly due to everything around him being awful, and Tua just isn't that great. In the NFC you have Jalen Hurts, Geno Smith, and Kirk Cousins, I think this is probably right, the QB play in the NFC hasn't been spectacular outside of Hurts. You could argue that Dak has been better than Geno and Kirk this year but he's missed a few games so I understand not letting him in over those guys.

pc: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Running Backs: I feel like the voters did a solid jobs with the RBs as well. In the AFC you have Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry, and Nick Chubb. That checks out to me. All 3 of those guys are having monster years. I'll shoutout Dameon Pierce (my offensive rookie of the year pick) but he's missed the past few games, and Travis Etienne. They're both balling but they fall short of the top 3. In the NFC you have Saquon Barkley, Tony Pollard, and Miles Sanders. These guys are probably having the 3 best seasons, but I think there is a pretty solid case for Dalvin Cook over either Pollard or Sanders. On the other hand, they've both been more efficient than Cook.

Wide Receivers: Here's where things start to shake up. In the AFC you have Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs, Davante Adams, and Ja'Maar Chase. I think these are 4 of the top 5 receivers in all of football, but Ja'Maar Chase doesn't deserve it. He is 100% a top 5 receiver in the league but he's missed some games. Guys like Jaylen Waddle, Garret Wilson, and Tee Higgins have all been healthier and have out produced him. If I had to sub one in I think I'd lean Garret Wilson. The season he's having as a rookie with the QB play he's had to deal with is ridiculous. In games without Zach Wilson he'd be on pace for around 1500 yards which is mind blowing, and even still he's top 10 in receiving yards this year. The NFC receivers are Justin Jefferson, AJ Brown, CeeDee Lamb, and Terry McLuarin, these are the 4 I'd pick but there's a case for Amon Ra St-Brown or one of the Seattle guys.

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Tight End: There's nothing wrong with these, the voters did a good job. The AFC has Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews. Nothing too much to say here, both guys are great and probably the best 2 tight ends in the league. In the NFC you have George Kittle and TJ Hockenson. There were no real snubs here, these were the best options.

Offensive Tackles: Getting into the AFC we see Laremy Tunsil, Terron Armstead, and Orlando Brown Jr. The first 2 are correct but Orlando Brown is possibly the most undeserving player in the Pro Bowl. He's frankly just been awful this year and as a Chiefs fan I have to deal with it weekly. He's a key part of the worst OT group in the league, he's a holding penalty waiting to happen, and he can't block anyone or anything. I'd sub him for 70% of starting tackles in the NFL, but if I had to pick one I think I'd go with Ronnie Stanley from the Ravens. The NFC tackles are Trent Williams, Lane Johnson, and Tristan Wirfs. All 3 of these guys are spectacular but I'd sub Andrew Thomas and Ikem Ekwonu for Williams and Wirfs. Both Williams and Wirfs have missed 5 games this year, and even though they're spectacular I'd give the edge to the guys who've played the full season.

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Interior O-Line: I'm lumping in the centers and guards into one group mostly because I don't have too strong of opinions on them. But I'd probably sub in Kevin Zietler of the Ravens or Trey Smith of the Chiefs for Quenton Nelson in the AFC. I think the rest of the group is fine and deserving of the nod.

Edge: For what ever reason the NFL separates DE and OLB into different groups even though they're basically the same thing, so for the sake of being concise I'm grouping them as Edge. In the AFC you have Myles Garrett, Maxx Crosby, and Trey Hendrickson at DE; and Matt Judon, Khalil Mack, and TJ Watt at OLB. I'd say the 3 D-ends are good but TJ Watt shouldn't be on this, he's just missed too much time. I would replace him with his teammate Alex Highsmith who's sneakily having a monster year with 11 sacks. For the NFC they chose Nick Bosa, Brian Burns, and Demarcus Lawrence as the D-ends and Micah Parson, Zadarius Smith, and Hassan Reddick as their outside line backers. Nothing too egregious here but I think Danielle Hunter needs to be in, I'd swap out Tank Lawrence personally, but overall it's not too bad.

pc: San Francisco 49ers

Defensive Tackle: It's been a pretty good year for D-tackles as a whole so there's bound to be some guys who are having a great year. The AFC goes with Chris Jones, Quinnen Williams, and Jeffery Simmons. These are the correct 3 in my opinion. Jones leads all DTs in sacks, Williams has 12 sacks, and Jeffrey Simmons is maybe the most disruptive run defender in the NFL. The NFC goes as follows: Aaron Donald, Jonathan Allen, and Dexter Lawrence. A very solid group and a group that I would say is also the correct one. Christian Wilkins from the Dolphins and Javon Hargrave from the Eagles are both amazing, but you have to make the cuts somewhere and it just so happened to be them.

Line Backer: Inside linebacker is one of the weaker positions in the NFL at the moment. In years past we've had Ray Lewis, Bobby Wagner, and Luke Kuechly in the league at the same time. The 2 from the AFC are Roquan Smith and CJ Mosley. I think Roquan is deserving but there's no shot Mosley should be in over Matt Milano. In my opinion Matt Milano is the 2nd best linebacker playing today. He's a total game wrecker, solid in coverage, and a force against the run, which is why I think this is a massive snub. The NFC did a better job by picking Fred Warner and Demario Davis. I do think Davis may be a little iffy. Frankie Luvu from the Panthers and even Bobby Wagner, who's had a bounce back year, could have snuck in over Demario, but that's probably nit picking.

pc: Buffalo Bills

Corner Back: When you get to DBs, name value holds a lot of weight mostly because the broadcast camera angle doesn't show Corners and Safeties, so a lot of people don't know what's actually happening. The 4 for the AFC are Sauce Gardner, Pat Surtain, Marlon Humphrey, and Xavier Howard. Tyson Campbell from the Jags deserves to be on the list over Howard. Xavier Howard is the prime example of a name value selection. He has been pretty underwhelming this year, but still finds himself in the Pro Bowl. Humphrey is a little questionable but I can't really think of anyone who's been better, and the other two 100% deserve it. On the NFC side their 4 are Darius Slay, Trevon Diggs, Tariq Woolen, and Jaire Alexander. Jaycee Horn needs to be here but it's a tough cut because all of these guys have been good, but I'd probably swap him with Jaire. James Bradberry has a good case as well but I don't think he outperforms anyone here.

Safety: The final position (because I couldn't care less about the long snappers and punters) is safety, who people have even less of an idea of what they do because of the broadcast view. Safety is probably my favorite position in football and there are so many good ones in the league. The AFC went with Minkah Fitzpatrick, Derwin James, and Jordan Poyer. Poyer is the only one I'm iffy on, I'd swap him with Justin Simmons but I don't think it's too egregious to have him on here. Jevon Holland from the Dolphins is another guy who has a case for it, but I think he just missed out. The NFC went with Quandre Diggs, Talanoa Hufanga, and Budda Baker. Hufanga deserves it, he's like a mini Polamalu. Diggs and Budda seem questionable but the other options aren't amazing. Maybe I'd go with Richie Grant or Xavier Woods over them but I'm not too concerned with it.

pc: Joe Sargent/Getty Images

All in all the Pro Bowl teams aren't awful this year, but there are clearly some mistakes. Then again, there will always be mistakes and snubs in anything like this, it happens in every league. I'm interested to see how the Pro Bowl goes now that they've swapped the game with skill challenges, and I'm hoping that will rejuvenate an event that has been anything but stellar over the past few years.