De’Vondre Campbell was robbed
The NFL announced their Pro Bowl rosters today, which are comprised of a one-third vote by each of the following: the fan vote, the player vote and the coaches vote. The Green Bay Packers released their selections during NFL Network’s special to announce the full team, officially punching in the cards of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, receiver Davante Adams and defensive tackle Kenny Clark for the game in Las Vegas.
If you’re looking into how the Most Valuable Player race might turn out, the Pro Bowl vote is as good of a marker as you’re going to get. Rodgers, who is now the betting favorite to win MVP, was named the NFC’s starter over Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady, who has the second-highest odds to win the award. This marks Rodgers’ tenth Pro Bowl and his fourth straight Pro Bowl. He now has officially passed former quarterback Brett Favre and former guard Forrest Gregg for the most Pro Bowls in Packers history.
Like Rodgers, Adams was named a starter in the Pro Bowl as well. Adams has earned all five of his Pro Bowls over the last five seasons, ranking him ninth all-time in team history. Clark, despite being placed on the reserve/Covid-19 list last week, was named to his second Pro Bowl in his career, with his other nod coming in 2019.
If this list feels light to you for a 11-3 team with Super Bowl potential, you’re probably feeling like most Packers fans. Last season, Green Bay was able to get seven players named Pro Bowlers, but four of those players, cornerback Jaire Alexander, left tackle David Bakhtiari, tackle/guard Elgton Jenkins and outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith, have sustained serious injuries that have kept them off of the field this season. Another, running back Aaron Jones, was named as an alternate in this year’s game.
Three other alternates, punter Corey Bojorquez, cornerback Rasul Douglas and outside linebacker Rashan Gary, stepped up big in new roles for the Packers this year. Bojorquez was traded for from the Rams in September. Douglas was signed off of the Cardinals’ practice squad in Week 4 of the regular season. Gary replaced Smith as a full-time starter when Smith was placed on injured reserve with a back injury in Week 2.
Still, the biggest snub on the list is inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, who many thought had an outside shot to earn First-Team All-Pro honors for his 2021 effort. After being signed in the summer, Campbell has registered 125 tackles with three games to go. For reference, Campbell was named the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Month for October.
The Pro Bowl game is scheduled to be played on February 6th, 2022 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas after a one-year hiatus due to Covid-19. The game will be broadcast on ESPN, ABC and Disney XD.