INDIANAPOLIS – It wouldn’t be a Pro Bowl announcement without a major Colts player being snubbed.
While Darius Leonard, Quenton Nelson and Ryan Kelly are Pro Bowlers again, the crime of Monday night was DeForest Buckner not being selected.
Remember, it’s a virtual Pro Bowl in 2020, with no game being played. Voting combines one third fan vote, one third player vote and one third coach vote. The honor of being chosen means a whole lot to players (with some financial incentives in there, too).
With no alternates needed for a game this year, it looks like this will be the group of Pro Bowlers for the Colts in 2020.
The Colts have now had multiple Pro Bowlers in 9 straight years.
Here’s a look at the Pro Bowl drama:
2020 Pro Bowlers
-Quenton Nelson: Even though this season has had some admitted ups and downs from Nelson, he still deserved to be a Pro Bowler. He’s one of the top three guards in the AFC and has still suited up in every game this season, while being part of one of the best pass protecting units in the NFL. Nelson is a Pro Bowler in his 3rd straight NFL season.
-Darius Leonard: It hasn’t been the insane Hall of Fame production from Darius Leonard we are used to. He’s at 2 sacks and 6 tackles for loss this season, with 2 turnovers forced. Those are still notable numbers and Pro Bowl worthy. This is Leonard’s 2nd straight nod.
-Ryan Kelly: For the second straight year, Kelly is a Pro Bowler. As you’ll see with some of the names below, Kelly having already been to the Pro Bowl helped his cause with voting. Even though the Colts run game has struggled at times this season, the offensive line has two Pro Bowlers.
Biggest Snubs
-DeForest Buckner: The fact that Buckner has only made 1 Pro Bowl shows you how big of a farce Pro Bowl voting van be. And we once again found that out on Monday night. Buckner is an unquestioned Pro Bowler in 2020. Name recognition, and familiarity in the AFC, sent Pittsburgh’s Cameron Heyward and Baltimore’s Calais Campbell (along with Kansas City’s Chris Jones, who is deserving). Buckner has tormented opposing QBs this season with his consistent pressure and hits. This is a crime, a la Darius Leonard missing out in 2018.
-George Odum: Yes, the Colts deserved to have a special teams member in the Pro Bowl. And that would have been safety George Odum. With 18 special teams tackles, Odum leads the NFL in that category this season and it’s not even close. Of course, New England veteran Matthew Slater gets in on name recognition. There is no fanfare needed with this choice. When a guy is leading the league by that many tackles on special teams, he deserved the vote.
-Braden Smith: Let’s get this out of the way: I would have been stunned if Braden Smith made the Pro Bowl. That doesn’t mean he should be overlooked for it. Smith has been his typical steady and solid self in Year Three, and Frank Reich even calls him one of the best tackles in the league. Smith shouldn’t be taken for granted and deserves a nice pay day here soon. As expected, the AFC went with far more popular names at the tackle spots.
-Kenny Moore: The lack of national recognition for Moore once again contributed to him missing out. He should have been a Pro Bowler last year and was deserving again in 2020. It’s a shame that just because Moore was an undrafted free agent from a small school he doesn’t garner the type of attention that a player of his caliber should. What Moore does in coverage, as a blitzer and as an open field tackler tells the story on why he’s one of the best nickel corners in the game. The AFC did send 4 pretty darn good outside corners to this year’s Pro Bowl.
