Diggs, Parsons among five Cowboys to receive honor
FRISCO — Two of the Cowboys’ youngest stars were each selected as Pro Bowl starters, the NFL announced Wednesday night.
Second-year cornerback Trevon Diggs, who leads the NFL with 10 interceptions, and linebacker Micah Parsons, the NFL rookie leader in sacks with 12, highlight a five-man group headed to Las Vegas for the NFL’S all-star game Feb. 6.
Left tackle Tyron Smith, right guard Zack Martin and punter Bryan Anger also made the team. Martin and Anger are starters.
Diggs and Parsons are the stars of this contingent.
“They’re having Pro Bowl seasons. I mean, I think their numbers reflect that,” coach Mike Mccarthy said before the team was officially announced. “I think they’ve definitely been very impactful, and if I was coaching against them, they definitely would be on my profile tape and would have a target on them on the weekly. I think that represents the type of players that they both are.”
Parsons and Diggs have been electric. Parsons has a sack in six of the last seven games and leads the Cowboys with 10 tackles for loss and 32 quarterback pressures. He also broke the franchise record for sacks in a season by a rookie.
The last time a Cowboys rookie defensive player was named to the Pro Bowl was linebacker Leighton Vander Esch in 2018.
Diggs is the first Cowboys corner selected as a starter since Deion Sanders in 1999. Former cornerback Byron Jones was selected as an alternate in 2018.
Diggs picked off a pass in the first seven weeks of the season and is turning into one of the NFL’S most dominating defensive players.
Joining Diggs and Parsons as starters will be Martin, who will make his seventh trip to the Pro Bowl. It’s the second-most appearances for a Cowboys guard (Larry Allen had nine) and ties him with former defensive end Demarcus Ware for the eighth-most trips in franchise history.
Smith was named to his eighth Pro Bowl appearance, tying him with Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith for the sixth-most in franchise history.
It’s an impressive accomplishment for Smith, who played in just two games in 2020 before undergoing season-ending neck surgery. This season, Smith has missed four games with ankle problems, but he continues to command respect from coaches and opponents.
Anger received his first Pro Bowl selection and is the fourth punter in franchise history named to the team. The last time a punter made the Pro Bowl from the Cowboys was Mat Mcbriar in 2006 and 2010. Anger leads NFL punters with a 43.9 net average.
Dallas Morning News
No selections rare for Texans
A rebuilding Texans team mired in a season of historic inefficiencies yielded no Pro Bowlers for just the second time in the team’s history. It’s Houston’s first teamwide snub since 2003, a result that, while unsurprising, again underlines where the franchise is and how far it still yet has to go.
The Texans (3-11) rank last in the NFL in yards per game (265.4), 31st in points per game (14.8) and 30th in average scoring margin (-11.8). Their defense has flexed at times, and Footballoutsiders, whose DVOA ratings compare the success of each play to the league average, ranks the unit 17th in the league. But no defensive player was selected, either.
Punter Cam Johnston had the team’s best chance. In mid-december, Johnston led all AFC punters in balloting for the Pro Bowl with 58,329 vote. But Raiders punter A.J. Cole, who leads the NFL with a 50.6 punting average, surpassed Johnston and secured a spot on the AFC roster.
“I think Cam, that’s not going to affect anything about any of our players,” special teams coordinator Frank Ross said. “We’re going to compete every day regardless of what the outcome is. The ultimate goal is to be the best you can possibly be and hopefully that results in a championship. I think all those things along the way will take care of themselves.”
The Texans were one of six NFL teams that didn’t have players selected to the Pro Bowl. The Jaguars (2-12), Lions (2-11-1), Jets (3-11), Giants (4-10) and Broncos (7-7) were each snubbed, although Denver had three players selected as first alternates. The Broncos, a franchise that has won three Super Bowls, has had a Pro Bowler in every season since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.