TWO COWBOYS ROOKIES EARN PRO BOWL HONORS
Raiders lead AFC with seven picks; Falcons have six
The Dallas Cowboys rookie duo of quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott are MVP candidates, and now they are Pro Bowl selections.
Three Dallas offensive linemen — center Travis Frederick, tackle Tyron Smith and guard Zack Martin — joined Prescott and Elliott on the NFC’s Pro Bowl roster announced Tuesday evening.
But it’s the upstart Oakland Raiders who lead the NFL in Pro Bowl selections with seven players, including quarterback Derek Carr and defensive end Khalil Mack. It’s the most Pro Bowl nods for the Raiders since the franchise had eight players selected in 1991.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady joins Carr and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger as the top AFC quarterbacks, despite serving a four-game suspension to start the season. Cleveland Browns left tackle Joe Thomas made his 10th consecutive Pro Bowl team.
The Atlanta Falcons led the NFC with six selections, including quarterback Matt Ryan, who joins Prescott and Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers as the NFC’s quarterbacks.
That leads to perhaps the biggest snub: Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has played his way into the MVP conversation.
The NFL announced the initial Pro Bowl rosters Tuesday as voted on by players, coaches and fans.
The actual lineup will inevitably be markedly different, as players from the Super Bowl teams are removed and others drop out because of injuries or personal reasons.
Those who choose to play will participate in the inaugural Pro Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando after the league decided to move game away from Honolulu. The NFL has also experimented previously with holding the Pro Bowl in the Super Bowl city.
The league is trying to increase interest in the Pro Bowl with the addition of a skills competition that will be televised on Thursday, Jan. 26, three days before the game.
The new competitions include a game of dodgeball, a relay race, a precision passing test and a best hands catching event with a quarterback-wide receiver duo.
The game will return to a traditional AFC vs. NFC format. Recent games featured rosters assembled with a playgroundstyle pick ’ em by NFL alumni coaches.