Khalil Mack leads list of local players named to Pro Bowl.
Star show: Fullback Juszczyk prevents Niners from being shut out
SANTA CLARA >> Shut out a year ago in Pro Bowl selections, the 49ers avoided a repeat of that Tuesday as fullback Kyle Juszczyk make the NFC roster. Four other 49ers are alternates: kicker Robbie Gould, running back Carlos Hyde and offensive tackles Joe Staley and Trent Brown.
Juszczyk is the only fullback on the NFC roster, and he made the Pro Bowl last season with the Baltimore Ravens, who he left in free agency to sign with the 49ers (four years, $21 million). He won this year’s fan voting to help become the first 49ers fullback to make the
Pro Bowl since Fred Beasley in 2003.
The Pro Bowl will be held in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 28, a week before Super Bowl LII in Minnesota.
Gould has been another excellent free-agent acquisition under new coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
He kicked winning field goals in the final seconds of victories at Chicago on Dec. 3 and last Sunday against Tennessee. Gould has made his last 20 fieldgoal attempts and has set a single-season career high with 36 field goals (on 38 attempts).
Gould’s 127 points are the league’s fourth-most. Greg Zuerlein of the Los Angeles Rams drew the NFC’s Pro Bowl invitation with a league-high 158 points (38 of 40 on field
goals, 44 of 46 on point-after kicks).
Staley made five consecutive Pro Bowls before missing out last season. This is Brown’s debut as a Pro Bowl alternate, but he went on injured reserve last week with a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery, so he won’t be Pro Bowl-bound.
The NFC’s offensive tackles who made the allstar affair are Tyron Smith (Dallas), Trent Williams (Washington) and backup
Lane Johnson (Philadelphia).
Hyde, who’s 204 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard season, is an alternate behind the Rams’ Todd Gurley and the New Orleans Saints’ Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram.
Leading the way on many of Hyde’s run has been Juszczyk, who’s also contributed as a receiver (24 catches, 220 yards, one touchdown) and as a shortyardage back (seven carries, 31 yards).