Pro Bowl Voting Has Arrived: What It Means for Dolphins Candidates

It's already been announced that there will not be a 2021 Pro Bowl game, but Pro Bowl rosters still will be selected and there will be some not-yet-announced virtual festivities.

Fan voting began today (Nov. 17) and will go on for the next month and the teams will be announced sometime in late December.

A total of 29 Dolphins players are among the names on the ballot, including rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and most of the other starters.

There are a couple of interesting items in terms of which Dolphins players are on the ballot, starting at running back where Matt Breida is on the ballot but starter Myles Gaskin is not. One would have to guess the NFL, which compiles the list of players to be on the ballot with input from each team, made that determination because Gaskin was on injured reserve when the list was finalized.

It's also interesting to note, though not altogether surprising to anyone who has watched the Dolphins every week this season, that their special teams player (non-specialist) on the ballot is Mack Hollins.

For the record, here's the complete list of Dolphins players on the Pro Bowl ballot:

QB - Tua Tagovailoa

RB - Matt Breida

WR - DeVante Parker, Jakeem Grant

TE - Mike Gesicki, Durham Smythe

T - Austin Jackson, Jesse Davis

G - Ereck Flowers, Solomon Kindley

C - Ted Karras

DE - Emmanuel Ogbah

DT - Christian Wilkins, Raekwon Davis

OLB - Kyle Van Noy, Shaq Lawson

ILB - Jerome Baker, Elandon Roberts

CB - Xavien Howard, Byron Jones

SS - Eric Rowe

FS - Bobby McCain

K - Jason Sanders

P - Matt Haack

LS - Blake Ferguson

RS - Jakeem Grant

Before attacking the issue of which Dolphins players have the best chance of getting selected (and, yes, we understand that there a lot of games left), let's remember that Pro Bowl voting often comes down to reputation and/or stats and it's not always a great representation of the most worthy candidates.

It's also worth noting that the ballot is not separated by conference. For example, the ballot brings a choice for six quarterbacks around the NFL, not three from the AFC and three from the NFC.

All that said, through Week 10 of the NFL season, it's safe to say that the Dolphins are three really solid candidates in Ogbah, Howard and Sanders.

All three of them rank among the league leaders in a specific category — Ogbah in sacks, Howard in interceptions, Sanders in field goal percentage — and Howard has the added advantage of already having been selected to the Pro Bowl.

Ogbah doesn't have the reputation yet, but he's going to score big points with voters (fan, players and coaches) with the two highlight plays he created when he forced fumbles with sacks and they were returned for touchdowns — by Andrew Van Ginkel against the Rams and by Lawson against Arizona.

Sanders, meanwhile, will just have to continue making his field goals.

Grant is second in the NFL in punt return average through Week 10 and clearly has a shot to make it as a return specialist, but there's a lot of competition and his numbers aren't nearly as good on kickoff returns.

Rowe absolutely has played Pro Bowl-caliber defense pretty much all season and his nine passes defensed ranks among the best for NFL safeties, so he could find himself in the running for his first Pro Bowl berth.

One thing for sure, if the Dolphins keep playing defense the way they have in recent weeks, they're going to draw a lot more attention and folks will get a look at what he's been doing.

The Dolphins did not have a single Pro Bowl selection last season, but that seems almost certain to change in 2020.

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