2022 Pro Bowl Voting: Which Minnesota Vikings Deserve to Make the Cut This Year?
Fan voting for the 2022 Pro Bowl wrapped up on Thursday, with the rosters for February's game to be announced on Monday prior to the Vikings' game against the Bears. In addition to the fan vote, NFL coaches and players also have votes that collectively count for one-third of the total.
Yes, Pro Bowl voting is flawed and can be skewed by name recognition or other factors; Xavier Rhodes making it in 2019 was a perfect example of that. The media-chosen All-Pro teams are typically more accurate reflections of the league's best players and thus a more prestigious accomplishment. But the Pro Bowl still matters for a number of reasons: it's an important honor for the players and their families, drives a lot of fan discussion, and most importantly, is used in contract incentives, Hall of Fame evaluation, and other things with real impact.
The Vikings' social media team has been pushing a group of nine players for Pro Bowl consideration, encouraging fans to vote for them via retweets. These are the nine:
- QB Kirk Cousins
- RB Dalvin Cook
- FB C.J. Ham
- WR Justin Jefferson
- WR Adam Thielen
- RT Brian O'Neill
- LB Eric Kendricks
- S Harrison Smith
- KR Kene Nwangwu
Let's evaluate each member of that group to see if they deserve to make the Pro Bowl based on their play this season.
Players who should 100 percent make it
Justin Jefferson
Pro Bowls: 1 (2020)
This one feels like a lock. Not only does Jefferson unquestionably deserve to be a Pro Bowler for a second straight season, the 22-year-old has the personality and league-wide popularity to match his production. The 2020 second-team All Pro (as a rookie!) is putting together a first-team season this year, shutting down any talk of a sophomore slump by continuing to improve and dominate.
Four receivers make it in each conference, and it would be a crime if Jefferson wasn't among them. He ranks second with 1,288 receiving yards in 13 games and is on pace to break Randy Moss's Vikings single-season yardage record (albeit with an extra game). Jefferson is tied for sixth with eight touchdown catches, ranks third in PFF grade among WRs, and ranks fourth in yards per route run among qualified players. All of those are NFL ranks, not NFC ranks.
Jefferson, Cooper Kupp, and Davante Adams should be easy locks in the NFC, with either Deebo Samuel or Chris Godwin getting the fourth spot.
Dalvin Cook
Pro Bowls: 2 (2019, 2020)
Cook has missed three games this season, yet he still leads the NFC in rushing by a wide margin thanks to three outings with 130-plus yards, highlighted most recently by his 205-yard explosion against the Steelers in primetime. His 978 rushing yards are third in the league right now and he's well on his way to a third straight Pro Bowl. Cook trails Leonard Fournette by just 2 yards for the lead in yards from scrimmage among NFC RBs. This one should be pretty easy.
Players with strong cases
Kene Nwangwu
Pro Bowls: 0
Nwangwu? Really? Absolutely. Not as a running back, obviously, but as a return specialist. He has just 10 kick returns this season, so volume could hurt him when compared to players like Tony Pollard, DeAndre Carter, and Jakeem Grant. But each of those players only has one touchdown, and Nwangwu leads the league with two of them. He's the first player since Cordarrelle Patterson in 2015 with multiple KR TDs in a season. The rookie is averaging a ridiculous 39.5 yards on those ten returns, giving him a chance to be the choice as the NFC's return specialist.
Eric Kendricks
Pro Bowls: 1 (2019)
Kendricks is one of the best linebackers in the NFL, and that was abundantly clear when the Vikings lost to the Lions in their only game without him this season. He's incredible in pass coverage and against the run and has set a career high this season with five sacks, creating major problems as a blitzer. Throw in Kendricks' 120 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 1 forced fumble, and the stats are there for a Pro Bowl nod. The film is there too. But with only two off-ball linebacker spots and tough competition in players like Bobby Wagner and De'Vondre Campbell, we'll see what happens.
Harrison Smith
Pro Bowls: 5 (2015-2019)
Year in and year out, Smith is one of the best safeties in the NFL. That has remained true this year even at the age of 32. Smith was brilliant against the Steelers, with a sack and the game-winning pass breakup to go along with his usual pre-snap disguises and overall control of the game. He has tied his career-high this season with three sacks, is likely going to set a career-high in tackles, and recorded his 29th career interception a couple weeks back.
"A lot of times, you’re the last line of defense, and nobody’s supposed to get behind you," Andre Patterson said. "So for you to feel comfortable to actually line up on the line of scrimmage and, when the ball’s snapped, to turn and run and get the depth back that you’re supposed to have — at the same time as fast receivers are running full-speed toward you — it’s very rare. So what he can do, not a lot of guys can do that."
Smith was leading NFC safeties in votes at a recent update, so he may have a good shot at getting back to the Pro Bowl this season.
Players with solid cases
C.J. Ham
Pro Bowls: 1 (2019)
Fullbacks are tougher to evaluate on traditional stats, but Ham has everything you could want on a Pro Bowl resume. He has 135 yards from scrimmage, including a couple highlight plays, and has been an integral part of the Vikings' offense as a blocker. Ham can line up at fullback, tight end, or just about anywhere else on the field.
"He’s tremendous," Kirk Cousins said. "When Irv [Smith] went down, we said, 'Now you’re going to play Y [tight end].' We’ve obviously asked him to play [fullback] his entire career. But we moved him from [halfback] originally coming out of college in his first year at H. He can do it all. If we lined him up at X or Z [receiver], I bet he could run a route and win. As a quarterback, it’s such a comfort to have a player like that."
Hurting Ham's case is that there's only one fullback spot per conference and Kyle Juszczyk, who has made five straight Pro Bowls, has the advantage in name recognition and yards from scrimmage. That's the only reason he's not one tier higher.
Brian O'Neill
Pro Bowls: 0
Some of the stats for O'Neill are fantastic. He's been charged with 0 sacks allowed this year and just 12 pressures, which are the second-fewest among all right tackles. O'Neill is eighth among all tackles in ESPN's pass-block win rate and tied for 12th in PFF pass-blocking grade. But he's just 29th overall among tackles in PFF grade — for what that's worth — because of an unusually low run-blocking grade. O'Neill has been the best player on a surprisingly decent Vikings offensive line, but I'm not sure it's enough to make him one of the three NFC tackles in the Pro Bowl.
However, remember that players can reach the Pro Bowl as injury replacements or when players decline the invitation because they're in the Super Bowl or have some other reason.
Probably not happening
Kirk Cousins
Pro Bowls: 2 (2016, 2019)
Cousins is another player who has excellent stats that just aren't quite good enough given the quality of his competition for a Pro Bowl spot. He's sixth in the NFL in passing yards, sixth in passer rating, third in PFF grade, and has an elite 27-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. But although the Vikings' 6-7 record is not entirely Cousins' fault by any means — wins are not a QB stat — there have been times this season where his conservative nature has held the offense back. That's part of the reason why Cousins — who also offers little as a runner — ranks just 13th in EPA + CPOE composite (an advanced efficiency and accuracy metric) and 10th in ESPN's QBR. I'd be pretty surprised if the three NFC QB spots didn't go to some combination of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Kyler Murray, and Matthew Stafford.
Adam Thielen
Pro Bowls: 2 (2017, 2018)
His 10 touchdowns are among the league leaders, but Thielen has just 686 receiving yards, in part due to missing the last couple games with an ankle injury. He's not making it this year.
Other longshots: Patrick Peterson, Dalvin Tomlinson, Armon Watts, Ezra Cleveland, Tyler Conklin
Danielle Hunter, Everson Griffen, and Michael Pierce would be involved in the conversation had they not missed significant time.
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