The Buccaneers had five players make the Pro Bowl and several that are alternates, but there were still a few players that were wrongfully left out.
After the 2021 Pro Bowl where the Buccaneers only had one player representing, the 2022 iteration of the award is off to a much better start with five players. Tom Brady, Shaquil Barrett, Tristan Wirfs, Ali Marpet, and Ryan Jensen made the cut this year, with several other Bucs were listed as alternates.
The representation for the Bucs is getting much better, but there still should be more than five players in the starting group for Tampa.
Contrary to how fans see it, the Pro Bowl does matter for the players, even if it is a flawed system that allows fans to vote.
While we should be happy for the Buccaneers that did make the cut, there are some other players that were also deserving that didn’t get the same attention.
1. Leonard Fournette
This is just based on the fact that Alvin Kamara made it in. Kamara had fewer yards per carry, total yards, receiving yards, receptions, and fewer touchdowns.
Kamara made the list on name alone, and this cost Fournette money.
2. Donovan Smith
Smith has been playing at an extremely high level for the Buccaneers, and while it would’ve been hard to make the list as a starter in such a stacked group, he certainly deserved the acknowledgment as an alternate based on the fantastic season he has put together.
3. Devin White and Lavonte David
This is a double spot mostly because the linebacker voting is so bad for the Pro Bowl. The NFC team only had one legitimate off-ball linebacker, and one has to think that White or David should’ve earned that second spot with the other being an alternate.
This just shows that the NFL has to fix position allocations for linebackers.
2021/2022 was a good step in the right direction for the Buccaneers, but there is obviously still room to fix some of the messes with this All-Star game.
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