- Joined
- Jul 31, 2010
- Messages
- 8,874
Looking at the Rams and the Pro Bowl
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/14912/looking-at-the-rams-and-the-pro-bowl
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- In another of the NFL's television "events," the league will announce this year's Pro Bowl participants Tuesday night.
Given the format change, it's hard to predict who will make it and who won't. The St. Louis Rams don't have many really obvious candidates, and they certainly don't have anyone who would qualify as a sure thing.
But with that in mind, here are four Rams for whom a case can be made and what those cases are. I've put them in order of what I view as most likely to least like to go to Hawaii:
DT Aaron Donald -- Donald has been perhaps the Rams' most consistent player and even though his impact isn't always felt on the stat sheet, his numbers are pretty good in their own right. His eight sacks are tied for 15th in the league, but only four defensive tackles rank ahead of him in that regard. One of those players, Tampa Bay's Gerald McCoy is on injured reserve and unlikely to play in the Pro Bowl even if elected. The Rams' coaches also have Donald down for 29 quarterback pressures and 11 quarterback hits. It's hard to know if enough people around the league have taken notice of Donald, who barely registered on the fan voting radar, but the numbers and performance have certainly been there. He deserves it, but he's a rookie on a non-winning team so it's hard to say if he'll land one of the six spots for defensive tackles. Detroit's Ndamukong Suh, Jacksonville's Sen'Derrick Marks and Buffalo's Marcell Dareus are likely to make it, but that should leave room for Donald.
P Johnny Hekker -- Hekker hasn't had the record-setting season he had a year ago, but he's been consistently good once again. Hacker's 42.2 net average is fifth best in the NFL, and his total expected points added per punt of 17.67 is third in the NFL. It should help Hekker's cause that he's had some signature moments, namely his passing efficiency on fakes which includes a game-clincher in the win against Seattle. Making it last year and becoming known around the league for that should also be helpful.
DE Robert Quinn -- Quinn got off to a slow start and hasn't dominated to the level that he did a year ago, but his numbers still put him in range of making it once again. His 10.5 sacks are tied for fifth in the NFL and his percentage of drop backs disrupted (2.6) is tied for third in the NFL. That still puts him in the upper echelon. What will be interesting to see is whether Quinn has now built enough of a "name brand" to earn a second consecutive trip. At some point, players become well known enough to land in Hawaii as much based on reputation as performance. That isn't to say Quinn doesn't deserve to go, but it certainly wouldn't hurt his cause.
LB Daren Bates (special teams) -- This is probably the biggest long shot of all because looking at it from the outside, other players around the league simply don't pay that much attention to the dirty work that guys like Bates do. And his signature play -- the blocked field goal against the Giants last week -- came after Pro Bowl voting was already complete. He's been a terror running down kicks and blocking on returns and is a core special teams player for the Rams, but it seems unlikely that he has enough name value around the league to get a bid.
It's hard to predict the whims of voters here. It wouldn't surprise me if the Rams didn't get any Pro Bowlers. It also wouldn't surprise me if the first three on the list earned a spot. The result, as usual, will probably lie somewhere in the middle.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/14912/looking-at-the-rams-and-the-pro-bowl
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- In another of the NFL's television "events," the league will announce this year's Pro Bowl participants Tuesday night.
Given the format change, it's hard to predict who will make it and who won't. The St. Louis Rams don't have many really obvious candidates, and they certainly don't have anyone who would qualify as a sure thing.
But with that in mind, here are four Rams for whom a case can be made and what those cases are. I've put them in order of what I view as most likely to least like to go to Hawaii:
DT Aaron Donald -- Donald has been perhaps the Rams' most consistent player and even though his impact isn't always felt on the stat sheet, his numbers are pretty good in their own right. His eight sacks are tied for 15th in the league, but only four defensive tackles rank ahead of him in that regard. One of those players, Tampa Bay's Gerald McCoy is on injured reserve and unlikely to play in the Pro Bowl even if elected. The Rams' coaches also have Donald down for 29 quarterback pressures and 11 quarterback hits. It's hard to know if enough people around the league have taken notice of Donald, who barely registered on the fan voting radar, but the numbers and performance have certainly been there. He deserves it, but he's a rookie on a non-winning team so it's hard to say if he'll land one of the six spots for defensive tackles. Detroit's Ndamukong Suh, Jacksonville's Sen'Derrick Marks and Buffalo's Marcell Dareus are likely to make it, but that should leave room for Donald.
P Johnny Hekker -- Hekker hasn't had the record-setting season he had a year ago, but he's been consistently good once again. Hacker's 42.2 net average is fifth best in the NFL, and his total expected points added per punt of 17.67 is third in the NFL. It should help Hekker's cause that he's had some signature moments, namely his passing efficiency on fakes which includes a game-clincher in the win against Seattle. Making it last year and becoming known around the league for that should also be helpful.
DE Robert Quinn -- Quinn got off to a slow start and hasn't dominated to the level that he did a year ago, but his numbers still put him in range of making it once again. His 10.5 sacks are tied for fifth in the NFL and his percentage of drop backs disrupted (2.6) is tied for third in the NFL. That still puts him in the upper echelon. What will be interesting to see is whether Quinn has now built enough of a "name brand" to earn a second consecutive trip. At some point, players become well known enough to land in Hawaii as much based on reputation as performance. That isn't to say Quinn doesn't deserve to go, but it certainly wouldn't hurt his cause.
LB Daren Bates (special teams) -- This is probably the biggest long shot of all because looking at it from the outside, other players around the league simply don't pay that much attention to the dirty work that guys like Bates do. And his signature play -- the blocked field goal against the Giants last week -- came after Pro Bowl voting was already complete. He's been a terror running down kicks and blocking on returns and is a core special teams player for the Rams, but it seems unlikely that he has enough name value around the league to get a bid.
It's hard to predict the whims of voters here. It wouldn't surprise me if the Rams didn't get any Pro Bowlers. It also wouldn't surprise me if the first three on the list earned a spot. The result, as usual, will probably lie somewhere in the middle.