New York (AFP) – Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Detroit’s Jared Goff were named Thursday as starting quarterbacks for the NFL Pro Bowl Games, while three-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City was snubbed. Full rosters were named by the league with selections decided by fan votes, players, and coaches. Each group counted one-third in total balloting for lineups in the February 2 flag football game at Orlando — with retired stars Eli and Peyton Manning serving as coaches — and other skills contests. Exact voting totals were not revealed.
Allen has 28 touchdown passes and 12 rushing touchdowns this season, becoming the first NFL player with at least 25 TD passes and 10 rushing touchdowns in multiple campaigns. Joining him in his third Pro Bowl lineup is Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, the NFL leader with 4,641 passing yards and 42 touchdown passes. Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player, was selected for the fourth time. He has 3,955 passing yards, 852 rushing yards with 39 touchdown passes and four touchdown runs, and he became the all-time rushing yardage leader among NFL quarterbacks this season. Jackson was among an NFL-best nine Ravens selected for the Pro Bowl.
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Detroit was next with seven players chosen, followed by Minnesota and Philadelphia with six each, and Dallas and two-time reigning champion Kansas City with five each. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes was not named to the elite roster despite the Chiefs owning the NFL’s best record at 15-1, but his top target, tight end Travis Kelce, was in the lineup for a 10th time. In all, 28 teams had at least one player in the Pro Bowl Games, with 22 clubs having two or more players chosen.
In the NFC, Goff was chosen for a fourth time. The NFL passing yards leader with 4,398 has 36 touchdown tosses this season. Washington rookie Jayden Daniels was a first-time selection as a rookie. He was only the fourth NFL rookie quarterback with at least 30 combined passing and rushing touchdowns, and his 864 rushing yards are already the most by any rookie quarterback in NFL history. Daniels joins Robert Griffin III, Dak Prescott, and Dan Marino as the only rookie quarterbacks named to the Pro Bowl since 1970.
Another backup quarterback making his first Pro Bowl roster was Minnesota’s Sam Darnold, the first starting quarterback in NFL history with 14 wins in his first season with a team. He has thrown for a career-high 4,153 passing yards this season. San Francisco’s Kyle Juszczyk was chosen for his ninth Pro Bowl, the most ever for a fullback.
© 2024 AFP
