Examining the Eagles' Pro Bowl 'Snubs'

Context is important when judging Pro Bowl selections

PHILADELPHIA - When it came to the 2022 Pro Bowl rosters locally, the obvious won out with two Eagles selected to the annual NFL All-Star affair: center Jason Kelce and cornerback Darius Slay.

Philadelphia is probably a little bit more provincial than most other NFL cities so the perception is that a number of players got snubbed, starting with both of the team's offensive tackles, Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata, who have helped fuel a running back that is quickly turning historic after cracking the 200-yard mark for a fifth time this season in a 27-17 win over the Washington Football Team on Tuesday night.

And both were snubbed but not how you may think because the top of the NFC at OT is incredibly strong with San Francisco's Trent Williams, who has been the best offensive lineman in all of football this season, Dallas' Tyron Smith and Tampa Bay's Tristan Wirfs getting the scant three spots on the Pro Bowl team.

None of that should be surprising with ProFootballFocus.com grading out Williams and Smith as the two best left tackles in the NFL and Wirfs as the best right tackle in the NFC. Williams, incidentally, is also graded as the best overall player in the league.

Mailata is higher on the list than Johnson at No. 4, compared to 14 for the veteran three-time Pro Bowl selection. Wirfs is No. 6 so you can make an argument that Mailata has a case over Wirfs unless you want a true RT on the team, something Johnson has advocated for in the past.

Where both were truly snubbed is that neither was reportedly named as an alternate which seems ridiculous on the surface. Philadelphia's known alternates were quarterback Jalen Hurts, defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, tight end Dallas Goedert, kicker Jake Elliott, special-teamer Shaun Bradley, and defensive end Josh Sweat.

Mailata and Johnson, respectively, are far better entrenched at their respective positions than most of the Eagles' alternates as is DT Fletcher Cox, the veteran Pro Bowl staple who many have dismissed after a slow start this season and pedestrian sack numbers.

Cox, though, has been playing very well recently and was back to his game-wrecking self against the WFT with 1.5 sacks and four QB hurries.

His run of six straight Pro Bowl selections came to an end.

Fletcher Cox's run of six straight Pro Bowl selections came to an end this season / USA Today

"Played his ass off. I mean, he affected the game for us and he doesn't know this, but he's going to get Player Of The Game," defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said of Cox Wednesday. "He's in the quarterback's lap all day long, he got the sack into the two minute, had a couple hits on the quarterback, played extremely well in the run game.

"He really affected the game for us. As I like to call it, you guys have heard me say it, he train-wrecked the game."

Per PFF, Cox has been the 25th best IDL this season, not up to his usual standards, but far clear of Hargrave, who is 41st despite eight sacks because of deficiencies in run support.

Goedert may have the strongest snub case after being overlooked for Atlanta rookie Kyle Pitts. 

The Eagles' TE1 has been graded by PFF as the third-best in football only behind superstars George Kittle and Mark Andrews. More so, his production has matched his film in the post-Zach Ertz era with two consecutive games in which Goedert has set a new career-high in receiving yards. He's also a far more well-rounded player than Pitts, who is more of a king-sized slot receiver.

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Elliott has has a great season, missing only two field goals but it's tough to argue him over the Rams' Matt Gay, who is 28-of-29 on the season and hasn't missed from over 50.

Hurts has been graded as the 11th best QB in the NFL and behind only Tom Brady, Kirk Cousins, Aaron Rodgers, Kyler Murray, and Matthew Stafford in the NFC. A unique playmaker Hurts leads the NFL with 96 explosive plays (per the Eagles' metrics, that's 16-plus yard completions and 10-plus yard rushes].

Sweat is No. 31 amongst edge rushers with five sacks so alternate status is all that is appropriate while Bradley was advocated for heavily by Nick Sirianni for the NFC's one special-teams spot which was given to New Orleans' J.T. Gray.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.