Falcons Send 2 Players to Pro Bowl, 8 Others Listed as Alternates

Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Jessie Bates III were among the Atlanta Falcons not included on the Pro Bowl roster. Chris Lindstrom and KhaDarel Hodge were.
Atlanta Falcons guard Chris Lindstrom is headed to his third consecutive Pro Bowl.
Atlanta Falcons guard Chris Lindstrom is headed to his third consecutive Pro Bowl. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images
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The Atlanta Falcons will have at least two representatives at the 2025 Pro Bowl -- with a chance for several more.

Falcons right guard Chris Lindstrom and special teams ace KhaDarel Hodge were each named to the initial Pro Bowl roster Thursday morning.

Atlanta also had eight alternates who could make their way onto the roster in the event of injuries, opt outs, or Super Bowl appearances:

First alternates: running back Bijan Robinson and safety Jessie Bates III
Third alternates: inside linebacker Kaden Elliss and kicker Younghoe Koo
Fourth alternate: outside linebacker Matthew Judon
Fifth alternates: offensive lineman Drew Dalman, cornerback A.J. Terrell and defensive lineman Grady Jarrett

Lindstrom is Atlanta's first offensive lineman to make the Pro Bowl three years in a row since Alex Mack in 2016-18. Hodge, meanwhile, will make his first Pro Bowl appearance, and he's the Falcons' first specialist to earn a nod since Eric Weems in 2010.

Hodge recovered a muffed punt for his first career special teams touchdown in Week 4 against the New Orleans Saints and he made a tackle-for-loss to stop a fake punt in a Week 8 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 15 after blocking one punt and tipping another.

Lindstrom grades as Pro Football Focus's second-best guard league-wide with a 92.7 rating. Across 1,020 snaps this season, Lindstrom allowed one sack and eight quarterback hits and was called for eight penalties.

Atlanta's snubs raised eyebrows. Robinson is fourth in the NFL in best rushing yards (1,286) and yards from scrimmage (1,714). Bates has 97 tackles and four interceptions. Elliss is the only player in Falcons history to have 100-plus tackles, five or more sacks and an interception in one season.

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris named all three as plausible selections during his press conference Wednesday.

"There's always guys on your team you feel like are worthy," Morris said. "We’ve got a great selection panel an I love the way the NFL does it. You can name a bunch of people that have played at really high levels on the football team throughout the course of the season that could potentially do some of those type of things.

"It's always an honor when those guys have an opportunity to go be a part of anything Pro Bowl related, and that's always pretty cool for the guys."

The 2025 Pro Bowl Games will be a multi-day AFC vs. NFC event, starting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, with skills challenges before a flag football game at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4, inside Camping World Stadium in Orlando. The competition will be televised on ESPN.


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Daniel Flick
DANIEL FLICK

Daniel Flick is an accredited NFL writer for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Daniel has provided boots-on-ground coverage at the NFL Combine and from the Atlanta Falcons' headquarters, among other destinations, and contributed to the annual Lindy's Sports Magazine ahead of the 2023 offseason. Daniel is a co-host on the 404TheFalcon podcast and previously wrote for the Around the Block Network and Georgia Sports Hospitality Media.