Three Packers Top Fan Voting for NFC Pro Bowl Team

Here are the Packers who finished in the top 10 of fan voting, with the 44-man rosters to be announced on Monday night.

Bill Huber | Dec 21, 2020

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With a late push, outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith joined left tackle David Bakhtiari and long snapper Hunter Bradley as the NFC leaders in the final fan vote for this year’s Pro Bowl.

Will they be selected for the annual all-star team? Will Aaron Rodgers make it? Davante Adams? The Pro Bowl rosters, with fans, players and coaches each forming one-third of the total vote, will be announced on Monday night.

Rodgers earned the fifth-most votes overall behind Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

The Pittsburgh Steelers got the most fan votes, followed by the Seahawks, Packers, Chiefs and Buffalo Bills.

Smith, whose 11.5 sacks are just one behind the league leaders, was third overall and second among NFC outside linebackers behind Chicago’s Khalil Mack on Dec. 11 but moved past Mack to be No. 1 in the conference. Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt was the overall winner of the fan vote by about 85,000 votes.

Bakhtiari was the overall winner of the fan vote among offensive tackles. He is one of three starting offensive tackles to have not allowed a sack this season. Bradley was the NFC leader among long snappers, about 11,000 behind overall winner Kameron Canaday of Pittsburgh.

When the players’ and coaches’ votes are added to the formula, Rodgers, Bakhtiari, Smith, Davante Adams, Aaron Jones, Robert Tonyan and Jaire Alexander would seem to have the best cases to be included on the 44-man NFC roster.

Here are the Packers, by position, and who finished in the top 10 in the NFL in fan voting.

Quarterback – Aaron Rodgers: third overall, second in NFC.

Running back – Aaron Jones: sixth overall, third in NFC.

Fullback – None.

Receiver – Davante Adams: fourth overall, third in NFC.

Tight end – Robert Tonyan: fifth overall, second in NFC.

Center – Corey Linsley: seventh overall, fourth in NFC.

Guard – Elgton Jenkins: eighth overall, second in NFC.

Tackle – David Bakhtiari, first overall, first in NFC.

Defensive end – None.

Defensive tackle – None.

Outside linebacker – Za’Darius Smith: second overall, first in NFC.

Inside linebacker – None.

Cornerback – Jaire Alexander: sixth overall, third overall.

Free safety – Darnell Savage: ninth overall, fourth in NFC.

Strong safety – None.

Kicker – None.

Punter – None.

Long snapper – Hunter Bradley, second overall, first in NFC.

Special teams player – Oren Burks, second overall, second in NFC.

Returner – None.

Published Dec 21, 2020

BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.