Tonyan Among Most Likely First-Time Pro Bowlers

Here are 10 non-rookie candidates to reach their first Pro Bowl during the 2021 NFL season.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Last season, the Green Bay Packers had seven players selected to the Pro Bowl – a number matched only by the Kansas City Chiefs. Six were starters, their most since they had eight in 1967 – the final season of Vince Lombardi’s Glory Years teams.

There was one obvious snub, and that player is listed among 10 players who could earn first-time Pro Bowl accolades in 2021.

In his list, Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr included tight end Robert Tonyan.

“Tonyan was grossly overlooked a year ago, despite scoring double-digit touchdowns and flashing absolute mastery in the red zone,” Orr wrote. “While Aaron Rodgers’s inevitable, begrudging return weighs heavily on this bet, Tonyan has married himself to a scheme that provided some brilliant opportunities, including the second most average separation per route run (more than four yards). That shouldn’t be going away any time soon, and while he may not score 11 touchdowns this year, he will score enough with the eyes of the football world on him to make up for the snub.”

Tonyan topped the Next Gen Stats’ list of top pass catchers in the NFL in 2020. His expected catch rate in 2020 was 71.4 percent. He crushed that by catching 88.1 percent of passes. That 16.7 percent difference was No. 1 in the league last season and the second-best in Next Gen Stats’ five seasons.

“Tonyan generated 4.2 yards of separation per target in 2020, the second-most of any player since 2016,” NFL.com’s Nick Shook wrote.

Tonyan had 14 receptions in his first two seasons but 11 touchdowns in 2020. Of the 34 tight ends who were targeted at least 40 times in the passing game, Tonyan was No. 1 in catch percentage (89.7), drop percentage (0.0) and passer rating (148.3), according to Pro Football Focus. In the bizarro world that is Pro Bowl voting, he lost out to the Giants’ Evan Engram, who had more receptions (63) and yards (654) but lagged far behind in touchdowns (one), catch percentage (61.8), drop percentage (11.3) and passer rating (59.8).

“He’s probably progressed as much as any player we’ve had in the two years,” coach Matt LaFleur said last month. “I know he had a really good season last year and I think there’s still more there for him. I think he’s still learning the position and he continues to get better and better. I love his attitude, I love his work ethic, I think he’s really confident right now. Right now is just a great time for us to experiment with him on different routes, so hopefully we can feature him a little bit more in our offense next season.”