NEWSLETTER
When Roquan Smith was snubbed from Pro Bowl recognition, I held out hope that the football universe would offer a mea culpa when All-Pro voting was announced.
Silly me. I should know better than to hope for course correction.
Smith was an All-Pro snub at the linebacker position. This is taking nothing away from linebackers Bobby Wagner, Fred Warner, and Darius Leonard, who had superb seasons with their respective teams. But Smith had more solo tackles and tackles-for-loss than Wagner. Smith also had more total tackles, sacks, QB Hits, and tackles-for-loss than Leonard. And yes, Smith also collected more total tackles, solo tackles, tackles-for-loss, and sacks than Warner.
Again, this isn’t me taking away from the accomplishments of others. But Roquan Smith finished tied for sixth in linebacker voting. I’m not sure there were five linebackers better than Smith this year. Not when his numbers are on-par (and in some cases, better) when compared to the All-Pro recipients. Seriously … what gives?
Maybe I should simply be happy that Smith received enough votes to amount to what would be second-team All-Pro honors. And in that case, Khalil Mack also earned recognition as a second-team All-Pro performer. But that won’t keep me from being miffed about Smith.
At least the Bears weren’t completely shut out from All-Pro honors.
Cordarrelle Patterson earns another All-Pro nod as football’s best kick returner. In addition to being a superb hype man, versatile offensive performer, all-around contributor, and GM-in-waiting, Patterson showed he was still an elite kick returner. Patterson led the league in return yards for a second consecutive season, averaged 29.1 yards per return, and brought us this moment:
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1328528798048915457
Cordarrelle Patterson, YOU are ridiculous!
You can check out the All-Pro team via the Associated Press here.
