December 18, 2019
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports
Congratulations to Fletcher Cox, who has had a good enough career to begin making Pro Bowls on reputation.
The Philadelphia Eagles announced Tuesday night that five of their players — RG Brandon Brooks, DT Fletcher Cox, TE Zach Ertz, C Jason Kelce, and LS Rick Lovato — made the Pro Bowl.
Somehow, despite slogging through one of their most disappointing seasons in recent memory, only three teams had more Pro Bowl players than the Eagles:
A look at each of the Eagles' Pro Bowlers, in alphabetical order:
• RG Brandon Brooks: There's a good argument that Brooks has been the best offensive guard in the NFL this season. His Pro Bowl nod as a starter is well-deserved.
• DT Fletcher Cox: This is Cox's fifth straight Pro Bowl selection and it was a reputation pick, as Cox has not been the elite interior presence in 2019 that we have come to know. On the season, he only has 37 tackles (5 for loss), 3.5 sacks, and 9 hits on the QB. Here's how that compares with his previous four Pro Bowl seasons:
| Fletcher Cox | Tackles (TFL) | Sacks | FF-FR | QB hits |
| 2015 | 71 (11) | 9.5 | 3-2 | 11 |
| 2016 | 43 (9) | 6.5 | 1-1 | 14 |
| 2017 | 26 (5) | 5.5 | 1-2 | 17 |
| 2018 | 46 (12) | 10.5 | 1-1 | 34 |
| 2019 | 37 (5) | 3.5 | 2-0 | 9 |
As you can see, compared with his previous Pro Bowl seasons, Cox is on pace for his lowest sack and QB hit totals. San Francisco's Arik Armstead (49 tackles, 11 for loss, 10 sacks, 2 FF, 16 QB hits) and DeForest Buckner (56 tackles, 7 for loss, 6.5 sacks, 2 FF, 18 QB hits), for example, both have good reason to feel snubbed.
• TE Zach Ertz: Ertz will play in his third Pro Bowl, alongside the 49ers' George Kittle, who will start. Ertz and Kittle were the clear top two choices at tight end in the NFC. Their numbers:
| NFC Pro Bowl TEs | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| Zach Ertz | 84 | 888 | 10.6 | 6 |
| George Kittle | 73 | 888 | 12.2 | 4 |
Ertz has been the only consistent target in the passing game for Carson Wentz this year. It is his third Pro Bowl nod.
• C Jason Kelce: Kelce has had a good season, but his highlight reel plays have been less noticeable. I'll stop short of calling this a "reputation pick," as I can't say for certain that there are more deserving centers to make the Pro Bowl over him. Kelce was named as the starter, ahead of the Cowboys' Travis Frederick.
• LS Rick Lovato: When I first saw that Lovato was named as a Pro Bowl long snapper, it made sense. Anecdotally, I can't remember any bad field goal or punt snaps from him this season. Lovato has put Jake Elliott in a good position to bang home 90.5 percent of his field goal attempts this season.
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