January 04, 2024
Six Philadelphia Eagles players made the Pro Bowl this season. They are WR A.J. Brown, C Jason Kelce, RT Lane Johnson, LG Landon Dickerson, RB D'Andre Swift, and ED Haason Reddick. Brown, Kelce, and Johnson were named as starters.
• C Jason Kelce (7th Pro Bowl): This is Kelce's fifth straight Pro Bowl, and his seventh overall. Earlier this season Kelce snapped Jon Runyan's team record for most consecutive games played. That streak is now up to 155 straight games. He also has a pretty popular podcast.
• RT Lane Johnson (5th Pro Bowl): Johnson is arguably the Eagles' best player, and he has been perennially undervalued on dumb preseason "Top 100" lists. He also used to be a Pro Bowl snub, but he now made the last two. Johnson remains an elite player.
• WR A.J. Brown (3rd Pro Bowl): Through 16 games, Brown has 105 catches for 1447 yards, and 7 TDs. He ranks third in the NFL in receiving yards, and fifth in receptions. The Eagles' single-season receiving yardage record is already held by Brown, who had 1,496 receiving yards in 2022. He needs 50 more yards Week 18 to break his own record.
• ED Haason Reddick (2nd Pro Bowl): 2023 was Reddick's fourth straight season with double-digit sacks. He has 11 this year, but no forced fumbles. A year ago, Reddick had 16 sacks and 5 forced fumbles. In recent weeks, Reddick has been a rare player who has gotten pressure on the quarterback in an otherwise toothless defense, but that pressure has not translated to sacks, as Reddick has been stuck at 11 since Week 14.
• LG Landon Dickerson (2nd Pro Bowl): Dickerson has become a good starter along the Eagles' line, however, the left side of the line has not been the dominant run blocking force that we saw in 2022, which makes Dickerson's inclusion a bit of a surprise.
• RB D'Andre Swift (1st Pro Bowl): Swift's season started off hot, when he had 175 rushing yards against the Vikings Week 2 and 130 rushing yards against the Buccaneers Week 3. However, he has not topped 100 yards in a game since. Swift currently ranks fourth in the NFL in rushing yards, with 1,049. His inclusion makes sense based on where he ranks among other runners this season, but he is also a beneficiary of a down year for running backs.
Nine alternates were also named.
• The three quarterbacks who made it over Hurts were Brock Purdy, Dak Prescott, and a bit of a surprise in Matthew Stafford. Hurts and Stafford had similar passing efficiency this season, but Hurts can run (he broke the single-season TD record for a quarterbacks this year), while Stafford is more or less a statue at this stage of his career. Stafford's Rams have won six of their last seven games while Hurts' Eagles have lost four of their last five.
• Elliott also had a Pro Bowl-worthy season, but it's hard to argue against the nod going to the Cowboys' Brandon Aubrey, who has not missed a field goal all season.
• The return specialist who made it over Covey (14.6 yards per punt return) is the Saints' Rashid Shaheed (14.0 yards per punt return). Shaheed is a "return average preserver," as he has almost as many fair catches (22) as he does returns (23). It's worth noting that Shaheed also returns kicks, but he was an unimpactful kick returner this season, averaging just 21.3 yards per kick return (near the bottom of the NFL) with a long return of just 28 yards. Shaheed does have name recognition as a player who contributes in the regular offense (43-654-4 for the Saints this season), but he was not a better returner than Covey.
• Carter felt like something close to a lock to make the Pro Bowl at points this season, but he has not been as disruptive over the last month or so. Same goes for Sweat.
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