Packers Pro Bowl 2019: Where is David Bakhtiari?
Two Green Bay Packers made the 2019 Pro Bowl roster, but where is David Bakhtiari?
It’s become a Christmas tradition in the NFL. Name the NFC Pro Bowl roster without arguably the best left tackle in football, David Bakhtiari.
On Tuesday the NFL announced the two Pro Bowl rosters. The Green Bay Packers had two players selected: Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams.
But for the third season in a row Bakhtiari has been snubbed from the Pro Bowl, instead being named as an alternate along with Corey Linsley and Kenny Clark.
It’s quite unbelievable how Bakhtiari continues to slip under the radar. Maybe it’s because of the Packers’ struggles as a team this year. Maybe it’s because Aaron Rodgers has been sacked 44 times this season, fifth-most in the NFL.
But Bakhtiari is arguably the best pass-protecting tackle in the NFL and has been for some time. He has been named a second-team All-Pro the past two seasons, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he makes it three in a row this year.
Aaron Rodgers even went as far as to say Bakhtiari has “Hall of Fame potential” last week. But hey, maybe being a potential future Hall-of-Famer isn’t quite good enough to make the Pro Bowl.
Last week Pro Football Focus ranked the top 25 offensive linemen from the 2018 season so far. Can you guess who was at No. 2 on the list? Good guess, it was David Bakhtiari. Here’s what PFF’s Michael Renner had to say about Bakhtiari in the article:
"“When you’re blocking for Aaron Rodgers’ blindside, you know you are going to have to sustain your block for a while, and few do that as well as Bakhtiari. His 92.3 pass-blocking grade is tops in the NFL. Bakhtiari has been over 90.0 in that regard for three straight seasons now.”"
Sounds good to me, but apparently that’s not quite good enough to make the Pro Bowl.
Of course, nobody should ever take the Pro Bowl voting too seriously. It’s more of a popularity contest than a fair judge of the top talent from the NFL in a season.
And in the end, Bakhtiari not making the Pro Bowl doesn’t change just how important of a player he is for the Packers.
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Zach Kruse of Packers Wire might have put it best:
The Hall of Fame committee in 15 years: “Yeah, David Bakhtiari was a 10-time All-Pro, but only one Pro Bowl?”
— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) December 19, 2018
Another year goes by, another Pro Bowl snub for David Bakhtiari.