Three Packers players who should’ve made the 2022 Pro Bowl
The Green Bay Packers initially had three players named to the Pro Bowl: quarterback Aaron Rodgers, receiver Davante Adams and nose tackle Kenny Clark.
However, all three of the players recently announced that they wouldn’t be participating in the NFL’s annual all-star game, citing injuries.
Because of that, Matt LaFleur and the Packers’ coaching staff won’t be able to coach any of their own players in the Pro Bowl. However, there are some players on Green Bay’s roster that almost certainly deserved a spot in the Pro Bowl, but didn’t receive one.
Let’s start with an All-Pro who was inexplicably not named a Pro Bowler.
ILB De’Vondre Campbell
Campbell, who was signed to a one-year, $2 million contract this offseason (per Spotrac) had an incredible season for the Packers.
Long thought of as a mediocre middle linebacker and solid special teams player, the 28-year-old former Cardinal and Falcon had a breakout season. He amassed 146 tackles, two sacks and two interceptions this season.
Campbell was a cornerstone of the Packers’ defense during Joe Barry’s first season as defensive coordinator. He earned a first-team All-Pro nod, signifying that he is one of the top two middle linebackers in the entire NFL.
Yet, somehow, he was robbed of his first career Pro Bowl appearance. Instead, Dallas Cowboys rookie Micah Parsons and Seattle Seahawks star Bobby Wagner will be playing in Allegiant Stadium this Sunday. Both players had great seasons, specifically Parsons, who tallied an impressive 13 sacks.
However, Wagner was undoubtably not as effective as Campbell was against both the run and the pass. Campbell deserved an All-Pro spot, and it’s a shame that he won’t be able to don a Packers helmet for the NFC this weekend.
FS Adrian Amos
Amos has long been one of the most underrated players in the NFL. He provides quality, consistent play from the free safety position, and is excellent at helping to stop the run game. You’d be hard pressed to find a player with stronger tackling fundamentals than him.
What hurts Amos is that he doesn’t make the flashy, highlight plays that many fans love to see. He’s almost a polar opposite of Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs. Amos doesn’t get many interceptions (only two this season), but he doesn’t allow many big plays either. He plays a more old school brand of football that deserves to be recognized in the Pro Bowl.
The two Pro Bowl free safeties in the NFC are the Cardinals’ Budda Baker and the Vikings’ Harrison Smith, both players who had very good seasons, but not really any better than Amos’s stellar year.
Amos had more pass deflections than both of them, more interceptions than Smith, and more solo tackles than Baker. He’s a leader on this Green Bay defense, and he deserves to be recognized for it outside of Green Bay. Unfortunately, that hasn’t yet happened.
OLB Rashan Gary
This was the Rashan Gary breakout season that so many fans hoped for when the Packers spent the 12th overall pick on him in 2019. His counting stats are good, but not elite. He managed to amass 9.5 sacks and 47 tackles on the season.
However, where he’s been elite has been in pressuring the quarterback. He ranked fifth in the NFL in total quarterback pressures, per Pro Football Reference. Pressuring quarterbacks forces them to make rushed and sometimes poor decisions, and is nearly as valuable as sacking them. Eventually, Gary’s elite pressure numbers will turn into elite sack numbers.
None of the three outside linebackers named to the NFC’s Pro Bowl roster had as many pressures as Gary. Robert Quinn’s 18.5 sacks were impressive, and undoubtedly Pro Bowl worthy, but Chandler Jones and Shaquil Barrett each only had one sack and a half a sack more than Gary, respectively. Gary’s elite pressure numbers should’ve vaulted him ahead of that duo for a Pro Bowl spot.