# 2010 NFL Pro Bowl Rosters **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 30, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-nfl-pro-bowl-rosters/522982 "2009-12-30T00:04:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-nfl-pro-bowl-rosters/522982/41 "2009-12-30T21:37:39Z")
Surprised we got this far and no one has mentioned the omission of Vincent Jackson. Brandon Marshall caught a ton of passes, and I certainly would’ve included him as an alternate, but VJax has been better. I’ll let Shutdown Corner make the argument for me… > [@](#): > > Marshall had more catches than Jackson, but Jackson brought a ton more value to the Chargers’ passing game. He averaged 17.2 yards per catch, while Marshall brought in 11.1. Jackson was a constant big-play threat, and a ridiculous 85.3 percent of his catches went for first downs. It was his dominant presence, too, that allowed Antonio Gates to have the great year he had. And having watched the AFC West for years, and having seen the Bengals in person this season (I’m a Chargers season ticket holder, for the record), I can see both sides of the Asomugha v. either Bengal corner argument. The Bengals have both been great this year, and I know that Nnamdi’s numbers don’t seem real impressive; but you have to watch a whole Raider game to see just how good he really is. Most QBs just don’t even bother throwing at Nnamdi’s side of the field. If he was on almost any other team he’d be worth every penny of what they’re paying him. As it is, the Raiders are just throwing their money away; cause what’s the point of having a 12 million dollar corner back if you’re gonna go 5-11 every year? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-nfl-pro-bowl-rosters/522982/42 "2009-12-30T22:03:00Z")
Good to see Long and Hutchenson there. The Hall of fame criteria for Lineman is mostly based on how many Pro Bowls you make and we need more Wolverines in the HOF. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-nfl-pro-bowl-rosters/522982/43 "2009-12-30T23:09:57Z")
> [@Stringer](#): > > Asomugha is getting by this year on his reputation, he was not even _close_ to being the best cover corner in the league this year. Here is how the opposing WRs faired this season against Asomugha and Revis. > > **Nnamdi Asomugha** > > ```auto > > Vincent Jackson.........5/56/1 > Dwayne Bowe.............5/56/1 > Brandon Marshall........5/67/1 > Andre Johnson...........2/66/0 > Steve Smith (NYG).......3/70/0 > DeSean Jackson..........6/94/0 > David Clowney...........4/79/1 (not sure if he was on Clowney in this game) > Vincent Jackson.........8/103/1 > Dwayne Bowe.............6/91/0 > Chad Ochocinco..........4/67/0 > Miles Austin............7/145/1 > Santonio Holmes.........8/149/1 > Santana Moss............4/58/0 > Brandon Marshall........7/73/1 > Mohammed Massaquoi......3/61/1 > > ``` > > **Darrelle Revis** > > ```auto > > Andre Johnson...................4/35/0 > Randy Moss......................4/24/0 > Nate Washington - Kenny Britt...2/25/1 - 4/59/0 (not covering Washington on his TD) > Marques Colston.................2/33/0 > Ted Ginn........................2/57/1 (got greedy on this TD and should not have been beaten by Ginn) > Terrell Owens...................3/13/0 > Darrius Heyward-Bey.............2/28/0 > Davone Bess.....................4/18/0 > Mike Sims-Walker................3/49/1 (missed tackle at the 18 yard line) > Randy Moss......................5/34/1 (expecting the fade and Moss tricked him with a slant, good play) > Steve Smith (Car)...............1/5/0 > Terrell Owens...................3/31/0 > Antonio Bryant - Brian Clark....3/20/0 - 2/22/0 > Roddy White.....................4/33/0 > Reggie Wayne....................3/33/0 > > ``` > > So ONE guy managed 50+ yards on Revis, and if anyone remembers that Jets/Dolphins Monday night game, it was pretty flukey. How are you determining this? Revis chases the teams best WR around the field all game long and plays a ton of man coverage. Asomugha stays on one side of the field almost exclusively, regardless of what WR is there. The only way you could determine his effect would be to get a passing breakdown by side of the field. Occasionally they’ll do this on MNF broadcasts but it’s not widely available. Your numbers are meaningless. This explains why Revis and Asomugha have such different passes defended numbers, Revis was on the WR1 all game long and teams had to throw that way and he almost always won the battle. Asomugha was only on the WR1 when the scheme sent him to that side of field and if you’re an OC you’d only do that as a decoy. It’s no accident that Asomugha got so little action, it’s not like he was hiding out there. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-nfl-pro-bowl-rosters/522982/44 "2010-01-03T04:00:11Z")
Found a great site for the hard-to-find stats like drops: [Pro Football Focus](http://www.profootballfocus.com/home.php?tab=home) It’s particularly good for the CB discussion: [Cumulative Cornerback Summary](http://www.profootballfocus.com/by_position.php?tab=by_position&season=2009&pos=CB&stype=r&runpass=&teamid=-1&numsnaps=25&numgames=1), which includes stats for: **Thrown At** The cumulative number of times the player was thrown at in coverage. **Receptions** The cumulative number of receptions made into the player’s coverage. **Percentage Caught** The percentage of receptions made into the player’s coverage. **Yards** The cumulative number of yards gained in the player’s coverage. **Average** The average number of yards/completion in the player’s coverage. **Yards After Catch** The cumulative number of yards after catch gained in the player’s coverage. **Long** The longest pass completed into the player’s coverage. **Touchdowns** The cumulative number of touchdowns scored in the player’s coverage. **Interceptions** The cumulative number of interceptions made by the player. **Passes Defensed** The cumulative number of passes defensed by the player. **NFL Rating** The standard NFL quarterback rating for passes into the player’s coverage. (For defenders, the lower the better.) Right out of the gate I see that Darrelle Revis is only credited with 23 passes defensed, so either they use a different evaluation process or the data is incomplete. I think it’s the former. Specifically, I think it’s just a bunch of guys that comb through the network broadcasts of all 256 games and manually enter in the datapoints they’re interested in. So while it may not line up perfectly with the official stats from the Elias Sports Bureau, I don’t think that much matters as long as they’re consistent. Meaning their numbers can be used to compare players against each other using only their numbers. According to them, Asomugha was only thrown at 27 times. 27! Compare that to Revis, who was thrown at 106 times. Then again, the opposition QB rating when throwing those 27 passes at Asomugha’s guy was 101.5. Ouch. (Revis’ rating against was 32.3, far and away best in the league.) They rank the two Bengals receivers 4th (Hall) and 8th (Joseph) in the league, so if you go by them Hall was snubbed but Joseph was not. However, Asomugha is greatly undeserving, ranked 22nd behind guys like the Giants’ Terrell Thomas. In order, they rank the AFC cornerbacks as follows: Darrelle Revis - NYJ Leon Hall - Cin Brandon Flowers - KC Champ Bailey - Den Jonathan Joseph - Cin Domonique Foxworth - Bal Leigh Bodden - NE Lardarius Webb - Bal Brandon Carr - KC Steve Gregory - SD Nnamdi Asomugha - Oak Mike Adams - Cle Tyron Brackenridge - Jac Vontae Davis - Mia Will Allen - Mia Brandon McDonald - Cle Everyone else in the AFC has a negative overall rating. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-nfl-pro-bowl-rosters/522982/45 "2010-01-03T04:29:33Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > I need to figure out why Brady made it over Schaub. Many folks say that the most important statistic for a QB is not yardage or rating, but wins. Whose team won more games this year? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-nfl-pro-bowl-rosters/522982/46 "2010-01-03T17:33:22Z")
Ben Graham should have been the punter for the NFC. However, he probably won’t play in the Pro Bowl because the Cardinals will be in the Super Bowl the following week! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![UncleNito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7cd45c/32.png) [@UncleNito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleNito)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-nfl-pro-bowl-rosters/522982/47 "2010-01-03T17:42:29Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Fullbacks are tough to quantify. Mike Alstott got in for years by being a good power back, not a normal blocking fullback. Which goes to **SeniorBeef** ’s point. The Packers had several 1700+ rushing seasons behind William Henderson’s blocking (and he was a good pass blocker, too), but Alstott’s modest (by RB standards) rushing stats got him the nod every time. It took a season-ending injury to Alstott to finally get Henderson his due after about ten years of being one of the top blocking FBs in the NFC. Evidently **Doors** didn’t vote that year 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-nfl-pro-bowl-rosters/522982/48 "2010-01-03T21:07:06Z")
It’s probably small potatoes but the forced fumble at the end of the Bears game reminded me that I intended to put in a vote for Tim Shaw as the Special Teams ace for the Bears. The guy is in the middle of every tackle, downs punts inside the 20 and is simply a force in every coverage and return unit. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-nfl-pro-bowl-rosters/522982/49 "2010-01-03T21:44:47Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Ben Graham should have been the punter for the NFC. Graham’s had an outstanding season, but Andy Lee’s gross and net averages are just a bit better. The one area where it looks like Graham is substantially better is in punts inside the 20 (he just got his 40th; the announcers noted that the record is 43). ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-nfl-pro-bowl-rosters/522982/50 "2010-01-04T00:52:33Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Graham’s had an outstanding season, but Andy Lee’s gross and net averages are just a bit better. The one area where it looks like Graham is substantially better is in punts inside the 20 (he just got his 40th; the announcers noted that the record is 43). Punts inside the 20 trumps yards, and by a decent margin. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-nfl-pro-bowl-rosters/522982/51 "2010-01-04T14:58:13Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Punts inside the 20 trumps yards, and by a decent margin. Plus they’re negatively correlated; when you’re punting to down the ball inside the 20, you’re not punting for distance. Part of the reason the Oakland guy had such good yardage numbers is that he’s punting from where the Oakland offense left him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-nfl-pro-bowl-rosters/522982.md?page=2)