December 08, 2022
When Pro Bowl voting opened up a few weeks ago, the NFL issued a press release stating, "Fans can show their support for their favorite players by voting for them to be named on the 2023 Pro Bowl Games roster."
If two of your favorite players are Eagles TE Dallas Goedert or S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, however, you cannot vote for them, because they are not on Pro Bowl ballots. The tight end ballot is here; safeties can be found here and here. No Goedert. No CJGJ.
Goedert has 43 receptions on 53 targets for 544 yards and 3 TDs this season, despite missing three games due to a shoulder injury. Still, he is second in the NFC among tight ends in receiving yards, just 76 yards behind the NFC's leader, T.J. Hockenson of the Vikings. He leads all NFL tight ends in yards per target (10.3 YPT), just as he did in 2021. It is expected that Goedert will be activated from injured reserve and rejoin the starting lineup when he is eligible after the Eagles' Week 14 matchup this Sunday against the Giants.
Gardner-Johnson, meanwhile, leads the NFL in interceptions, with six. Only three other safeties in the NFL have as many as four interceptions. His timetable for recovery from a lacerated kidney is a little murkier than Goedert's, but it is expected that he too could return by the end of the regular season.
Both Goedert and Gardner-Johnson have Pro Bowl-worthy credentials, but fans cannot vote for them because of, quite frankly, a pretty dumb reason — they are both on injured reserve.
Here is a small sampling of some tight ends that you can vote for on the NFL's Pro Bowl balloting:
If a player is having a Pro Bowl-worthy season, but he's hurt, so freaking what? He's no longer deserving of recognition for a great season? And if that player can't participate in the volleyball game or whatever the Pro Bowl is nowadays, a replacement can be found later. But also, excluding players from Pro Bowl consideration because they are on IR makes even less sense now than it would have years ago. In years past, if you went on injured reserve, your season was over. In 2022, players can return from injured reserve after sitting out for four games.
As it is, you can't vote for Goedert because some other team's linebacker tried to rip his head off of his body, but you can vote for a guy with three receptions.
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