Tyler Huntley, Derek Carr added to AFC Pro Bowl roster
If you hadn’t heard, the NFL has jettisoned the traditional Pro Bowl format — in which its best players make an ostensible effort over the course of a full-contact game — for a more leisurely collection of activities including dodgeball, golf, water balloons, something called “kick-tac-toe” and flag football. It’ll be the best company picnic ever.
But the selection process remains the same: Pro Bowl honorees are chosen via voting by fans, players and coaches. The Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen and the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow received the most votes among AFC quarterbacks and were the original representatives at that position. But Mahomes is playing in the Super Bowl, so he’s out, and both Allen and alternates Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins and Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens are excused from the Pro Bowl because of injuries (or, perhaps more honestly in Allen’s case, golf). Burrow also is not participating, per multiple reports.
That led Tuesday to the elevation of three alternates to the NFL’s all-star celebration: Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence, Las Vegas’s Derek Carr and — Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley?
Huntley’s résumé is not exactly Pro Bowl-worthy. It might not even be Cheez-It Bowl-worthy. To wit:
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- Huntley played in only six games this season after Jackson got hurt and none until Dec. 1.
- He threw two touchdown passes.
- And three interceptions.
- His regular season QBR of 41.2 would have ranked 13th among AFC starting quarterbacks had Huntley compiled enough plays to qualify. That’s slightly worse than Indianapolis’s Matt Ryan (who lost his job) but slightly ahead of Denver’s Russell Wilson (who lost his teammates).
- Forty-seven NFL players had more passing yards and passing touchdowns than Huntley, among them Philadelphia’s Gardner Minshew II (who threw 31 fewer passes than Huntley), Miami’s Teddy Bridgewater (in 26 fewer passes) and three separate quarterbacks who started for the Carolina Panthers.
- The Ravens did not score more than 17 points in any of Huntley’s starts.
- Though Huntley actually had a pretty good game in the Ravens’ first-round playoff loss to the Bengals — his 73.3 QBR was a season high — he’ll be mostly remembered for fumbling away Baltimore’s chances of an upset.
Carr’s participation, meanwhile, will be at least a little awkward. He’ll be representing the Raiders for what’s likely to be the final time, after Las Vegas benched him late in the season to keep him healthy for the trade market. Plus, the Pro Bowl will be played in Las Vegas, where Carr has spent the past three seasons after the Raiders’ move from Oakland.
Still, Carr seemed happy to be invited Tuesday on Twitter:
😂😂😂😂
Well... maybe this invitation got lost in the mail from past seasons but I'm going back to pro bowl #4. See you soon Vegas!
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