Eagles

Five Eagles Selected to Pro Bowl

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Dec 18th, 2019 · 8:55 AM EST

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Thought this number would be smaller, but good for Brandon Brooks, Fletcher Cox, Zach Ertz, Jason Kelce, and Rick Lovato.

Lane Johnson may have been snubbed, however. I think the educated guess from Eagles fans and media was that Johnson, Brooks, and Ertz would be the Pro Bowl picks, but we were thrown a curveball instead.

Wrote Johnson of his snub:

No right tackle love, @NFL? You'll see… 😤

— Lane Johnson (@LaneJohnson65) December 18, 2019

Uh oh. Might be time to get out the underdog mask again. It’s that time of the year.

Some notes on each guy who was selected:

Brandon Brooks

Third straight selection and most selections for an Eagles guard in franchise history. This comes after he signed his new big money contract, making him the NFL’s highest-paid guard.

Pro Football Focus loves Brooks, who continues to be their highest-rated guard. He’s also coming off the playoff game Achilles injury, which required only eight months of rehab, so he’s really had a tremendous bounce-back year.

Zach Ertz

Three straight selections for Ertz.

He wasn’t having an amazing season earlier on, with some drops here and there and a couple of games where he wasn’t very involved. But he’s had double-digit targets in five of the last six games, catching 47 passes and finding the endzone five times. He’s actually tied with George Kittle for 888 receiving yards this year, which is third among tight ends. He also has more touchdowns than both Kittle and Travis Kelce.

Fletcher Cox

Surprised he’s on here. Feels like one of those reputation selections, because he’s not been playing like a Pro Bowler this year. He only has 3.5 sacks and has not been the dominant and disruptive player he typically is.

Cox has had to carry the load at DT with the injuries to Tim Jernigan (early on), Malik Jackson, Hassan Ridgeway, Akeem Spence, and whoever else I forgot. Maybe that’s why he got some Pro Bowl consideration. No idea.

This is his fifth straight-selection, which is the most for an Eagles defensive tackle and now tied for 7th most in franchise history. According to the Eagles, only Reggie White and Pete Pihos earned more consecutive Pro Bowl selections.

Jason Kelce

His third selection overall, but first since the 2016 season. Travis Frederick and Alex Mack had been repping the NFC at the Center position for the past few seasons.

Kelce has been a constant on the line this year, holding down the fort with a revolving door of guys around him. He still looks great blocking in space and has had a really nice season.

Rick Lovato

The long snapper gets his first Pro Bowl selection.

I honestly have no idea how they evaluate long snappers in the NFL, so I went over to PhiladelphiaEagles.com to see what they wrote about Lovato:

He’s also one of the league’s elite players at his position, earning his first Pro Bowl nomination on Tuesday. Lovato is a critical cog in a special teams operation with kicker Jake Elliott connecting on 90.5 percent of his field goal attempts and punter Cameron Johnston ranking in the top five in the league in both net and gross punting average this season. Lovato is the first Eagles long snapper to earn a Pro Bowl bid since Jon Dorenbos in the 2014 season.

One thing I will say is that I have never once thought to myself, “jeez, that was a bad snap” during a punt or a field goal. I actually don’t think I’ve heard Lovato’s name mentioned on the broadcast ever, which means you’re doing your job without any issues.