Pro Bowl rosters released, who were the snubs?

When an all-star team gets released, the story right away is always about who didn’t make it.

And there were plenty of Pro Bowl snubs.

The worst snub was probably Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, who has had a tremendous season but did not get a spot. He probably should have grabbed Denver Broncos tackle Ryan Clady’s spot, because Clady's play has been more up and down than usual.

But offensive linemen don’t move the needle, so there are probably three snubs everyone will focus on: Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham and Detroit Lions receiver Golden Tate.

Wilson’s case is a little harder to argue because it’s tough to remove any of the six quarterbacks who made it, but Beckham or Tate should have made it over Detroit Lions star Calvin Johnson or A.J. Green of the Cincinnati Bengals. Johnson made it despite an injury-plagued season in which he barely got more than 1,000 yards and had just six touchdowns. Even though Johnson is headed to the Hall of Fame, this year’s Pro Bowl selection was a pick made on reputation. The same argument can be made for Green, who has just 959 yards this season but made it to the Pro Bowl.

Who are some others that were snubbed? Dallas tight end Jason Witten, Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker, New York Jets defensive end Sheldon Richardson, Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Fletcher Cox, Detroit linebacker DeAndre Levy, Oakland Raiders outside linebacker Khalil Mack, New England Patriots linebacker Jamie Collins, San Francisco 49ers safety Antoine Bethea and Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith all have good resumes and were left off the team. Others have good cases too.

The teams weren’t picked by conference. The best at each position were selected and the teams will be selected playground-style by Hall of Fame receivers Michael Irvin and Cris Carter before the game in Glendale, Ariz. on Jan. 25. It's the second straight year for that format. Here are the players who Irvin and Carter will be picking from (although some will be dropping out due to injuries or if their team makes the Super Bowl), the 2015 Pro Bowl rosters:

 

Quarterbacks

Tom Brady, Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Tony Romo

Running backs

Le’Veon Bell, Jamaal Charles, Arian Foster, Marshawn Lynch, LeSean McCoy, DeMarco Murray

Fullbacks

John Kuhn, Marcel Reece

Receivers

Antonio Brown, Dez Bryant, A.J. Green, T.Y. Hilton, Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, Jordy Nelson, Demaryius Thomas

Tight ends

Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski, Greg Olsen, Julius Thomas

Offensive tackles

Ryan Clady, Jason Peters, Tyron Smith, Joe Staley, Joe Thomas, Trent Williams

Centers

Travis Frederick, Jason Kelce, Nick Mangold, Maurkice Pouncey

Guards

Jahri Evans, Mike Iupati, Kyle Long, Zack Martin, Josh Sitton, Marshal Yanda

Defensive ends

Calais Campbell, Robert Quinn, Cameron Wake, DeMarcus Ware, J.J. Watt, Mario Williams

Defensive tackles

Marcell Dareus, Aaron Donald, Gerald McCoy, Dontari Poe, Ndamukong Suh, Kyle Williams

Outside linebackers

Connor Barwin, Elvis Dumervil, Tamba Hali, Justin Houston, Clay Matthews, Von Miller

Inside linebackers

Luke Kuechly, C.J. Mosley, Lawrence Timmons, Bobby Wagner

Cornerbacks

Vontae Davis, Brent Grimes, Joe Haden, Chris Harris, Patrick Peterson, Darrelle Revis, Richard Sherman, Aqib Talib

Safeties

Kam Chancellor, Tashaun Gipson, Glover Quin, Earl Thomas, T.J. Ward, Eric Weddle

Kickers

Stephen Gostkowski, Adam Vinatieri

Punters

Kevin Huber, Pat McAfee

Kick returners

Devin Hester, Darren Sproles

Special teams

Justin Bethel, Matthew Slater