The Kansas City Chiefs have been one of the NFL’s hottest teams all season and had seven players selected to the 2023 Pro Bowl Games roster. Among their representatives in the league’s new-look end-of-season event will be QB Patrick Mahomes, TE Travis Kelce, LT Orlando Brown Jr. and DT Chris Jones, along with a handful of new faces.
What is even more remarkable than the raw number of Chiefs that made the final roster is that they had a handful of players who had a good case for inclusion that were left out of the event.
Here are four players who should have made the cut to represent Kansas City in the 2023 Pro Bowl Games:
RG Trey Smith
Smith is the Chiefs’ steadiest presence on the offensive line and has been since his rookie season. His violence in the run game shows up on a weekly basis. The decision to elect Orlando Brown Jr., but not the outstanding guard is nothing short of ludicrous. Fortunately, veteran Joe Thuney will represent the interior of Kansas City’s offensive line alongside center Creed Humphrey, the starter at his position. If there were a fourth guard carried on the Pro Bowl roster, it feels likely Smith would’ve been the next selected.
KR Isiah Pacheco
The Chiefs’ lackluster defense has given Pacheco ample opportunities to pad his stats in the return game, and he entered selection night as the conference’s leader in kickoff return yards (578). Pair that fact with the role he has played in the NFL’s highest-scoring offense, and Pacheco should have been a no-brainer to represent Kansas City on special teams. Instead, punter Tommy Townsend will be the only member of the Chiefs’ special teams unit to participate in the occasion.
CB L'Jarius Sneed
Sneed has been the best player in the Chiefs’ secondary all year and is a game-changer for the team’s defense on a weekly basis. His sneaky ability to rush the passer, elite coverage skills, and versatility to play in multiple spots on the field are all characteristics that set him apart from the other cornerbacks who were selected this year. Kansas City’s defense has, for the most part, played down to their opponents this season. Sneed’s play, however, has been the least of their concerns and has helped keep the team within striking distance of the AFC’s top playoff seed.
LB Nick Bolton
A tackling machine, Bolton has put up some great numbers this season and got the raw end of the league’s decision to only have two inside linebackers on the Pro Bowl roster. The two players selected ahead of him, C.J. Mosley and Roquan Smith, are great players in their own right, but Bolton has a legitimate case to be made to be the third-best behind them. If the Pro Bowl roster were made of 53 players instead of 44, the Chiefs’ talented linebacker would’ve had a real shot at making the team.
