Voting for the 2023 Pro Bowl opened this week and there’s no Jacksonville Jaguars player with a clear inside track for a spot on the AFC roster.
The Pro Bowl is going to look a lot different in February when a flag football game and skills competitions will replace the NFL’s traditional season-ending all-star game. With players no longer allowed to opt out from participating if they’re uninjured, don’t expect a situation like the time David Garrard became a Pro Bowler as the sixth alternate.
While players set to play in the Super Bowl still won’t be participating in the Pro Bowl, the Jaguars players with an argument at being voting in will need to finish the season strong to deserve a spot.
Here are five Jaguars players who have the best shot at earning Pro Bowl honors this year:
CB Tyson Campbell
Four cornerbacks from each conference make the Pro Bowl and it’s tough to find that many players in the AFC who have had better season so far than Campbell.
While he’s been credited with giving up three touchdowns, Campbell has allowed only 21 receptions for 241 yards on 46 targets with two interceptions and nine pass breakups. That’s a 65.6 passer rating for quarterbacks throwing Campbell’s way.
On top of that, Campbell has been a reliable run defender and has a forced fumble this season.
The AFC has a lot of young talent with the Jets’ Sauce Gardner and Broncos’ Patrick Surtain II also in the conference, and that trio looks to be the most deserving of Pro Bowl votes through the first 10 weeks.
RB Travis Etienne Jr.
Etienne has to be considered squarely in the mix, though, as he’s one of five backs who are far ahead of the rest of the backs in the conference, statistically. Those five players are:
- Derrick Henry (Titans): 923 rushing yards, 154 receiving yards, nine touchdowns
- Nick Chubb (Browns): 904 rushing yards, 88 receiving yards, 11 touchdowns
- Josh Jacobs (Raiders): 821 rushing yards, 200 receiving yards, seven touchdowns
- Dameon Pierce (Texans): 772 rushing yards, 126 receiving yards, four touchdowns
- Travis Etienne (Jaguars): 725 rushing yards, 202 receiving yards, four touchdowns
The X-factor could be Etienne’s 5.5 yards per carry, which is more than every player on the list except Jacobs, who’s averaging 5.7 yards.
While it’s not hard to make the argument that Etienne is ahead of Pierce in the conversation, the Jaguars’ second-year back will have to score more touchdowns and keep racking up yardage if he hopes to track down one of the top three.
WR Christian Kirk
It hasn’t really felt like Kirk has been stuffing the stat sheet this season, but the Jaguars’ high-priced free agent acquisition is on pace to put up some really impressive numbers after tallying 679 yards and seven touchdowns in 10 games.
With seven games left, Kirk is pacing for nearly 1,200 receiving yards and about 12 touchdown grabs. Those are numbers could easily put him in the Pro Bowl discussion, although there are four players in the AFC with a better argument for now.
Tyreek Hill doesn’t have the touchdown numbers (four), but his 1,148 receiving yards lead the NFL. His Dolphins teammate Jaylen Waddle isn’t far behind with 878 yards and six touchdowns. Then there’s the Bills’ Stefon Diggs with 985 yards and seven touchdowns, and the Raiders’ Davante Adams with 784 yards and eight touchdowns.
Four receivers make the Pro Bowl from each conference so Kirk isn’t far off from deserving a spot.
KR/PR Jamal Agnew
Agnew hasn’t taken a return to the house yet this season, but just about no one else has either.
The only player with a return touchdown this season is the Ravens’ Devin Duvernay — a Pro Bowler and All-Pro in 2021 — who took the opening kickoff in Week 2 back 103 yards.
Agnew has been the more consistent of the two with nine of his 11 kick returns this year going for at least 20 yards, while Duvernay has managed that on just five of his eight kick returns. Still, Duvernay is the clear frontrunner with the NFL’s only touchdown, along with two punt returns of at least 40 yards.
It’ll take a return touchdown (or maybe two) to supplant Duvernay as the guy in the AFC, but Agnew has an argument for second place.
S Andre Cisco
Interceptions are usually king when it comes to Pro Bowl votes for defensive backs and the list of players with more than Cisco’s three is slim.
Only two players in the AFC have more picks than Cisco: Bengals safety Vonn Bell and Bills safety Jordan Poyer, who each have four. Cisco also took one of his three interceptions back for a pick-six, something neither Bell nor Poyer have done this year.
Also in the AFC is do-everything safety Derwin James of the Chargers, who hasn’t yet recorded an interception but does have a forced fumble and three sacks.
There’s a crowded group of established veterans in the AFC and it’ll be tough for Cisco to crack that group, but more interceptions and more performances like his stellar showing against the Chiefs could do the trick.
