Seattle Seahawks’ Defensive End, Leonard Williams, last made it to the Pro Bowl following the end of his 2016 season and just his second year in the NFL. Unfortunately, as the 2024 NFL season closes, he will not be joining the Manning brothers at the 2025 Pro Bowl Games next month.
Leonard was left off the 2025 Pro Bowl Games roster following an announcement this past Thursday that confirmed only one Seattle Seahawk would be featured on the NFC roster. The Seahawk called to the occasion was Cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
Leonard was not bashful when responding to the snub as he spoke to the press.
“It’s pretty disappointing, if I’m being honest,” Williams said.
Leonard did, however, earn an “alternate” position should any players selected before him opt out of the Pro Bowl Games. Interestingly, Leonard‘s only Pro Bowl accomplishment in 2016 stemmed from him being announced as an alternate that year.
Geno Smith is Not Surprised By the Snubbing
Seahawk’s Quarterback, Geno Smith, sounded off on potential anti-Seattle bias in the NFL. Leonard’s snub was a prime example according to Smith, “…I’ve been in Seattle long enough to know there’s some type of a bias. I feel that way, honestly. There’s a lot of players that have been snubbed from a lot of things here. It’s unfortunate for guys like Leo, who has had a tremendous season…”.
Smith signed with the Seahawks in 2019. Since then, the Seahawks had three pro-bowlers in 2019, seven in 2020, four in 2021, four in 2022, and six in 2023.
While Smith was likely trying to be a supportive teammate for Willaims, the anti-Seattle bias is somewhat disproved when looking at other franchises. Seattle has gone 57-42 since 2019 and so have the Buccaneers. 17 Buccaneers players have been chosen for the Pro Bowl since 2019 compared to the 24 Seahawks players that were also chosen.
Williams Statistically Out-Performed The Players That Were Selected Before Him
William’s had little optimism for potentially making the Pro Bowl Games as an alternate.
“Honestly, I don’t care at this point,” Williams told the press.
When examining William’s statistical performance this season vs. the players chosen ahead of him, it certainly does start to look like his “alternate” selection was a little insulting.
Currently, the three players that were selected before Willaims are Defensive Tackles, Dexter Lawrence (Giants), Jalen Carter (Eagles), and Vita Vea (Buccaneers). Despite Williams officially being classified as a Defensive End, he’s in line to replace the noted defensive tackles as an alternate should there be a need for a replacement.
Williams, with just one more game left in the season, is sitting at 59 total tackles for the season. Neither Lawrence, Carter, or Vita have more tackles than Williams at this point in the season. Williams is also at 9 sacks this season. This matches Lawrence’s sacks this season, while also beating Carter and Vea in sacks.
William’s case for making the Pro Bowl Games transcends more than just the stat sheet, however. His Pro Bowler teammate, Devon Witherspoon, did not agree with the snub either.
“I ain’t gonna lie,” he said. “They gotta review that or something, bro. They trippin’. I ain’t gonna lie. They trippin”, Witherspoon commented.
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