The Pro Bowl is the NFL’s version of the All-Star game. The league’s best players get to celebrate themselves for accomplishing a phenomenal season.
Leonard Floyd of the Los Angeles Rams could play himself into the game, Nick Shook of nfl.com said.
“There’s no better time than the present for Floyd to finally add a Pro Bowl to his résumé,” Shook said. “When considering he played through injury in 2021 and still flirted with 10 sacks, it’s reasonable to think his age-30 season might see him earn a career high if he’s fully healthy.”
It is not just Shook saying this either; football fans are too.
https://twitter.com/rjuray3/status/1542683355388563457?s=20&t=Jns_JpXKzaJNKzHf9y98TA
Floyd was drafted as the ninth overall pick in 2016 by the Chicago Bears. By the standards of many, Floyd was a bust as a Bear. He played four seasons in Chicago and wracked up 18.5 sacks, never eclipsing seven in a season.
He has been in Los Angeles for the last couple of seasons and has revived his career. In these two seasons with the Rams, Floyd has 20 sacks, more than his tenure with the Bears. Floyd had over seven sacks in each of these seasons too.
If he can continue to play with the same consistency he has been playing with in Los Angeles, then Shook could be correct in his prediction. Floyd could earn his first Pro Bowl nod if he can stay healthy.
The game, typically held the week before the Super Bowl, has died down in hype for many reasons. Most fans think the game has been watered down from actual football and resembles flag football.
Those fans are right if last year is anything to go by. The Pro Bowl wasn’t a flag football game last year, it was two-hand-touch rules. Gone are the days of Sean Taylor hitting a punter. Fans of football would be lucky to see a tackle during the Pro Bowl.
The NFL is now considering dropping the game entirely. The reason for that is because the Pro Bowl had its worst viewership of the last decade-and-a-half. The game only drew 6.7 million viewers this last February.
https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1529181404508176384?s=20&t=Jns_JpXKzaJNKzHf9y98TA
Another reason is that fans believe the Pro Bowl is a popularity contest. Many widely known players often get selected over players more deserving; thus the more deserving players get snubbed.
If Floyd can get into the game, Rams fans might think differently about that stance. However, they probably don’t want to see Floyd in the Pro Bowl. They would likely much rather see him in another Super Bowl.