aaron rodgers is having an mvp type season for the green bay packers. Because of this, he obviously got voted to the pro bowl. however, he is still not happy with the results. Rodgers specifically isn’t too happy with how the tight end position turned out on the NFC roster, as he believes his tight end, Robert Tonyan, should have been a professional bowler.
the nfl released its roster of pro players for the 2020 season
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The NFL released its list of professional players on December 1. 21, and Aaron Rodgers finally earned his ninth Pro Bowl selection. he also earned several teammates pro bowl selections, including aaron jones, davante adams, elgton jenkins, za’darius smith, david bakhtiari and jaire alexander, according to packers.com.
however, packers tight end robert tonyan missed the cut.
instead, t.j. Hockenson of the Detroit Lions and Evan Engram of the New York Giants will represent tight ends for the NFC, according to the bleach report.
hockenson has caught 60 passes for 675 yards and six touchdowns in 14 games this season. Engram has caught 54 passes for 572 yards and a touchdown.
so how do tonyan’s numbers compare?
robert tonyan has had a great year for the green bay packers
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tonyan wasn’t much of a prospect coming into the nfl, but he showed he had the potential to become a dangerous weapon in the passing game. According to Packers.com, he played wide receiver his last three seasons at Indiana State and was the school’s all-time leader in career touchdown receptions, single-season touchdown receptions and most consecutive games in which he recorded a catch.
However, he was undrafted and signed with the Lions in May 2017. However, in September of that same year, he was released by the Lions and eventually joined the Packers’ practice squad in December 2017. 2017.
tonyan played for the first time in 2018, as he played in 16 games. he, however, only had four receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown. then in 2019 he had just 10 receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown.
This season, however, he recorded 49 receptions for an incredible 551 yards and 10 touchdowns. yes, tonyan has fewer receptions and receiving yards than hockenson and engram, but he has a lot more touchdowns, which could be one of the reasons he should have made it to the pro bowl.
aaron rodgers thinks he should have made the cut too.
aaron rodgers is not happy with the pro bowl results
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rodgers recently appeared on pat mcafee’s show and reacted when tonyan didn’t make the pro bowl.
“There are guys who do it based on meritocracy and guys who do it based on name recognition,” Rodgers said in December. 22 episode. “I don’t understand why Bob didn’t come in. It was, in my opinion, a no-brainer. especially, look at the nfc, and there are a lot of good tight ends, but with [george] kittle out most of the season, and then bob’s numbers this year, with 10 touchdowns and playing so consistently for us every week, i thought that could even be the headline.”
continued, “I’m bummed out for him because individual awards feel good. … robert definitely deserved it.”
aaron rodgers makes some good points, especially when looking at tonyan’s touchdown numbers. however, the Packers had seven players, so they certainly didn’t get the worst of it.
perhaps this will be additional motivation for tonyan heading into the postseason. Hockenson and Engram will (most likely) not play in the playoffs, so Tonyan can finally prove that he is the best tight end in the NFC this year by playing big in meaningful moments.
stats courtesy of pro football reference