Colts: DeForest Buckner not making Pro Bowl proves voting method needs to be changed

Colts star DT DeForest Buckner not making the Pro Bowl is a massive indictment of the voting method.

The annual disclosure of Pro Bowl rosters has slowly become more of a snub hotbed than it does actually honor players who deserve the distinction. For the sake of time, we won’t dive into a the complete list of stars whose contributions were wrongly neglected by the fraudulent voting system.

As far as the Indianapolis Colts are concerned, we were absolutely gobsmacked that DeForest Bucker wasn’t nominated. His omission from the roster further proves the NFL needs to implement drastic changes to its voting protocol.

In the simplest of terms, Buckner has been one of the top-three interior defensive linemen in the league this season and — if there was any justice — he would’ve been one of the first names featured on the AFC roster.

Being named to the Pro Bowl should be considered an honor, and in order for the NFL to make it meaningful again, it needs to do away with its authorization of votes to be cast if a person comments the name of a player on a Pro Bowl vote post on social media, whether it be from a specific team or the league itself.

If fans want a certain player from their favorite team to make the roster, they can comment that name as many times as they want, voting for that player from a team or league account. We get wanting to include fans in the voting process, but that feature, along with the ridiculous “vote by retweet” option, needs to be gone yesterday.

If the NFL refuses to take action, world-beaters like Buckner, who don’t play for a big market team, will continue to receive the short end of the stick. The former first-round pick is as humble as they come, but even he was stunned that his name was nowhere to be found on the AFC roster.

For the sake of argument, let’s take a look at how Buckner’s 2020 statistics line up with the other defensive tackles in the conference who got the nod over him, shall we?

• Buckner: 52 tackles (eight for loss), 7.5 sacks, 24 QB hits and two forced fumbles
• Cam Heyward: 49 tackles (five for loss), three sacks, 17 QB hits and zero forced fumbles
• Calais Campbell: 27 tackles (five for loss), four sacks, 10 QB hits and zero forced fumbles
• Chris Jones: 35 tackles (two for loss), 6.5 sacks, 24 QB hits and two forced fumbles

Not that you need any more evidence confirming Buckner was snubbed, but Pro Football Focus also has him ranked as their third-highest-graded interior defensive lineman in the league with an impeccable 89.6 marking.

Buckner unfortunately isn’t alone in the snub department and if the NFL had any sense (or pride), it would scrap its current Pro Bowl voting system and instill a method that sees deserving players making the initial rosters. Until that day comes, we’ll continue to view it as a farce.

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