NFL Pro Bowl: 10 Local Players Selected to 2018 Pro Bowl

10 local players have been selected for the 2018 NFL Pro Bowl, including four Raiders, one 49ers, three former Cal Bears, and two Stanford Cardinal.

Rosters for the 2018 Pro Bowl, which takes place after the 2017 season, were announced on Tuesday, with 10 local players littering the roster sheet. The Oakland Raiders, who are not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention at 6-8, have four representatives, while the San Francisco 49ers, who are 4-10 but have won three straight, have one. An additional five players who played their college ball locally, three from Cal and two from Stanford, are Pro Bowlers.

Representing the Raiders are four linemen, three from the offensive side and one from the defensive side. Left tackle Donald Penn, left guard Kelechi Osemele, and center Rodney Hudson are joined by defensive counterpart Khalil Mack.

Hudson, who was been the best pass-blocking center in the NFL this season, is the lone starter among this group of four. He’s earned a 99.9 pass-block efficiency rating from Pro Football Focus, and has allowed just one quarterback pressure this season, both totals that lead NFL centers.

Mack is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and has surpassed 10 sacks for the third straight season. Penn will unfortunately be unable to participate throughout the balance of the season because of a foot injury suffered last Sunday that will require season-ending surgery. He had been an ironman before this injury, starting all 158 possible games since the beginning of the 2008 season. Osemele is in his second year with the Raiders, and was an All-Pro in 2016.

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All three offensive linemen were selected to their second straight Pro Bowl, while it’s the third overall for Penn, along with a selection in 2010 while he played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mack is heading to his third consecutive Pro Bowl.

Along with those four, the Raiders have a slew of alternates who could potentially be named Pro Bowlers down the road. They are quarterback Derek Carr, running back Marshawn Lynch, right guard Gabe Jackson, linebacker NaVorro Bowman, receiver/return specialist Cordarrelle Patterson, and punter Marquette King.

San Francisco’s lone Pro Bowler this year is their fullback, Kyle Juszczyk. The former Baltimore Raven is in his first year with the 49ers, and has his second Pro Bowl nod in his five years out of Harvard.

Juszczyk has caught 24 passes worth 220 yards and a touchdown, and has carried the ball seven times for 31 yards. On December 10th, Juszczyk recorded a career-high 64 receiving yards on three catches, helping the 49ers beat the Houston Texans.

The 49ers also have four alternates: kicker Robbie Gould; running back Carlos Hyde; left tackle Joe Staley; and right tackle Trent Brown.

The three players who cut their teeth at Cal during their college careers are Alex Mack, center for the Atlanta Falcons, Cameron Jordan, defensive end for the New Orleans Saints, and Keenan Allen, wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Mack is heading to the Pro Bowl for the fifth time in his nine seasons in the NFL, and for the second time in three years with the Falcons. He is currently rated as the second-best center in the NFL, with a 92 overall grade from PFF.

In his seventh NFL season, all with the Saints, Jordan is going to the Pro Bowl for the third time. He has recorded 10 sacks for the third time, and also recorded his second career interception, which came in the endzone and was a touchdown. Jordan has completed a “triple-double“, with at least 10 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, and 10 passes defended.

Through 14 games, Allen has obliterated his previous career-highs with 88 catches and 1,197 yards. He ranks fourth in the NFL in receiving yards, and sixth in the league in receptions. Earlier in the season, he became the first player in NFL history to record 10 or more catches, 100 or more yards, and at least one touchdown in three consecutive games.

Two former Stanford Cardinal players are Pro Bowlers, with Pittsburgh Steelers’ guard David DeCastro and Philadelphia Eagles’ tight end Zach Ertz earning nods.

DeCastro is going to his third straight Pro Bowl, and is another iron man in the league. He’s played in 77 of 78 possible games over the last five seasons, and has started each of those 77 games. Ertz has been a reliable receiving option for the Eagles in recent years, but is going to the Pro Bowl for the first time. He’s approaching his third straight season with at least 70 catches and 800 yards, with 63 grabs and 719 yards through 14 games. He’s also doubled his previous career-high, catching eight touchdown passes.

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This list will almost certainly grow between now and the game, as players drop out because of injury or are not allowed to participate because of their involvement in the Super Bowl.

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