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Lavonte David and DeAndre Levy Latest Victims of Flawed Pro Bowl Voting System

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By @GregSulik

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It seems the criticism of the Pro Bowl voting system has gained momentum in recent years, and the announcement of the 2015 team is sure to set off another round. Just to reiterate the basic point, the fact that casual fans with little knowledge of the game beyond fantasy football determine who is rewarded with a trip to the Pro Bowl is a joke. The system leads to huge snubs on the offensive line and defense, where reputation and big plays are more valuable than all-around performance.

The latest and most egregious victims of this system are outside linebackers Lavonte David of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and DeAndre Levy of the Detroit Lions. Both were left out in favor of players who are far less complete linebackers but rack up big time sack numbers. The outside linebackers who made the team this year were Connor Barwin, Elvis Dumervil, Tamba Hali, Justin Houston, Clay Matthews and Von Miller.

All of those players but Hali have at least ten sacks on the year, and all but Matthews play almost exclusively in a pass rushing role. The failure of both the ballot and the voters to distinguish between a 3-4 and 4-3 defense and the requirements of playing outside linebacker in those schemes is a major problem.

For the year, David is second in the NFL in both total tackles and solo tackles. He has also added one sack, four pass deflections, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. Levy is third in the league in total tackles but first in solo tackles, tacking on 2.5 sacks, five pass deflections and one interception. David and Levy are arguably the two best coverage linebackers in football, and both are very complete players who defend the run well and can pass rush in the rare situations they are asked to.

The fact that Hali, who has just 57 tackles and six sacks while being part of the Kansas City Chiefs‘ 28th ranked run defense, is on the roster ahead of both David and Levy is a joke. Although all the other players have the sack totals that dazzle voters, you would be very hard pressed to make an argument that any of them do more for their football team that David and Levy.

This is a not a new problem, as the difference between scheme requirements has always resulted in 4-3 defensive ends and 3-4 outside linebackers getting Pro Bowl votes because they get to rack up sacks while their brethren in the opposite scheme are asked to defend the run and play coverage. Given that many voting fans can’t distinguish between the systems and their requirements, the NFL needs to alter the Pro Bowl ballot to separate front seven players based on which system they generally play in. This would help allow extremely deserving players like David and Levy get in ahead of players who are one dimensional pass rushers.

I know what you’re saying: who cares, the Pro Bowl is a joke, none of this matters. Except the problem is it does matter. Things like Pro Bowl selections are brought up in contract negotiations and, for applicable players, Hall of Fame candidacies. The fact that such as flawed system impacts things like those is a major problem. And for those who don’t care about that, at the very least the Pro Bowl would be a better game if the right players were selected.

This is not meant as criticism of the six linebackers who were selected, as all are very good football players. However, the flaws in the voting system mean that outstanding players who play in the wrong scheme are left home, and Lavonte David and DeAndre Levy are the latest huge snubs to be failed by this system.

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