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George Pickens, Jordan Love and other NFL stars who could punch their first ticket to the Pro Bowl this year.
The 2024-25 NFL season is unofficially underway! All 32 teams have started training camp, and preseason action kicks off Thursday night in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game.
The first regular season game is on Sept. 5, which gives us just 36 more days to predict the future.
Today, we’re answering the question: Who could earn their first career Pro Bowl nod this season?
The Packers believe they’re about to enjoy another 15 years of elite quarterback play. Love signed a four-year, $220 million contract extension last week to tie him with Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence as the league’s highest-paid athletes on a per-year basis.
Burrow and Lawrence only have six combined playoff wins, but Love has achieved even less. He had 50 completions in his first two seasons and started a full season for the first time last year.
Still, Love’s growth on the field in 2023 (and behind the scenes since 2020) was enough to convince Green Bay. As he played more snaps, he found more comfort operating the offense, especially against pressure.
In his first career start against Steve Spagnuolo’s Kansas City Chiefs in 2021, Love completed five of 15 attempts when pressured; in the second half of the 2023 season, he ranked second in yards and third in touchdowns among all passers on such throws.
Green Bay saw its quarterbacks earn seven MVP trophies and 23 Pro Bowl appearances in a 31-season stretch from Brett Favre’s arrival to Aaron Rodger’s departure. With a brilliant offensive play caller, an ascending core of pass catchers, and a full NFL season under his belt, Love is set to add his name to the franchise’s history books.
Any fantasy football expert will tell you Pickens is due for a breakout. With Diontae Johnson traded to the Carolina Panthers, Pickens is in line for a buffet of targets, and the 23-year-old will benefit from upgrades at quarterback and play caller.
Russell Wilson and Arthur Smith may not be as admired as they used to be, but they’re a far cry from last year’s cast and an on-paper fit with Pickens. D.K. Metcalf and Courtland Sutton notched 10-touchdown seasons as big-bodied targets for Wilson; A.J. Brown and Drake London became yards-per-route-run darlings as big-bodied targets for Smith.
Pickens is the leanest of the group, but his contested catch ability is among the best in the world.
On passes 15-plus yards downfield and outside the numbers last season, Pickens finished third in receptions (16) and yards (502) despite ranking eighth in targets (30), per Sports Info Solutions. Those stats could climb given Wilson’s knack for deep shots down the sideline. If Smith can also activate Pickens across the middle, he’ll be equipped to produce the best numbers by any Steeler since Antonio Brown.
After drafting him 23rd overall in 2021, the Vikings signed Darrisaw to a four-year, $113 million contract extension last week. The only offensive lineman with a higher annual salary is Penei Sewell. However, Darrisaw’s extension won’t kick in until his rookie deal ends after 2025 — so he’ll be relatively underpaid by the time his “new money” kicks in in 2026, let alone when the extension expires in 2029.
The Virginia Tech product has been one of the NFL’s best offensive tackles over the past two seasons. The only tackle with a higher overall PFF grade in that span is Trent Williams, per Wide Left Football. Darrisaw also ranks fourth in run-blocking grade, sixth in pass-blocking grade, and ninth in pass-blocking grade on “true pass sets” since 2022.
A recent ESPN survey of coaches and executives listed Darrisaw as the league’s sixth-best tackle, behind only Williams, Sewell, Laremy Tunsil, Tristan Wirfs, and Lane Johnson. Those five players have a combined 25 Pro Bowls; Darrisaw should earn his first nod this season.
Though he’s only missed two games in five years, Wilkins never surpassed five sacks in a season until he tallied nine in 2023. It’s not like the underlying numbers were always there, either — Wilkins had 27 quarterback hits in the first four years of his career and 23 in his fifth season.
Last season was a true breakout. Wilkins ranked third in pressures (30) despite facing the fourth-most double teams (218) among interior rushers last season, per ESPN. He also led all interior rushers in Sports Info Solutions’ Points Earned and Wins Above Replacement metrics.
The former five-star recruit and top-15 pick has always been a stout run defender: he has more combined tackles (355) than any defensive lineman since entering the league in 2019. Wilkins signed with the Raiders in March to join forces with Maxx Crosby, who happens to have more tackles for loss (88) than any defensive lineman since also entering the league in 2019.
I think Christian Wilkins is the best Dolphins DL and one of the most underrated in the NFL for what he does against the run. He was an absolute monster vs. the 49ers in Week 13! pic.twitter.com/NsBcT4xWIK
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) December 6, 2022
Oluokon graduated with an economics degree from Yale and was drafted in the sixth round by the Atlanta Falcons in 2018. He became a starter two years later, and the Ivy Leaguer has led the NFL in combined tackles ever since.
In fact, the only player in league history with more combined tackles in a four-season span is Hall of Famer Zach Thomas.
Oluokun was born to bring down ball carriers, and his game could reach new heights this season. Under new defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen, the Jaguars plan to move 2022 first-round pick Devin Lloyd from WILL linebacker to MIKE, with Oluokun shifting from MIKE to WILL.
That means less dirty work against the run and more playmaking opportunities against the pass for Oluokun. He already paced the league in solo tackles, defensive stops and hustle stops last year, per Next Gen Stats, but the former basketball star could post Wilt-like numbers this season.
I think 2024 is the year Foye Oluokun gets his first Pro Bowl nod. should benefit big time from better DL play
former Jags DC and NFL LB Mike Caldwell said last season: “I understand that what a Pro Bowl caliber linebacker looks like — and I watch it every week.” pic.twitter.com/2MXfY552qv
— Gus Logue (@gus_logue) March 29, 2024
