FAB 4. Godwin Could Snubbed For Pro Bowl

Pro Bowl voting just opened this past week and as the PewterReport.com staff suggested in our weekly PR Roundtable, the Bucs should have three representatives from Tampa Bay make the short trek over to Orlando for the league’s all-star game in February. Two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans should be joined by outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett and fellow wide receiver Chris Godwin.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin – Photo by: Getty Images

Barrett, who has 11.5 sacks and has led the league in that category since the second week of the season, should be making his first Pro Bowl as long as he’s at or near the top of that list by season’s end. For Godwin, who is currently the league’s fourth-leading receiver, I fear that he might get snubbed and passed over for other receivers who might be more household names.

Let’s take a look at the current NFL receiving leaders heading into Week 10. While the list is mostly dominated by NFC wide receivers, I extracted all of the AFC wide receivers to just focus on the receivers that would make up Godwin’s competition.

TOP NFC WIDE RECEIVERS THROUGH WEEK 10
1. Saints WR Michael Thomas – 86 catches for 1,027 yards and 4 TDs
2. Bucs WR Mike Evans – 54 catches for 924 yards and 7 TDs
3. Cowboys WR Amari Cooper – 53 catches for 848 yards and 7 TDs
4. Bucs WR Chris Godwin – 60 catches for 840 yards and 6 TDs
5. Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett – 62 catches for 793 yards and 6 TDs
6. Rams WR Cooper Kupp – 58 catches for 792 yards and 5 TDs
7. Falcons WR Julio Jones – 53 catches for 791 yards and 4 TDs
8. Vikings WR Stefon Diggs – 41 catches for 759 yards and 4 TDs
9. Lions WR Kenny Golladay – 38 catches for 697 yards and 8 TDs

Each conference selects four wide receivers and two alternates for the Pro Bowl. Currently, Godwin has the second-most catches, the third-most touchdowns and the fourth-most yards. But even if he winds up with those rankings at the end of the Pro Bowl balloting he could get snubbed because Thomas, Evans and Cooper are all former Pro Bowlers and have had more media exposure.

Thomas is Drew Brees’ top target, has been to the playoffs with the Saints and has a reputation as one of the elite receivers in the league. Evans is also in that conversation, while Cooper is now joining that elite club, too. Playing for America’s Team in Dallas and getting all of the added media exposure only helps Cooper’s cause. Barring any injuries or unexpected decline in production down the stretch, Thomas, Evans and Cooper are locks to represent the NFC.

So Godwin is essentially battling Lockett, Kupp, Jones, Diggs and Golladay. Playing for the lowly Lions, who don’t get much media exposure, Golladay seems like a stretch to make the Pro Bowl, although he currently leads the league with eight TDs. The Lions will likely trail in most games, so Gollday could put up plenty of yards and catches in garbage time.

Diggs hasn’t been to the Pro Bowl yet. Usually that honor goes to teammate Adam Thielen, but Diggs does have some national exposure with his heroic game-winning catch against New Orleans in the playoffs two years ago. He only has four touchdowns, which hurts his cause, but the Vikings are in playoff contention, which helps.

Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett and Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: Getty Images

The Rams have taken a downturn this year, but Kupp got a lot of exposure last year through the team’s Super Bowl run before a season-ending injury limited him to eight games. Los Angeles will continue to sling the ball all over the field, which will help Kupp’s cause.

Lockett made the Pro Bowl and was a first-team All-Pro as a rookie in 2015 as a return specialist, but now he’s getting consideration as a wide receiver, and justifiably so. Sometimes it takes a breakout year for a player to get noticed and then he makes the Pro Bowl the following year. That could happen to Lockett, who had 57 catches for 965 yards and a career-high 10 touchdowns last year. He’ll either match or surpass that production this year, and he already has one of the most dramatic highlight reel catches of the season to aid his candidacy.

My fear is that is what happens to Godwin this year. He has a breakout season, but has to wait a year for the league-wide notoriety to catch up. Sometimes it takes being snubbed and all of the press and media coverage that goes with the snubbing to boost a player’s candidacy the following year.

For that reason, Lockett, whose Seattle team is in the thick of the playoff race and just beat previously undefeated San Francisco on Monday night, could be Godwin’s biggest competition for the fourth and final NFC roster spot at wide receiver.

And don’t rule out Jones, a six-time Pro Bowler and household name. He’s just 49 yards and two touchdowns behind Godwin. Jones is capable of going off and having a 200-yard game at any time, and with the 2-7 Falcons leaning on their passing attack even more with Devonta Freeman’s injury, he’ll get plenty of targets down the stretch.

What would help Godwin would be if he continues to play to his averages and finish with 106 receptions for 1,493 yards and 10 touchdowns. If Godwin were to wind up with slightly more catches for slightly more yards than Evans, who is on pace to reach 96 receptions for 1,642 yards and 12 TDs, then that would aid his Pro Bowl push. If Evans is considered to be a Pro Bowler, how could the league not also choose Godwin if he wound up as Tampa Bay’s leading receiver?

Bucs WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Shit, I don’t know if I’m a lock, either,” Evans said. “There is a lot of football left. When does the voting end – Week 15? We just need to keep playing well. Winning is what we care about most of all. So if we win, it will be clear to everyone that Chris deserves to be in – because he does.”

Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston vows to get both Evans and Godwin in the Pro Bowl this year, which would be a first for Tampa Bay to have two players at the same position make the league’s all-star game.

“I just want to keep doing my best to get both of them the ball so there is no doubt in the fans’ mind that they both deserve to be in that game,” Winston said.