Simply put, Fred Taylor deserves to be in the Pro Bowl

Even though we just had our Pro Bowl Snubs post, I would like to specifically look at one of those snubs in Fred Taylor and break down his case as to why he should playing in Hawaii in February.

Is this 2007 or 1997? You would think it would be '97 with the way Fred Taylor is playing this season. Taylor has been very productive this season, especially the last 4 games.

Taylor has put up 1,091 yards rushing on 216 carries, with a 5.1 avg. His last 4 games have been phenomenal, 487 yards, 71 carries, 6.8 avg. Taylor also has the AFC's two longest TD runs of 80 and 76 yards.

Taylor is 6th in the league in rushing. Willie Parker has 104 more carries than Taylor but still only had 226 more yards. Joseph Addai has more carries and still less yards than Taylor. Taylor still had Maurice Jones-Drew on his team and Parker and Addai are by themselves.

Some can say what did Taylor do the first half of the season? But just look at Addai's last 6 games:

Last Six Games:
Taylor: 617 yards, 107 carries, 5.7 avg.

Addai: 315 yards, 102 carries, 3.0 avg.

Also, Taylor is 6th in the league in rushing, still has 35 less carries, and still has more yards rushing than Addai, and I would like to mention Maurice Jone-Drew once again.

Not to mention, Taylor is 31 and still putting up more productive numbers than the 24 year old Addai. Taylor deserves it more, over 10,000 yards in his career and no Pro Bowl? I think he'll never make a Pro Bowl and will be the first HOF to never make a Pro Bowl. Taylor's been there all year and is helping get this Jags team into the playoffs. Fred Taylor deserves to be in the Pro Bowl, simply put.

2007 Pro Bowl Snub Hub

Back for it's second annual installment is my pro Bowl Snub hub. It's going to work much the same, however formatted differently. Rosters just came out and here's what they look like in case you missed it. Now, on to those who I felt deserved to go and weren't selected.

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Sean Jones - CLE - Safety
Should get the spot over: Troy Polamalu
Should have been selected over Troy Polamalu. Polamalu hasn’t done much of anything this year due to injuries while Jones has quietly racked up 84 tackles (61 solo), 1 forced fumble, 10 passes defended, and 5 INTs. Probably overlooked due to the fact that he plays for the Browns (especially on defense), but he's quietly having a great year.

Fred Taylor - JAX - RB
Should get the spot over: Joseph Addai
Maybe Fred Taylor wasn't meant to ever go to the Pro Bowl or something. He has moved to 18th all-time in NFL history for rushing and he is the only one out of the top 43 on that list to never go to a pro bowl! That is astounding. While some will argue that he doesn’t deserve a roster spot because he only has four rushing touchdowns, Taylor’s 5.1 yards per rush average is tops in the AFC among starting running backs. Not only is his rush average higher than any other starter, he’s also doing all of this at the age of 31. If that isn’t impressive, I don’t know what is. Hopefully Taylor returns for at least one more season and gets the recognition he deserves. This reminds me a lot of the Westbrook snub from last season.

Nnamdi Asomugha - OAK - CB
Should get the spot over: Champ Bailey
So, the Raiders suck, but he’s been playing lights out for most of the year. Opposing quarterbacks don’t often throw his way. I can see where he could be overlooked here. However, I feel like he's deserving and Champ Bailey has been rather disappointing this year. Given the circumstances I think that Nnamdi deserves to go. He's exceeded expectations while Bailey hasn't quite measured up. Bailey has 3 INTs while Asomugha only has 1 INT, but their tackle totals (Bailey: 70 Asomugha: 32) gives you an idea of how teams have stayed away from Asomugha this season while targeting Bailey at times.

Kellen Winslow Jr. - CLE - TE
Should get the spot over: Tony Gonzalez
San Diego's Antonio Gates is a no-brainer at tight end in the AFC. Browns fans can blame Kansas City's Tony Gonzalez for keeping Kellen Winslow off the squad. Gonzalez has 82 receptions for 971 yards and five touchdowns. Winslow has 71 receptions for the same yardage and touchdown totals. That's pretty close. Winslow is playing for a potential playoff team. While I admire Gonzalez gutting it out on a team headed nowhere I feel like Winslow has meant more to his team. I don't have a huge problem with this one, like I do with others, I just would have liked to see Winslow go for the Browns.

Michael Boley - ATL - LB
Should get the spot over: Lance Briggs
107 tackles, 3 sacks… but he plays for the Falcons so I understand how he was overlooked. When Lance Briggs makes it over him with fewer tackles, sacks, INTs and forced fumbles I'd have to say that Briggs made it in off of his recognition more so than his performance and Boley deserved it.

Mario Williams - HOU - DE
Should get the spot over: Jason Taylor
Williams’ 13 sacks is second in the NFL behind only Seattle’s Patrick Kerney. How Jason Taylor beat out Williams for the spot is beyond me. The coaches, players and fans need to seriously asses how they’re voting.

Joe Thomas - CLE - OT
Should get the spot over: Jonathan Ogden
While Ogden is a perennial fixture for the Pro Bowl he's only played in 8 games this year and Thomas has performed very much like an established veteran in both pass protection and run-blocking all season. Without Thomas, the Browns would not have their explosive passing game, Jamal Lewis would not be experiencing a career revival, and Cleveland would not be in contention to reach the postseason for the first time since 2002

Greg Jennings - GB - WR
Should get the spot over: Donald Driver
I love both players to death but I really feel like Jennings is more deserving this season - and believe me, I've watched enough of both these guys this season. While Driver has outproduced Jennings in yards, Jennings has a much higher yards-per-catch average (17.6 to Driver's 13.0) and many more touchdowns (12 to Driver's two).

Marques Colston - NO - WR
Should get the spot over : Torry Holt
No doubt Hold is having a great year with 83 rec, 1,055 yds, and 7 TDS but But I'm surprised not to see the name of the Saints' Marques Colston. After all, he is second in the conference with 87 receptions for 1,092 yards and nine touchdowns. That's better than all of the receivers chosen (Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten is first with 88 catches).

There are many other great players who you can make cases for so let me know if you feel like I missed out on any big choices in your mind. Let me know what you think of my snubs and let me know some of yours.