It’s open season on Pro Bowl voting. Despite their tepid start to the season, the 49ers have clawed back to a .500 record and are firmly in playoff contention. While being on a playoff team is not a prerequisite to making the Pro Bowl, the better a team is, the more likely their players are to gain recognition.
At this point, there are two 49ers players who lead their positions in Pro Bowl voting.
The first is the obvious one: Kyle Juszczyk. Juszczyk is probably the easiest lock to make the Pro Bowl year after year given that he plays a position that many teams don’t even use anymore, and is clearly the best all-around fullback in the league. He leads his position in both conferences with 70,632 votes.
Then there’s Nick Bosa, who leads NFC defensive ends with 68,143 votes. Bosa is now up to a career-high 10.0 sacks on the year through 10 games and is the only consistent pass rushing threat for the 49ers.
You may be wondering where Trent Williams — the highest-graded player at any position by Pro Football Focus this season — and Deebo Samuel — second in the NFL with 994 receiving yards, and a genuine MVP candidate, are on this list.
New Orleans’ Terron Armstead is currently leading all tackles with 44,135 votes, and Samuel has the misfortune of being in the same conference as the NFL’s leading receiver, Cooper Kupp, who has 80,673 votes, the second-most of any player.
The NFL hasn’t released full vote totals for every player, but Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports reports that the 49ers have eight players in the top-10 of their position.
It would be stunning if Williams and Samuel were not voted in. One technological disadvantage for Williams (and it shows up in Laken Tomlinson not making the list, while Daniel Brunskill did) is the the offensive line voting is listed alphabetically and Armstead is the first name on the tackle list, while Williams is towards the bottom.
