Williams, Waller highlight list of 2020 NFL All-Pro snubs
The 2020 NFL AP All-Pro teams were released Friday. The usual suspects topped the list, with likely NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers being named first-team quarterback and Derrick Henry taking home first-team honors at running back.49ers linebacker Fred Warner was a first-team selection as was former 49ers defensive tackle and Pro Bowl snub DeForest Buckner.There'll be no gripes about the group of edge rushers or interior defensive linemen that were named. Khalil Mack probably should have earned a first-team selection but it's hard to argue against Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt.There were, however, a few snubs that caught my eye with 49ers left tackle Trent Williams and Raiders tight end Darren Waller topping the list.Here are our 2020 NFL All-Pro snubs:
There's no debate that Derrick Henry deserved to be the runaway choice for first-team All-Pro, but I thought Cook would get the second-team nod.
Instead, it went to New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara.
Cook was second in the NFL in rushing with 1,557 yards, which trailed only Henry. His 16 rushing touchdowns were tied with Kamara for second in the league.
Kamara rushed for just 932 yards this season and clearly was impacted by Drew Brees' four-week absence.
Where the two players differed was in the receiving game. Kamara caught 83 passes for 756 yards and five touchdowns, while Cook grabbed 44 passes for 361 yards and just one touchdown.
Kamara had a good season, but he wasn't as explosive as he has been in years past.
Cook was the best back in football through the first half of the season and never tailed off; Henry just blew past him on his way to eclipsing 2,000 yards. There's no shame in that.
Jackson had an incredible year in New England, while most of the Patriots fell on hard times after the departure of Tom Brady.
Admittedly, cornerback is a loaded position in the NFL and there only are four spots.
Xavien Howard, the NFL's interception leader, and Jalen Ramsey earned the first-team cornerback spots. Howard was a no-doubt first-team selection. I probably would have put Green Bay Packers star corner Jaire Alexander as the other first-team recipient. No offense to Ramsey, but Alexander was superb this season. He led the NFL in forced incompletion rate (22.1 percent) and didn't allow a completion over 32 yards.
In that case, Alexander was snubbed from the first team. Sure, he got a second-team nod but he and Howard were the two best corners in football and it wasn't debatable.
I would have given Jackson, who was second in the NFL with nine interceptions and had 14 passes defensed, a spot on the second team. Tre'Davious White, who earned a second-team nod, is a talented corner who had an unexceptional season. He allowed 34 catches on 55 targets and had only three interceptions.
Let's keep this one short.
Allen Robinson caught 102 passes for 1,250 yards and six touchdowns while working with Nick Foles and Mitchell Trubisky as his quarterbacks. And he couldn't get one damn All-Pro vote. Not one.
Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs and Tyreek Hill earn first-team honors. DeAndre Hopkins, Justin Jefferson, Calvin Ridley, D.K. Metcalf and Cole Beasley earned second-team votes.
First of all, I would have put Hopkins on the first team. It's not his fault Kliff Kingsbury would go through prolonged periods of giving him the route tree of a third-string tight end and refused to move him around the formation.
Anyway, back to Robinson.
Beasley, who had second-team All-Pro Josh Allen as his quarterback, caught 82 for 967 yards and four touchdowns this season. Should there be a separate slot category? Sure. But there isn't.
Robinson deserved the nod over Beasley. I mean, what are we doing?
There's only one reason Darren Waller isn't an All-Pro and that's because Travis Kelce was a unanimous first-team selection. Since Kelce collected all the votes, there were no second-place tallies and the second-team tight end spot was left vacant due to a procedural quirk.
Waller is the second-best tight end in football and has emerged as a star for the Silver and Black. He caught 107 passes for 1,196 yards and nine touchdowns.
Kelce racked up 1,416 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was a no-doubt first-team selection and everyone knew it.
But someone should have voted for Waller just so he could get the accolade his season deserved.
This one boggles the mind.
After sitting out for an entire season in 2019, Williams arrived to the 49ers and absolutely was dominant. He was the best left tackle in football from my point of view.
He allowed just 19 total pressures and had the best run-blocking grade of any tackle per Pro Football Focus.
Green Bay Packers tackle David Bakhtiari was the first-team selection and Garrett Bolles of the Denver Broncos got the second-team nod. Williams was third in voting for tackles.
Both Bakhtiari and Bolles had solid seasons but Williams was the best in the league and I'm stunned he didn't make one of the two teams.
