The Patriots will have one player at this year’s Pro Bowl Games.
Brenden Schooler will be the New England Patriots’ lone representative at this year’s Pro Bowl Games in Orlando. The former undrafted free agent has been named the AFC’s selection in the special teamer category, allowing him to earn all-star honors for the first time in his three-year career.
Even though he is playing on a 3-13 team, Schooler is deserving of the Pro Bowl nod. However, he is not the only member of the Patriots to fall in that particular category: two of his teammates also built some strong cases for themselves this season, starting with one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks.
CB Christian Gonzalez
Even though he appeared in only four games during his 2023 rookie season, first-rounder Christian Gonzalez managed to flash the talents that made him one of the most intriguing cornerbacks in his draft class. Fully recovered from the shoulder injury that prematurely ended his first year as a pro, he managed to build on that foundation — and then some.
Usually going against the opponent’s top wide receiver, Gonzalez managed to stand his ground on a week-to-week basis so far in 2024. Whether it be the likes of Ja’Marr Chase, Tyreek Hill or Brandon Aiyuk, the 22-year-old took was able to put the clamps on everybody he went up against.
Gonzalez did so while playing heavy man-to-man snaps, often without safety help, following his assignment all over the field, and not benefitting from an elite — or even above average — pass rush up front. He therefore has proven himself worthy of the “shutdown cornerback” label, and seemingly built a strong case to represent the Patriots at the Pro Bowl alongside Schooler.
However, voters felt differently and instead decided to go with Denver’s Patrick Surtain II, Houston’s Derek Stingley Jr., Baltimore’s Marlon Humphrey, and Cleveland’s Denzel Ward as the AFC’s Pro Bowl cornerbacks. All of them are having strong seasons, but you could make an argument that Gonzalez has out-performed Stingley Jr., Humphrey and Ward, and is on level with Surtain II.
However, the fact that he is part of a 3-13 team that will have played a dozen 1 p.m. ET games and only three standalone contests — all of the blowout losses — seemingly worked against him. As a consequence, Gonzalez will have to wait for his first Pro Bowl designation.
LS Joe Cardona
Christian Gonzalez is the Patriots’ obvious Pro Bowl snub, but not the only one: long snapper Joe Cardona getting the honor for the first time in his career also would have been quite deserving. The 32-year-old, after all, has been one of the league’s most noteworthy long snappers this season.
Cardona is ranked second among NFL long snappers in special teams tackles (4), tied for first in solo tackles (3), and the only player at his position to have forced a fumble so far this season. He also did not have any noticeably bad snaps in a combined 114 reps on field goal, extra point and punt plays.
So, why was the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Ross Matiscik picked over him? It appears there are three main reasons for that: name recognition (Matiscik was named to the Pro Bowl and All-Pro teams last year), Pro Football Focus grade (81.9 vs. 71.2), and surroundings (Jacksonville’s kicker/punter combo is superior to New England’s). One could argue that none of those should have put him in the Pro Bowl over the statistically superior Cardona, though.
At the end of the day, the voters — players, coaches, fans — did what they oftentimes seem to do: not necessarily go with the most deserving candidates, but rather with those who are in a more prominent position either through their names or the teams they are on. At least in that second category, both Cardona and Gonzalez are at a disadvantage this year.