https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2018/12/18/nfl-rams-pro-bowl-snubs-2019/
Rams' 4 biggest Pro Bowl snubs
By: Andrew Ortenberg
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
1. John Johnson III
A 2017 third-round pick, Johnson has built on his solid rookie season to become one of the Rams’ best players in 2018. He’s been their best player in the secondary and has been the only thing keeping the mostly terrible unit afloat. Johnson has 106 tackles, four interceptions, 10 passes defended and a forced fumble so far, becoming one of the best safeties in the league.
He’s earned an excellent 81.8 grade from Pro Football Focus this year, the seventh-highest grade of any safety in the NFL. Johnson is used to being underrated, as he was only a two-star recruit out of high school.
He’d been campaigning hard for the Pro Bowl nod, and the snub will only make the chip on his shoulder even larger. Perhaps the performance of the Rams’ secondary as a whole dragged him down, but Johnson was certainly deserving of a spot.
Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
2. Robert Woods
Woods was selected as a fifth alternate here, meaning it’s still possible he makes it to the game. But he’s having the best season of his career, and definitely should’ve gotten a regular Pro Bowl nod. Even in an offense with so many mouths to feed, Woods has managed to rack up the 11th-most yards of any receiver. He has five touchdowns and 19 catches of 20-plus yards, and has been the most consistent weapon for Goff this season.
Woods has been so reliable that he has at least 60 yards in every single game since Week 2. He’s also added some extra value as a runner, taking 16 handoffs for 141 yards (8.8 YPC) this season. He has a reception of at least 19 yards in every game this year, too, and has done a great job doing whatever is asked of him.
He’s filled in admirably in the slot for Cooper Kupp since Kupp went down, and has been great as a blocker this year. He’s been one of the best all-around receivers in the game this year, and being a fifth alternate is ridiculous.
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3. Austin Blythe
It would’ve sounded absurd to say at the beginning of the year that Blythe was deserving of a Pro Bowl bid, but that’s exactly where we stand. Blythe has come out of nowhere to suddenly become one of the best guards in football, an incredible leap for a 2016 seventh-round pick who had only started two games in his career before this year.
Aaron Kromer has done a great job developing him, and Blythe has been the biggest find for the Rams this season. He was initially only supposed to start the first two games of the season while Jamon Brown was suspended, but he ended up playing so well that he kept the starting job after Brown’s suspension was over.
In fact, he played so well that he made Brown expendable, leading the Rams to cut him not too long after. Blythe has graded out the seventh-best guard in the NFL by PFF’s rankings, and didn’t even make it as an alternate.
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4. Brandin Cooks
Nobody knew how Cooks would transition in his first season with the team after the Rams traded a first round pick for him this offseason, but Cooks has stepped in seamlessly and is having arguably the best season of his career. With two games left to go, he’s only 66 yards off his career high, and he didn’t even record a catch in a game against Seattle because he was hurt.
He’s gone for over 100 yards five times and is fourth in the league in receptions over 20 yards. He has the 10th-most yards of any receiver, and averages a robust 15.4 yards per reception. He’s been one of the best deep threats in the league, but is also great in the short to intermediate game.
His quickness stretches the defense and opens things up for everyone else in the passing game, so his contributions go well beyond his own statistics. Cooks also wasn’t even selected as an alternate, which is outrageous. Cooks
wasn’t happy with being snubbed last year, so hopefully this latest snub will also motivate him a little more moving forward.