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I'm not big on the Pro Bowl accolade, but it's interesting nonetheless to ponder whether or not Buffalo Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is worthy of making the trip to Hawaii this season. The folks at ProFootballFocus.com like his chances, for now.
On the season, Fitzpatrick has completed 64 percent of his throws - by far a career high - for 2,549 yards, 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Every game counts, however, and a horrid three-game stretch have made his otherwise excellent numbers (17:7 TD:INT ratio) look fairly pedestrian.
However, the crop of worthy signal-callers in the AFC is quite thin this year. Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger seem like mortal locks, but Peyton Manning, Matt Schaub and Matt Cassel are injured, and others - like Philip Rivers, Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez - have been disappointing.
Still, the Pro Bowl is largely a popularity contest. Matt Hasselbeck has some voting longevity, even though he's been average-at-best this year. Andy Dalton could get some consideration for being a solid rookie on a surprising team. Nobody is more popular than Tim Tebow. Even in a down year for AFC quarterbacks, it seems to me that Fitzpatrick has some stiff competition. What do you think?