The New England Patriots are no strangers to the Pro Bowl.
The Patriots typically send multiple players to the NFL’s star-studded clash each year, and the 2019 campaign is poised to be no different. After all, Tom Brady still is going strong and defensive stalwarts like Stephon Gilmore and Dont’a Hightower very well could be in the mix for the honor as well.
But what about Patriots players who currently are foreign to the Pro Bowl?
NFL.com writer Marc Sessler on Wednesday published a column in which he identified a player on each AFC team who could be bound for his first Pro-Bowl nod in the upcoming season. For the Patriots, Sessler opted for a pleasant surprise from the 2018 campaign who’s on a fast track to stardom: cornerback J.C. Jackson.
“After casting off Malcolm Butler, Bill Belichick found a suitable replacement in Jackson, the undrafted cover man out of Maryland who morphed into a reliable, difference-making starter down the stretch,” Sessler writes. “Jackson finished the year with a league-best 42.0 passer rating allowed, leading some inside the building to believe he might ultimately surpass All-Pro Pats corner Stephon Gilmore.”
Should Sessler’s prediction come to fruition, Jackson’s path to the Pro Bowl would be awfully similar to Butler’s. After Butler, an undrafted free agent in 2014, put his name on the map with his game-sealing interception in Super Bowl XLIX, he earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl in 2015. Jackson likely will have every opportunity to reel in the honor in his sophomore season as well.
Another prime candidate to reach the Pro Bowl for the first time would be Julian Edelman, who somehow never has obtained the accolade over the course of his 10-year career. We have a feeling the veteran wide receiver is more than content with his three championships and Super Bowl LIII MVP Award, though.
