Denver Broncos: Justin Simmons, Courtland Sutton top Pro Bowl snubs

Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons and wide receiver Courtland Sutton were snubbed of Pro Bowl honors this season despite incredible production.

It stinks to stink, just ask the Denver Broncos.

Not being a good football team has its benefits, like being able to pick high in the NFL Draft. Actually, that’s really the only benefit.

Other than that, it’s the pits, and Von Miller is feeling the effects. But at least he’s popular enough to get voted into the Pro Bowl year after year. Unfortunately, the same is not (yet) true for safety Justin Simmons and wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who are two of the biggest snubs of the 2020 Pro Bowl.

Imagine not voting one of the best safeties in the game into the game recognizing the best players in football.

It couldn’t be us.

Simmons has thrived under new head coach Vic Fangio as many thought he would, but when you look at his numbers, it’s clear he’s even exceeded our loftiest expectations. Look at Simmons’ key stats from the 2019 season:

• 47.8 completion percentage allowed
• 14 pass breakups
• 4 interceptions
• 84 total tackles

It’s not all about interceptions, but Simmons’ four interceptions were more than both Earl Thomas and Jamal Adams combined (3). It’s stunning that the NFL doesn’t intervene in something like this, or that the Pro Bowl is able to be this affected by the fans. It doesn’t create an accurate representation of what an actual All-Star game should be.

So, Simmons was arguably the biggest snub in the NFL, but wide receiver Courtland Sutton was not far behind.

Sutton has 63 receptions this year for 1,016 and six touchdowns. He’s averaging 16.2 yards per reception and while his numbers are solid, it’s the way he’s gotten to those numbers that’s most impressive.

For the first half of the season, Sutton was catching passes from Joe Flacco. For a couple of games after that, he was catching passes from Brandon Allen, who has never played in the NFL regular season before this year. Ditto for Drew Lock, who has been Sutton’s QB for the last three games.

Sutton is creating big plays like a magician pulls a rabbit out of his hat. No one quite knows where the rabbit was hiding the whole time, nor do we completely understand how Sutton has managed to put together a Pro Bowl-caliber season with the Broncos’ ineptitude at the quarterback position, for the most part.

Even with Drew Lock providing the team at least some real talent at the QB position, Sutton’s numbers haven’t been very big yet. Teams have wisened up a bit to his talent and the lack of a true threat at receiver other than him in Denver’s offense, but Sutton has managed to thrive through it all.

I don’t think you have to grade these things on a curve, but Sutton being an alternate when someone like Jarvis Landry made it is a little hurtful.