Last year, in line with their winning a division title, the Detroit Lions had seven Pro Bowlers. Five were elected in original voting (Frank Ragnow, Penei Sewell, Sam LaPorta, Aidan Hutchinson, Jalen Reeves-Maybin), and two (Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown) were added as alternates.
Of those seven Lions' Pro Bowlers, four (Hutchinson, Gibbs, LaPorta and Reeves-Maybin) were first-timers. Of course two of them (LaPorta and Gibbs) were also rookies.
The 49ers led the league last year with nine players named to the Pro Bowl Games. If the Lions reach the Super Bowl this year, anyone they have who was elected to the NFC team will not be participating. It's also fair to virtually lock Sewell, Hutchinson and St. Brown in as repeat as Pro Bowl selections, with Ragnow as a strong candidate.
But shifting back toward potential first-timers, with acknowledgement they won't all make it, here are six Lions who could earn their first career Pro Bowl selection this year.
6 Detroit Lions who could be first-time Pro Bowlers in 2024
6. CB Terrion Arnold
If a Lions' rookie is going to follow in the footsteps of LaPorta and Gibbs to a Pro Bowl nod this year, Arnold is the easy favorite. He's in line to be the starter at the outside corner spot opposite Carlton Davis, and in line with that expectation he's getting some Defensive Rookie of the Year buzz.
As a rookie corner, Arnold will naturally be tested early and often this season. All the early signs are pointing toward him being up to the task, from clips of the work he's doing between OTAs and training camp to quotes that reflect his confidence and overall mentality.
It won't be easy for a rookie cornerback to earn a Pro Bowl selection. But Arnold can get it done.
5. OT Taylor Decker
The longest-tenured Lion, entering his ninth season, Decker has been a solid left tackle for his entire career. He made this list last year, then went out and finished as Pro Football Focus' ninth-highest graded offensive tackle with a slightly better pass blocking grade than Sewell had (79.4 to 79.2).
Cracking the offensive tackle mix on the NFC Pro Bowl team will not be easy, as always. But there is a definite path for Decker to at least be an alternate initially, and if the Lions don't make the Super Bowl to him being a participant in the Pro Bowl Games.
4. CB/S Brian Branch
Branch was the best player in the Lions' secondary last year as a rookie. He moved into the primary slot/nickel corner role, and thrived (74 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, a team-high 13 pass breakups, three interceptions, PFF's 14th-best graded cornerback). If he hadn't missed two games, he may well have joined Gibbs and LaPorta as a rookie Pro Bowler.
There has been plenty of talk all offseason about Branch will seeing more time at safety this year. Moving him completely away from slot corner still feels foolish, but playing safety (and thus being designated more so as such) could allow him to compile noticeable numbers at a thinner position in terms of worthy Pro Bowlers.
If Branch refines some little areas of his game (as he noted himself), and takes another step this year, it will be hard to make a case that he shouldn't be a Pro Bowler.
3. CB Carlton Davis
Over his last couple seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Davis' overall level of play fell off. Durability has also become a thing with him, with at least four missed games in three straight seasons. But his skill set seems to match what the Lions need and want from their perimeter corners, and his scheme fit with Tampa Bay (fairly zone heavy) was easy to question.
At 27 years old (28 in December), the cornerback who twice finished second in the league in pass breakups (19 in 2019, 18 in 2020) presumably still exists within Davis. Better health (fingers crossed) and a defensive scheme that better suits him may be all that stands in the way of him earning a Pro Bowl nod for the first time in his career. It's not a stretch to say the Lions are counting on him re-establishing that type of form.
2. LB Alex Anzalone
Anzalone was once easy to tab as someone the Lions should (and should be able to) replace. But they had faith, and he was rewarded it with year-over-year improvement the last couple seasons.
Anzalone has had back-to-back seasons with at least 125 tackles, along with seven tackles for loss and six pass breakups in each campaign. That puts him in a rare category among off-ball linebackers who have hit those marks. Last year, he also set a career-high with three sacks and his PFF grades were very good across the board.
Improved and more experienced talent around him (DJ Reader, Jack Campbell) may free Anzalone up to be even more productive this year. A first career Pro Bowl selection is within the realm of possibility for him in his eighth NFL season.
1. DT Alim McNeill
McNeill is the obvious No. 1 here. The work he did to reshape his physique and add to his game during the 2023 offseason yielded a breakthrough season last year (five sacks, six tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hits, PFF's No, 7 defensive tackle, with top-15 run defense and pass rush grades). He also missed four games late in the season due to a knee injury, so a next step is easy to forecast over a full 17 games this year.
The aforementioned addition of Reader stands to benefit McNeill more than anyone, on the field anyway. They are lined up to be one of the best defensive tackle tandems in the league, as Reader is a force all his own that did not exist next to McNeill last year.
As Mike Moraitis of Sporting News noted, the perennial NFC Pro Bowl roster for the last decade or so now has a Aaron Donald-sized void at defensive tackle. There's no better candidate to fill that void than McNeill, perhaps for years to come starting this year.
Honorable Mentions: RB David Montgomery, S Kerby Joseph, S Ifeatu Melifonwu, WR Kalif Raymond (as a return man), DT DJ Reader
