The NFL has announced the 2022 Pro Bowl, and five Dallas Cowboys players are among the 88 players selected. Four of the five Cowboys players named to the NFC team are starters. Two offensive players, two defensive players, and a special teams player made the roster.
On offense, guard Zack Martin was selected to his seventh Pro Bowl in eight seasons. Martin did not make the Pro Bowl in 2021 after suffering a calf strain in early December. Martin has played in all but one game this season. Pro Football Focus gives Martin a grade of 93.7 overall with two penalties and one sack allowed on 925 snaps.
Tyron Smith is the other offensive player selected this season as the third option at tackle. Smith has had an up-and-down season. He started the first eight games of the season before a high ankle sprain sidelined him for several weeks.
Smith had returned to the lineup before sitting out last week after reinjuring the ankle. Smith has been ruled out for this Sunday’s divisional matchup as well, though the Cowboys coaching staff has indicated the injury is not serious.
Both of the Cowboys players on defense will be first-timers. Cornerback Trevon Diggs and linebacker Micah Parsons were selected. Diggs is the current NFL leader in interceptions with 10 and is only the third Cowboys player in team history to log double-digit interceptions in a season.
In addition to his 10 interceptions, Diggs has defended 19 passes and has two touchdown returns this season while allowing only 51 receptions on 88 targets. He started the season recording seven interceptions in six games, but opposing quarterbacks haven’t been challenging him as often in recent weeks.
Parsons has exploded in his rookie season and is a front-runner for Rookie Defensive Player of the Year. He is also in the discussion for Defensive Player of the Year, a feat that only the legendary Lawrence Taylor ever accomplished.
Parsons has been called on to fill in at the defensive end and rotate to linebacker at times this season and has 12 sacks in 14 games along with three forced fumbles.
Punter Bryan Anger is the special teams player selected. Anger is in his first season as a Dallas Cowboy. On 56 punts this season, Anger is averaging 43.9 yards, the second-highest average of his career.
He has had only one game this season without a punt of at least 50 yards, that being a one-punt performance in Week 1.
Players are selected to the Pro Bowl roster through voting by players, fans, and coaches. Each category receives a weighted score, so they are equally important factors. While players were selected last year, the game was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Pro Bowl is scheduled to be held on February 2, 2022, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. This will be the first year the game has not been played in Orlando, Florida since the league moved it from Hawaii for the 2016 Pro Bowl.
Should the Cowboys advance through the playoffs to their ninth Super Bowl, players selected to the Pro Bowl will not be available to participate in the game.
