Here’s our NFL All-Pro ballot.
If I could characterize the 2024 NFL regular season with one word, I think it would be “change”. We saw the rising of new stars and beginning of different eras in the NFL. The Washington Commanders are good now (?), led by a superstar rookie in QB Jayden Daniels. The NFC North is home to two of the best teams in football, one of them led by...Sam Darnold? What year is it?
With the regular season ending, it’s time to do All-Pro voting. I currently don’t have a vote (yet) but for SB Nation I’m doing my 2024 NFL All-Pro ballot as if I was. I wanted to try and make sure I got the positions and people I wanted to recognize as well, which is why I put two running backs and a fullback, to recognize players that don’t get put on the ballot. So let’s get into it, with my 2024 NFL All-Pro ballot.
The first three RB spots were pretty easy: Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry and Josh Jacobs all joined different teams in the offseason and immediately took their games to the next level, lifting the floor and ceiling for their respective offenses. The final RB spot, however, is a duel between two running backs from the 2023 NFL Draft: Atlanta Falcons’ RB Bijan Robinson and Detroit Lions’ RB Jahmyr Gibbs. Their stats are almost identical: Robinson has the slight edge in total rushing yards (1,286 to 1,273), Gibbs has one more rushing touchdown (13 to 12) and as receivers Robinson has the edge in receptions and yards, but Gibbs has one more touchdown. Gibbs has the higher EPA per play, but Robinson has the higher success rate.
So, how do we split this when everything is practically equal between these two stars, and how did I land on Robinson as my pick? Well, it’s simple: Bijan Robinson is one of the best, if not the best, pass protecting RB in the league. He’s truly a multifaceted back who is electric when he touches the ball, but also can be successful on a snap-to-snap basis. It was the closest of the offensive All-Pro battles, but Robinson just barely gets it for me.
If the New England Patriots were 6-11 instead of 3-13, we’d be talking about Christian Gonzalez more as one of the three best corners in the sport. Week in and week out he’s given the task of handling the best receiver on the opposing team, and week in and week out he does an amazing job. The Patriots play more man coverage than any other team in the league, and Gonzalez is out on an island more than anyone else, but he’s consistently held the best receivers to subpar performances. He was left off the Pro Bowl roster, but he makes first-team All-Pro for me.
It was a great year for safety play in the NFL. Even as I sit here writing this, I’m thinking of guys that would make it on my ballot in other years (Xavier McKinney, Brian Branch just to name a couple) but the most interesting battle is between the Cardinals’ Budda Baker and the Ravens’ Kyle Hamilton for the other first team safety slot. I ultimately went with Baker for my first team slot because of how much he means to this Cardinals defense. With how much 3-high shells they play on early downs, they use Baker as an equalizer in the run game, often having him as the middle runner in Tampa 2, in order to get him near the action. He’s a chaos maker for a Cardinals’ defense that really started to put together some nice stretches of play.
Hamilton gets my second-team nod because of how his versatility helped open up the Ravens’ defense. Since moving him back to safety instead of an overhang/nickel spot, the Ravens have played much better on the back end. His communication and ability to wear multiple hats has been incredibly impressive.
