Lamar Jackson joins illustrious quarterback company with his 3rd All-Pro pick

 

[January 11, 2025]  By JOSH DUBOW

Lamar Jackson joined some illustrious company with his third selection to The Associated Press NFL All-Pro Team.

Now he hopes the postseason success will follow.

Jackson became the eighth quarterback picked as a first-team All-Pro at least three times in the Super Bowl era, having also made it in his MVP seasons in 2019 and 2023.

Both of those seasons ended with postseason exits before the Super Bowl, with Baltimore losing in the divisional round in 2019 and AFC title game last season.

The other seven QBs with at least three All-Pro picks have all made the Super Bowl. Dan Marino is the only one without a championship win.

But waiting for the postseason success is not unprecedented, with Steve Young winning his only Super Bowl as a starting quarterback the same season he was picked to his third All-Pro team in 1994 and Peyton Manning getting his first in the 2006 season after falling short in All-Pro campaigns in 2003-05.

Manning made four more All-Pros after that for seven in all and won his second Super Bowl in his final season with Denver in 2015.

Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Joe Montana all got Super Bowl wins before becoming All-Pros the first time, while Brett Favre won it all following his second selection in the 1996 season.

Overlooked
The majority of the All-Pro picks predictably came from teams that qualified for the postseason, with 23 of the 30 first-teamers on playoff teams.

Four teams that qualified for the postseason were shut out, with Buffalo, Washington, the Rams and the Chargers all having no first-team picks. The Commanders did have four players picked for the second team, while the Bills and Chargers each had one. The Rams were shut out entirely.

Buffalo missing out on the first team was particularly noteworthy after the Bills won 13 games in the regular season. There have been 100 teams that have won at least 13 games in a season since the AP first started handing out All-Pros in 1940 and only four others had no first-team picks.

It happened to the Green Bay Packers in 2007 and 2019, the 1995 Kansas City Chiefs and the 1984 Denver Broncos.

Six teams that missed the postseason had All-Pros, with the Cincinnati Bengals the only team with two: receiver Ja'Marr Chase and edge rusher Trey Hendrickson.

Wonderful Wagner
No matter where Bobby Wagner plays, he always seems to end up receiving All-Pro honors.

The star linebacker was a second-team All-Pro in his first season for Washington, marking the 11th straight season he was picked for either the first or second team. The 34-year-old linebacker was a perennial pick during his first stint in Seattle with six first-team selections — including five straight — and two seconds from 2014-21.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) waves to fans prior to an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

He then was a second-teamer in 2022 in his only season for the Rams and again in 2023 after returning to the Seahawks. He did it again for the Commanders.

Wagner is the sixth player ever to get 11 selections to the first or second team, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Reggie White has the record with 13 straight picks, including eight on the first team for Philadelphia and Green Bay.

Jim Otto made it 12 times, including a record-tying 10 first-team selections in the AFL and NFL for the Oakland Raiders.

Jerry Rice is the only other player to make the first team 10 times, doing it for San Francisco. He also got one second-team selection with the Raiders.

Former Cincinnati tackle Anthony Munoz and Buffalo defensive end Bruce Smith each had 11 selections, with Munoz picked for the first team nine times and Smith getting eight first-team honors.

First timers
As usual, there were a significant number of All-Pro debuts with 16 players getting their first selection to the first team, including Raiders rookie tight end Brock Bowers.

Bowers set an NFL record for most receptions by a rookie at any position with 112 to become the fourth rookie picked at the position, joining Jeremy Shockey (2002), Keith Jackson (1988) and Charlie Young (1973).

Mike Ditka held the rookie record for receiving yards for a tight end until Bowers passed him this year but the AP didn't select a tight end to the first team when Ditka was a rookie in 1961.

While Bowers got in as a rookie, Pittsburgh kicker Chris Boswell waited until his 10th season to get his first All-Pro selection. The other first-timers were Chase, Hendrickson, Philadelphia's Saquon Barkley and Zack Baun; Baltimore's Patrick Ricard and Marlon Humphrey; Denver's Quinn Meinerz and Marvin Mims Jr.; Detroit's Kerby Joseph and Jack Fox; Houston's Derek Stingley; Green Bay's Xavier McKinney; Dallas' KaVontae Turpin; and New England's Brenden Schooler.

There have been between 14 and 16 newcomers on the All-Pro team every year since 2017.

All contents © copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved