AP All Pro - Brown First Team/DeCastro & Bell Second Team

Congrats to AB, David DeCastro and Le'Veon Bell

Matt Ryan voted quarterback on Associated Press All-Pro team, edging Tom Brady

First team:

QB – Matt Ryan, Atlanta

RB – Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas

WR – Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh and Julio Jones, Atlanta

TE – Travis Kelce, Kansas City

FLEX – David Johnson, Arizona

OFFENSIVE LINE – LT Tyron Smith, Dallas; LG Kelechi Osemele, Oakland; C Travis Frederick, Dallas; RG Zack Martin, Dallas; RT Travis Conklin, Tennessee

DE – Khalil Mack, Oakland and Vic Beasley Jr., Atlanta

DT – Aaron Donald, Los Angeles and Damon Harrison, New York Giants

LB – Von Miller, Denver, Bobby Wagner, Seattle and Sean Lee, Dallas

DB – Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr., Denver, Marcus Peters and Eric Berry, Kansas City, and Landon Collins, New York Giants

K – Justin Tucker, Baltimore (unanimous)

P – Johnny Hekker, Los Angeles

KR – Cordarrelle Patterson, Minnesota

PR – Tyreek Hill, Kansas City (unanimous)

ST – Matthew Slater, New England

And here’s the second team:

QB – Tom Brady, New England

RB – David Johnson, Arizona

WR – Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants and Mike Evans, Tampa Bay

TE – Greg Olsen, Carolina

FLEX – Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh

OFFENSIVE LINE – LT David Bakhtiari, Green Bay; LG Marshall Yanda, Baltimore; C Alex Mack, Atlanta; RG David DeCastro, Pittsburgh; RT (tie) Marcus Cannon, New England and Mitchell Schwartz, Kansas City

DE – (tie) Cameron Wake, Miami, Olivier Vernon, New York Giants, Jadeveon Clowney, Houston and Brandon Graham, Philadelphia

DT – Ndamukong Suh, Miami and Calais Campbell, Arizona

LB – Lorenzo Alexander, Buffalo; Luke Kuechly, Carolina; (tie) C.J. Mosley, Baltimore Zach Brown, Buffalo, Zachary Orr, Baltimore, Alec Ogletree, Los Angeles, Dont’a Hightower, New England, Benardrick McKinney, Houston, Lavonte David, Tampa Bay and Whitney Mercilus, Houston

DB – Janoris Jenkins, New York Giants; (tie) Malcolm Butler, New England and Casey Hayward, San Diego; Devin McCourty, New England; Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Green Bay; Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, New York Giants

P – Marquette King, Oakland

KR – (tie) Tyler Lockett, Seattle and Tyreek Hill, Kansas City

ST – Nate Ebner, New England

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/matt-ryan-voted-quarterback-on-associated-press-all-pro-team-edging-tom-brady-180221434.html

Glad Ryan selected first team over Brady

I do not claim to have watched extended video on offensive line play this season, but Cowboys getting three of the five first team OL selections seems a bit much while for a second team All Pro DeCastro certainly seemed to get a lot of holding calls while dropping off from his 2015 standard of performance

And for a team that nobody regards as as a juggernaut, Chiefs getting four first team selections (Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Marcus Peters and Eric Berry) is impressive and a further indication the Steelers are going to face a formidable team on the road in the second round if they get past the Dolphins

Can't lie I didn't expect DeCastro.

For the oline guru's, how are the other RG's in the league? Anyone you would put above Decastro?

schillah wrote:

Can't lie I didn't expect DeCastro.

For the oline guru's, how are the other RG's in the league? Anyone you would put above Decastro?

I think they have the usual suspects there that are worthy of recognition. Martin, Osemele, Yanda, DeCastro, Zeitler are top guys that come to mind when I think of Guards in the NFL. I just think DeCastro was a bit more inconsistent in pass protection this year with getting too high, not establishing a good post and being late with his hands at times.

Honestly, Ramon Foster played the best year of his career, IMO. he will just never get the recognition, because he rarely leads on pulls and traps. If you cant be leading the RB around the edge, you cant be considered all pro....but he mauled and protected Ben really well this year.

Fun part for me is to see that the Browns let Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz go and they are on the lists. Life is good for players that escape the Factory of Sadness.

Add me to the list of those who were surprised to see DeCastro's name on the list.

Why would they put DJ on second team if he is on the first? Doesn't make sense. DeCastro is a top Guard but his holding issues should not have put him on the team. Way too many this year.

according to nflpenalties.com , Decastro had 9 holding penalties this season and 3 of them were declined, so yardage was only taken on 6 holding penalties.

Are you guys really ripping a Steelers lineman for 6 holding penalties in 16 games??

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

according to nflpenalties.com , Decastro had 9 holding penalties this season and 3 of them were declined, so yardage was only taken on 6 holding penalties.

Are you guys really ripping a Steelers lineman for 6 holding penalties in 16 games??

Not me.  Given his attitude, intensity, and ability to pull I am glad we have him locked up for a while.

Any guy that is willing to take it upon himself to inflict punishment on a thug like Burfict (remember his helmet to helmet shot where it looked like he was trying to break Burfict's neck).....well, I can live with 6 holding calls.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

according to nflpenalties.com , Decastro had 9 holding penalties this season and 3 of them were declined, so yardage was only taken on 6 holding penalties.

Are you guys really ripping a Steelers lineman for 6 holding penalties in 16 games??

Maybe the recent Cincinnati game and seeming to recall I have heard his number called an unusual number of times this season (five of the holding penalties were called between weeks 12 and 15) stuck in my mind - this from a Steelers Depot article on 12/19/2016.

In Sunday’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Pittsburgh Steelers were penalized a total of seven times during the game for 104 yards. Not only did the first three penalties committed during the first half the game by the Steelers hurt, a few in the second half did as well.

During the second half, Steelers guard David DeCastro was flagged three times and two of those, a holding call and a false start, ultimately resulted in drives stalling. One other penalty on DeCastro, a holding call, came during the Steelers late two-point conversion try following their lone touchdown of the game.

It’s been a rough season for DeCastro penalty-wise as the former first round draft pick has now been flagged a total of 14 times and he’ll enter Week 16 as the second-most penalized player in the league behind only Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman (15) and Los Angeles Rams tackle Greg Robinson (15).

While three of DeCastro’s 14 penalties were ultimately declined, the 11 that were accepted not only resulted in 77 penalty yards, but they also resulted in 43 nullified yards of offense. If that’s not enough, eight of DeCastro’s penalties ultimately stalled drives and only New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has more (9) of those entering Week 16 of the regular season.

Last season, Steelers center Cody Wallace led the team in penalties with 13 and seven of those resulted in stalled drives. In 2008, ex-Steelers offensive lineman Willie Colon was flagged 13 times. Searching back to 1999, no Steelers player has been penalized more in a single season than DeCastro has this year. In case you’re curious, DeCastro has been flagged nine times for holding and five times for a false start.

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/12/steelers-g-david-decastro-penalty-machine-2016/

I am not saying he is no longer a very good player or ripping him - my observation was his play this season is not what comes to mind for second team All Pro - having that many penalties adds to that impression

FrancoLambert wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

according to nflpenalties.com , Decastro had 9 holding penalties this season and 3 of them were declined, so yardage was only taken on 6 holding penalties.

Are you guys really ripping a Steelers lineman for 6 holding penalties in 16 games??

Not me.  Given his attitude, intensity, and ability to pull I am glad we have him locked up for a while.

Any guy that is willing to take it upon himself to inflict punishment on a thug like Burfict (remember his helmet to helmet shot where it looked like he was trying to break Burfict's neck).....well, I can live with 6 holding calls.

Well, if knocking Burfict out gets yout in, I'm all for it. I rewinded that hit over and over again.

Atlanta Dan wrote:

I am not saying he is no longer a very good player or ripping him - my observation was his play this season is not what comes to mind for second team All Pro - having that many penalties adds to that impression

Yeah, that's where I'm at as well. It's not that he didn't have a good year ... it just didn't feel like an All-Pro year.

Atlanta Dan wrote:

I am not saying he is no longer a very good player or ripping him - my observation was his play this season is not what comes to mind for second team All Pro - having that many penalties adds to that impression

DeCastro played 1082 snaps on offense this year according to profootballreference.com  .  If he had 11 penalties or 15 penalties, its such a small variation per snaps played I really give that no consideration.  I would have to look at them and see if any were caused by a player next to him missing a stunt or twist, or whether it was just him lapsing in technique.

If you look at sack totals last week, the average fan is going to say Landry Jones held onto the ball too long.  If you watch the sacks and hits that he took, you see that Finney missed at least 2 defensive stunts/blitzes up the middle and Williams and Toussaint picked the wrong guy in blitz pickup.  Stats like that can point to something, but also be misleading.  

IMO, Decastro had a good year, not an all pro year, but maybe good enough to be the 4th best O guard in the NFL.  Kevin Zeitler may have had less penalties than DeCastro, but I didn't watch enough of him this year to know if he was better in run and pass blocking than DeCastro.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

IMO, Decastro had a good year, not an all pro year, but maybe good enough to be the 4th best O guard in the NFL.

That's more or less where I stand ... a good year, but not an All Pro year. Admittedly, I'm basing that only on his performance since I don't pay enough attention to the other guards to be able to rank them. It just seemed to me that DeCastro had too many negative plays this season to warrant an All Pro honor.

I'll give DeCastro props for this play alone ... I call it: "38 Trap, Good Night Burfect"

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Honestly, Ramon Foster played the best year of his career, IMO.  he will just never get the recognition, because he rarely leads on pulls and traps.  If you cant be leading the RB around the edge, you cant be considered all pro....but he mauled and protected Ben really well this year.

Totally agree. The Big Ragu had a very good season. I also think part of his issue is that he was undrafted and the Pro Bowl tends to favor those O-linemen having a pedigree when they enter the league.

kirklandrules wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Honestly, Ramon Foster played the best year of his career, IMO.  he will just never get the recognition, because he rarely leads on pulls and traps.  If you cant be leading the RB around the edge, you cant be considered all pro....but he mauled and protected Ben really well this year.

Totally agree. The Big Ragu had a very good season. I also think part of his issue is that he was undrafted and the Pro Bowl tends to favor those O-linemen having a pedigree when they enter the league.

Foster is definitely a leader on the team too, I see him interviewed and quoted a lot. He's someone I can honestly see having a Wolfley or Tunch role with the organization after he retires. Or maybe coaching. He just seems like one of these guys who is genuinely happy to be a Steeler. Not that DeCastro isn't but Foster has had an impressive career given his start as a UDFA.

Wallace108 wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

IMO, Decastro had a good year, not an all pro year, but maybe good enough to be the 4th best O guard in the NFL.

That's more or less where I stand ... a good year, but not an All Pro year. Admittedly, I'm basing that only on his performance since I don't pay enough attention to the other guards to be able to rank them. It just seemed to me that DeCastro had too many negative plays this season to warrant an All Pro honor.

Yeah, but that is why I don't see the 2nd team all pro as being that big of a stretch. I never looked at the penalties, but a few times I noticed him getting beat and that is going to happen with Geno Atkins and Dontari Poe now and then, but I think Timmy Jernigan gave him some issues the first Ravens game.

Are their 4 or 5 guards better than DeCastro? Maybe, maybe not. Its a tough position.