The St. Louis Rams are the most relevant, this week that they've been since the start of the Marc Bulger era, but at 7-8 they're also in that weird position in which it's clear that none of their players are at the top of their field—they're all just good enough to drive the team to a .500 record. The Pro Bowl voting has illustrated that phenomenon, with Steven Jackson—the Rams' historic default representative—falling well behind the curve for running backs. It only got less impressive from there.
↵Worse teams have better players, or at least most buzzworthy players—the Houston Texans' Arian Foster and Andre Johnson both led their positions, despite playing for a 5-10 club. But while the Texans have a strong offense and a hypothetical defense, the Rams are strangely balanced. Sam Bradford's having a good season for a rookie, and his ballot positioning has been strong—again, for a rookie. Maybe next year.
↵As for the non-fan-votes, I like Turf Show Times's suggestion of Donnie Jones, punter extraordinaire. He's not having a career year this season, but in terms of lifetime achievement few active punters more deserve a spot than the one who had to bail the Rams out of three-and-out after three-and-out at their nadir. How does a guy miss the Pro Bowl after averaging 50 yards per punt? What more can he do?
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