Jason Kelce continues to rack up the accolades. The NFL announced Kelce as the center on the 2021 NFL All-Pro first team after he received 21 All-Pro votes. It’ll be his fourth overall first-team honor.
Kelce’s given up one sack in 993 snaps, the sixth time he’s allowed a single sack in a year. The 34-year-old also committed just one penalty, tied for his career-lowest in a single season.
Kelce’s blocking performances were, as usual, also stellar. Kelce finished with a 72% run block win rate — tied for the second-highest in the league — and a 96% pass block win rate, tied for fourth-best in the league.
Kelce’s career is slowly becoming more and more Hall-of-Fame worthy by the moment. As Thomas Petersen notes, Kelce is now one of only 12 centers in NFL history who have made four of more first team All-Pros. Those 11 others are in the HOF.
Below is the full first-team:
AP First Team All-Pro:
QB: Rodgers
RB: Taylor
WR: Adams, Kupp
TE: Andrews
T: Williams, Wirfs
G: Bitonio, Martin
C: KelceDE: Watt, Garrett
DT: Donald, Heyward
LB: Parsons, Leonard, D. Campbell
CB: Diggs, Ramsey
S: Byard, Poyer, Baker
K: Tucker
P Cole
KR Berrios
PR Duvernay— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 14, 2022
Lane Johnson Nabs A Spot On Second Team
Kelce wasn’t the only Eagles’ lineman to gain some recognition. Lane Johnson was named at the right tackle for the All-Pro Second Team after receiving 10 All-Pro votes. It’s Johnson’s second appearance on an All-Pro team (he made first team back in 2017).
Johnson ended with a 95% pass block win rate — second-most among tackles — although he didn’t crack the top-10 in run block win rate. Johnson was a bit more handsy than Kelce this year – he had six penalties in 13 games, his most since 2017.
Despite the nod, Johnson was oddly not selected for this year’s Pro-Bowl. Despite the Pro-Bowl being a tad overrated, Johnson was still pissed off over the snub. Hopefully that’ll give him some extra motivation heading into next season.
Was Darius Slay Snubbed?
There’s a very clear argument to be made that Darius Slay, who received only one All-Pro vote, was snubbed from the first team, and even second team.
Dallas’ Trevon Diggs had 11 interceptions this year — an amazing number to be sure — but he also gave up 907 yards (the most in the league), 496 total air yards on completion (seventh-most), and 411 yards after catch (third-most).
As PFF pointed out, Diggs has been subpar across the board once you get past the glamorous stats. Meanwhile, Slay allowed much less yardage (535, the 51st-most) while also rating as PFF’s fourth-highest cornerback in single coverage with a grade of 80.6.
Regardless of the missed honors, it was still a fantastic year for Slay. Meanwhile, the Eagles have to be breathing a sigh of relief that a highly-touted cornerback acquisition has finally paid off.