Now that we are about halfway through the regular season, it is time to start considering which players are deserving of Pro Bowl consideration. For this series, we will look at the three most deserving candidates for each team. Obviously, some teams will have more or less than three players selected to the Pro Bowl, but for simplicity purposes, we will discuss the top three either way.
The Indianapolis Colts are next on our radar.
Top Midseason Pro Bowl Candidates: Indianapolis Colts
Jerrell Freeman
Freeman’s story is the epitome of what the NFL is all about. Oftentimes, your success in this league and ability to to carve out a career as a pro has nothing to do with having played for a big time program and receiving non-stop accolades out of high school. In the end, it comes down to your work ethic and how much you truly want it.
Having come out of Mary Hardin-Baylor, a small Division III school in Texas, not much was expected out of Freeman. He signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2008 and was cut during the preseason. Afterwards, he played three years with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL and caught the eye of NFL scouts after a standout season in 2011.
The Colts would end up signing him ahead of the 2012 season and soon realized how much an impact he would inevitably have in their linebacking corps. Over the course of the next three seasons, he would lead the team in tackles twice, force a total of eight fumbles and compile three interceptions which included a pick six.
Freeman remains a multi-faceted element within the Colts’ front seven in 2015. Only veteran linebacker Robert Mathis has more sacks on the season while Freeman has established himself as a formidable weapon in coverage. He’s currently third in the league in yards per catch allowed among inside linebackers and is in the top ten in cumulative yards allowed in coverage (156) as well as longest pass play conceded at his position (25 yards).
If there’s a year for Jerrell Freeman to see his eight-year career as a pro come full circle in the form of a Pro Bowl appearance, it may yet be this one.
Kendall Langford
There has been a great deal of hype this week surrounding a rookie running back named Langford who had a breakout performance on Monday Night Football for that team a few hours drive up I-65. But make no mistake about it, the veteran Langford for the Colts has been an indispensable cog as an edge rusher in Greg Manusky’s 3-4 defense.
The eight-year pro out of Hampton had his best game of 2015 in Sunday’s 27-24 win over the Broncos. Langford was a thorn in Peyton Manning’s side, tallying a sack and also notching five quarterback hits which was the highest of any other player on the field for either team.
On the season, Langford has three sacks, bested only by franchise mainstay Robert Mathis who has four on the year. Mathis himself has made six Pro Bowls in his 13 seasons the Colts but the 34-year-old is clearly at the tail end of his career and missed all of last year due to a torn Achilles suffered in the offseason.
If Langford can build upon his stellar play against Denver, which included his exceptional ability to flush opposing quarterbacks out of the pocket (he has 18 hurries this year, good enough for sixth best in the NFL), he may yet be capable of making his first career Pro Bowl.
Pat McAfee
You know it’s been that kind of season as a Colts fan when the punter could very well be the most surefire Pro Bowl candidate. McAfee has been one of the few bright spots over the course of a season that hasn’t quite lived up to expectations. His play this year has been instrumental in creating a long field for the opposition.
It could be argued fairly convincingly that 2015 has been the best of McAfee’s seven seasons in the league, all with the Colts. The 28-year-old out of West Virginia is averaging a career high 48.6 yards per punt this season. His net punting average of 43.4 yards is third-best in the league, which isn’t much of a surprise considering 33 percent of his punts have been downed inside the 20.
McAfee made his first Pro Bowl appearance last season and all indications are that he’s on his way to making it two in a row as a result of his exploits on fourth down in 2015.
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