Earning four previous Pro Bowl trips wasn’t enough for Marshon Lattimore to make this year’s ballot. New Orleans Saints fans can vote for many of their favorite players for the 2024 Pro Bowl Games, but Lattimore isn’t one of them. His teammates Paulson Adebo and Alontae Taylor are listed on the ballot at cornerback instead.
So what gives? Lattimore is injured right now, having been placed on injured reserve for at least the next four games with a high ankle sprain, but the Saints have expressed optimism he’ll return in time to close out the season in the starting lineup. And this is a very recent development: prior to this injury, Lattimore missed just one game earlier in the season.
And he’s been playing at a very high level. Pro Football Focus play-by-play charting found that Lattimore has forced 7 incompletions with tight coverage this season on 46 targets, breaking up 6 passes thrown his way and intercepting another throw. Taylor has improved each week after moving to the slot and Adebo has been outstanding this season, but Lattimore is the top dog in the New Orleans secondary.
But teams are only represented by two players per position group on the Pro Bowl ballot, and with Lattimore injured it’s likely that Adebo and Taylor given the nod instead. It isn’t necessarily fair, but Pro Bowl voting never has been a very rational process. and restrictions like this leave good players out every year. Hopefully Lattimore can enjoy a quick and full recovery and return to remind everyone just how dominant he can be.
