Willie Colon an All-Pro?!?

I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt because he seems to have filled out his ballot with players that he thinks deserve recognition, but not necessarily the best in the league at their position. He says up top that he’s giving credit for what they’ve managed to accomplish (given their circumstances), and I can’t find anything in the piece claiming that these guys are the best overall.

Apart from making Willie Colon his All-Pro RT, this seems to be supported by:

1). Leon Hall over, say, Darrelle Revis – I don’t think anyone would deny that Revis is far more naturally gifted and makes bigger plays than Hall, but Hall was solid all year and Gosselin’s explanation is recognizing the improvement of the Cincy defense as a whole.

2). Bernard Pollard at SS – There’s no way he can really think a guy who couldn’t keep a roster spot on the Chiefs is the premier SS in the league, but when you look at how he was able to move on from getting cut, earn a contract partway into the season with the Texans, and do much more than earn his keep the rest of the way (not to mention deal with the unfair stigma that is assuredly still present in some people’s minds of being the “dirty player” who knocked Brady out of last season – at risk of being included with the conspiracy theorist minority, I’d argue Pioli might have personally had a role in cutting Pollard), it’s very admirable what he did this past season.

3). DeMarcus Ware NOT at LB – I must admit that since he’s a Dallas writer, I automatically (and unfairly) categorized his Jay Ratliff at NT selection as a decent yet homer pick. When I saw Pollard I initially chalked him up in that category as well, figuring the guy just wanted to squeeze in another player from a Texas team. But I had to reconsider all of that when I realized he left Ware off his list – when I’m sure if you asked any Cowboys fan to name the best LBs in the league they’d reflexively start with Ware the same way we’d reflexively start with Harrison. He had the stones to choose Dumervil instead, and maybe it doesn’t seem as significant because Dumervil made the Pro Bowl also and led the league in sacks, but given all the stuff he had to adapt to with a new idiot head coach, new coordinator, new scheme, new position, etc. Dumervil did a hell of a job and was consistently good all year without anyone remotely notable on his DL making his life easier. If this were my list, I don’t know if I could put my personal affiliations aside and recognize Dumervil ahead of Woodley, let alone Harrison, and I think Gosselin deserves credit for it.

The more I look at Gosselin’s list the more I like it. I don’t necessarily agree with all of his picks, but I like the vibe of it. Realize also that he didn’t just pick Willie Colon of all RTs as his All-Pro, but he picked a RT out of all OTs (as SteelersFanInSeattle pointed out), when both the Pro Bowl and AP All-Pro rosters pretty much only ever list multiple LTs as their honorees. Since it was more or less a foregone conclusion who would fill the majority of the spots, it seems like he went a different route and made an effort to really personalize his roster with deserving professionals and without making the easy mistake of just filling it with consensus or homer picks.