Luck is first pick on second day of Pro Bowl draft
The second day of the two-day Pro Bowl draft was completed on Wednesday night, and for the most part it managed to avoid the uncomfortable situation of NFL teammates opposing each other in Sunday's Pro Bowl.
Deion Sanders, the captain of Team Sanders, made Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck the first pick on the second day of the Pro Bowl draft. Jerry Rice, the captain of Team Rice, followed by making New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham his top pick of the day. Graham will be receiving passes from Saints teammate Drew Brees, who was selected by Rice on Tuesday.
Sanders and Rice selected 30 players apiece Wednesday to fill out their 44-man rosters.
The very last player selected was Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith as three quarterbacks were the final players drafted.
The draft is part of a format change decided upon last July in an attempt to revitalize the NFL's annual all-star game. Unlike previous years, there will be no NFC or AFC squads.
It left open the possibility that teammates might end up on opposing sides in the Pro Bowl, and while a number of teammates were split up, potentially troubling matchups were avoided.
Brees noted on Tuesday after he was chosen as a captain for Team Rice that his Saints teammate, defensive end Cameron Jordan, could wind up on Team Sanders, with his mission being to sack Brees in the Pro Bowl.
However, Jordan wound up on Team Rice as well. The only defensive lineman who might be forced to apply a pass rush on a teammate is Kansas City defensive tackle Donari Poe, who is on Team Sanders while Chiefs quarterback Smith is on Rice's squad.
The squads are fairly evenly split between AFC and NFC players. Team Rice has 24 NFC players and 20 from the AFC, while Team Sanders has 25 AFC players and 19 from the NFC.
Rice and Sanders had selected 14 players each on Tuesday's first day of the Pro Bowl draft, and skill-position players were chosen on Wednesday.
After taking Luck, Sanders chose another quarterback, Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers, while Rice made Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy his second pick of the day.
Besides Luck and Newton, Sanders drafted the following players:
---Quarterback Nick Foles of the Philadelphia Eagles.
---Running backs Eddie Lacy of the Green Bay Packers and Alfred Morris of the Washington Redskins
--- Wide receivers A.J. Green of the Cincinnati Bengals, Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys, Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and DeSean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles.
---Tight ends Jordan Cameron of the Cleveland Browns and Jason Witten of the Dallas Cowboys.
---Offensive tackles Trent Williams of the Washington Redskins, Duane Brown of the Houston Texans and Branden Albert of the Chiefs,
---Defensive end Greg Hardy of the Carolina Panthers and Mario Williams of the Buffalo Bills.
---Outside linebackers Robert Mathis of the Indianapolis Colts, Tamba Hali of the Kansas City Chiefs and Terrell Suggs of the Baltimore Ravens.
---Inside linebackers Luke Kuechly of the Carolina Panthers, Paul Posluszny of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
---Cornerbacks Patrick Peterson of the Arizona Cardinals, Darrelle Revis of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brent Grimes of the Miami Dolphins, and Tim Jennings of the Bears.
---Safeties Eric Berry of the Kansas City Chiefs, Eric Weddle of the San Diego Chargers and T.J. Ward of the Browns.
---Kicker Justin Tucker of the Ravens.
---Punt returner Cordarrelle Patterson of the Vikings.
Rice selected the following players, along with Graham and McCoy:
---Quarterbacks Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers and Alex Smith of the Kansas City Chiefs.
---Running backs Demarco Murray of the Dallas Cowboys and Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears.
--- Wide receivers Josh Gordon of the Cleveland Browns, Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals, and Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall of the Chicago Bears.
---Tight end Tony Gonzalez of the Atlanta Falcons.
---Offensive tackle Joe Thomas of the Browns, Tyron Smith of the Cowboys and Jordan Gross of the Panthers,
---Defensive ends Cameron Jordan of the New Orleans Saints and Cameron Wake of the Dolphins
---Outside linebackers Justin Houston of the Kansas City Chiefs, Brian Orakpo of the Washington Redskins and John Abraham of the Arizona Cardinals,
---Inside linebackers Vontaze Burfict of the Cincinnati Bengals and Derrick Johnson of the Chiefs.
---Cornerbacks Joe Haden of the Cleveland Browns, Brandon Flowers of the Kansas City Chiefs, Antonio Cromartie of the New York Jets and Alterraun Verner of the Tennessee Titans
---Safeties Eric Reid of the 49ers, Jairus Byrd of the Buffalo Bills and Antrel Rolle of the Giants.
---Kicker Stephen Gostkowski of the Patriots.
---Punter returner Dexter McCluster of the Chiefs.
On Tuesday, Rice picked Brees and St. Louis defensive end Robert Quinn as the co-captains for his team. Texans defensive end J.J. Watt and Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles were the co-captains Sanders' team.
Other players chosen on Tuesday:
Centers Ryan Kalil of the Carolina Panthers and Nick Mangold of the New York Jets went to the Rice squad, as did two offensive guards from the New Orleans Saints -- Jahri Evans and Ben Grubbs - as well as offensive guard Evan Mathis of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Buffalo Bills defensive tackles Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus wound up on the Rice team, as did Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Jason Hatcher.
Rice took Carolina Panthers fullback Mike Tolbert, St. Louis Rams punter Johnny Hekker, special teams performer Justin Bethel of the Arizona Cardinals, and long snapper Matt Overton of the Indianapolis Colts.
Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh wound up on the Sanders team, along with defensive tackles Dontari Poe of the Kansas City Chiefs and Gerald McCoy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Sanders chose centers Alex Mack of the Cleveland Browns and Mike Puncey of the Miami Dolphins, along with offensive guards Logan Mankins of the New England Patriots, Marshal Yanda of the Baltimore Ravens and Kyle Long of the Chicago Bears.
Sanders also selected fullback Marcel Reece of the Oakland Raiders, Dolphins punter Brandon Fields, special teams player Matthew Slater of the Patriots and long snapper J.J. Jansen of the Panthers.
The Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday in Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.
