Darius Leonard, NFL's top tackler as a rookie, 'heartbroken' over Pro Bowl snub
Some big names were left off the NFL Pro Bowl rosters announced on Tuesday.
But one name that’s not as familiar as the Alvin Kamaras and Christian McCaffreys of the NFL world may have been the biggest snub of all.
Leonard has dominated NFL as a rookie
The Colts rookie linebacker has quickly and quietly become one of the NFL’s dominant defensive forces, helping anchor a top-10 defense as Indianapolis has surged into playoff contention with a 7-1 run over the last eight games.
With 146 tackles, he leads the NFL. By a lot. Perennial Carolina Panthers All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechly is second in the league with 124 tackles.
And it’s not like his numbers suffer in other defensive columns. In fact, they’re eye-popping. In addition to leading the league in tackles, Leonard has tallied seven sacks, 12 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, six passes defended and an interception.
Pro Bowl snub hurtful to Leonard
He appears to be beyond motivated by the snub.
“I was heartbroken at first because I thought I did enough, but it is what it is,” Leonard told reporters.
“Twenty,” he said when asked about how upset he was on a scale of 1-to-10. “Just knowing that I put out everything I did on film and everything, and still [it’s] not enough. So I’ve just got to keep improving. If it’s not enough, then that means I’ve just got to keep doing more work.”
Leonard much more productive than Pro Bowl LBs
Why didn’t he make the team? It’s a good question.
Baltimore Ravens linebacker C.J. Mosley (91 tackles, 0.5 sacks, zero forced fumbles, zero interceptions) and Houston Texans linebacker Benardrick McKinney (96 tackles, 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble, zero interceptions), who made the AFC Pro Bowl roster at inside linebacker, don’t have numbers comparable to Leonard’s.
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Name recognition appears to be the biggest culprit.
Coming off three straight disappointing seasons without a playoff appearance, the Colts have flown under the radar this season and not appeared on any of the prime “Sunday Night Football” or “Monday Night Football” slots.
Leonard’s used to this
He also didn’t get a whole lot of press as a prep or in college. He dreamed of playing at Clemson, but when the Tigers failed to offer him a scholarship, he played at South Carolina State instead.
“My brother played at Clemson, I stayed at Death Valley, I went to camps, I really wanted to go there,” Leonard told The Undefeated. “It hurt me pretty bad when they didn’t call. They told me in the fall they had a scholarship for me.”
The Colts noticed him, taking him in the second round of the NFL draft. But it’s taken until recently for the rest of the league and its fans to catch up, with games like Sunday’s 23-0 shutout of the Dallas Cowboys that saw Leonard log 11 tackles and a pair of passes defended.
Snubbed by players, coaches
Of course, the lack of exposure explains the fan portion of the Pro Bowl vote, which makes up one-third of the total voting weight. Why coaches and players — whose votes each carry equal value as the fans — ignored Leonard is difficult to fathom.
He plans to take his frustrations out on Sunday against the New York Giants, telling teammate Eric Ebron he wants to tally 40 tackles.
“That’s a goal,” Leonard said. “Impossible? There’s nothing impossible. You play a lot of snaps, you’ve just gotta get in on every play.”
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