Lions Fall in Final Pro Bowl Fan Voting Update, but Jameson Williams Deserves a Second Look
The final wave of Pro Bowl fan voting has come and gone, and for Detroit Lions fans, it ended with a bit of a gut punch. Several key players saw their standing slip in the final stretch, and while the team still has strong representation across the board, no Lion currently leads their position in the fan vote.
Let’s start with the most notable shift: linebacker Jack Campbell, who had been holding steady at the top of the inside linebacker rankings, was bumped to No. 2.
Overtaking him? Rams linebacker Nate Landman, who just happened to have a standout performance against the Lions this past Sunday.
Landman racked up 10 tackles (six solo) and logged a tackle for loss in the Rams’ 41-34 win over Detroit. Campbell, for his part, put up 14 tackles-10 of them solo-but didn’t record a TFL in that game, which may have given Landman the edge in voters’ eyes.
That drop means Detroit enters the final phase of the selection process without a single player leading their position in fan voting. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs climbed back to No. 2 among RBs after briefly slipping to third.
He’s currently eighth overall in total votes (85,165), trailing only Christian McCaffrey among running backs. That’s no small feat for a second-year back, and it speaks volumes about the electric season Gibbs is putting together.
Punter Jack Fox also holds a strong spot, leading all NFC punters in votes. His consistency and field-flipping ability have been a quiet strength for Detroit all year.
Elsewhere, the Lions have a trio of players sitting at No. 3 in their respective positions: offensive tackle Penei Sewell, edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, and safety Brian Branch. Branch, however, is unlikely to suit up for the Pro Bowl due to a torn Achilles, a tough break for a player who was having a standout season before the injury.
Center Graham Glasgow continues to hold at No. 7, while injured safety Kerby Joseph slipped to No. 4. Tight end Sam LaPorta, also dealing with injury, has fallen out of the top ten altogether at his position.
On the rise this week? Quarterback Jared Goff, who jumped from 10th to 8th among all QBs and now ranks fifth among NFC signal-callers.
Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown also moved back up to No. 4 after dipping to fifth the previous week.
But perhaps the biggest omission-again-is Jameson Williams.
Despite a red-hot stretch that’s seen him become one of Goff’s go-to targets, Williams remains outside the top ten in fan voting for wide receivers. Since fan voting opened on Thanksgiving, Williams has caught 21 passes for 374 yards-numbers that stack up impressively against some of the league’s most hyped young receivers. For comparison, Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was once on pace to challenge Calvin Johnson’s single-season yardage record, has 16 catches for 228 yards over the same span.
Williams now sits at 936 receiving yards on the season, good for 10th in the league. His seven touchdown receptions are tied for eighth. And yet, he trails behind several NFC receivers in fan voting-Romeo Doubs, Emeka Egbuka, and Tetairoa McMillian among them-despite outperforming them statistically.
The reality is, with the seasons that St. Brown, Smith-Njigba, Rams rookie Puka Nacua, and Dallas’ George Pickens are having, the four WR spots were always going to be tough to crack.
But Williams’ late-season surge has made a compelling case that he belongs in the conversation. Whether or not the fans recognized it, there’s still hope: Pro Bowl rosters are determined by a combination of fan, player, and coach voting, with each group carrying equal weight.
Williams could still earn his way in through respect from his peers and coaches across the league.
The full Pro Bowl roster is expected shortly after New Year’s Day. From there, players who reach the Super Bowl or opt out of the Pro Bowl Games will be replaced by alternates. And yes, alternates do officially earn the Pro Bowl designation on their résumé.
But let’s be honest-if you’re a Lions fan, you’re hoping Campbell, Goff, Williams, and company make it... and then don’t play. Because that would mean they’ve got bigger plans in February.