Michael Irvin knows a thing or two about catching passes.
The five-time Pro Bowl receiver with the Dallas Cowboys assembled an impressive group of pass-catchers on his team for today’s NFL Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium.
All four receivers he drafted Wednesday finished in the top eight in the NFL this season in yards. Atlanta Falcons wideout Julio Jones led the league with 1,871 yards, and his 136 receptions were matched only by Antonio Brown, who didn’t make the trip to Hawaii.
Team Irvin also has Jacksonville’s Allen Robinson, whose 14 touchdowns tied for the league lead, to go along with Houston’s DeAndre Hopkins, third in the league with 1,521 receiving yards, and Cincinnati’s A.J. Green.
Of course, to catch the ball, they need someone to throw it first.
Irvin took care of that with his No. 1 pick in Wednesday’s Pro Bowl draft when he selected Seattle’s Russell Wilson, who became the only player in NFL history this season to have five straight games with at least three touchdown passes and no interceptions.
Wilson’s only other Pro Bowl appearance was in 2013 as a rookie, when he threw three touchdown passes in the third quarter to help the NFC win 62-35.
Team Irvin is set up to throw the ball all over the field, especially with tight ends Delanie Walker and Tyler Eifert. Walker led all tight ends with 94 receptions this season while playing with Marcus Mariota in Tennessee. Eifert’s 13 touchdowns led the league at his position.
If the plan is to throw the ball all game, Irvin also helped his cause by drafting defensive ends Ezekiel Ansah of Detroit and Cincinnati’s Carlos Dunlap.
Ansah and Dunlap finished third and fourth in the league among defensive ends with 14.5 and 13.5 sacks.
Better to have those guys on your team than worrying about them on the other side.
MICHAEL’S DRAFT BOARD
