Six Saints named to 2018 Pro Bowl

Six New Orleans Saints were voted to the Pro Bowl, the National Football League announced Tuesday evening. quarterback Drew Brees, running back Mark Ingram, defensive end Cameron Jordan, running back Alvin Kamara, cornerback Marshon Lattimore and wide receiver Michael Thomas were selected to play in the NFL’s All-Star game, which will be held on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.

This marks the fifth time that at least six Saints have been selected to the Pro Bowl. Seven Saints were selected from the Super Bowl XLIV championship squad. It also marks the 10 consecutive season that the club has at least one Pro Bowl selection.

It is Brees’ 11th Pro Bowl selection overall in his 17-year NFL career and his club-record 10th as a member of the Saints. In 2017, he has started all 14 games and completed 343-of-478 passes (71.8 percent) for 3,850 yards with 21 touchdowns and a 104.0 passer rating, ranked first in the league in passing yardage and touchdown passes. He is ranked first in the NFL in completion percentage, second in completions, third in passer rating and fourth quarter passer rating (116.7) and fourth in passing yardage.

Brees, a former Purdue standout who originally entered the NFL as a second round draft pick of the San Diego Chargers in 2001 (32nd overall), before signing with the Saints as an unrestricted free agent in 2006, has played in 247 career games (246 starts) and has completed 6,179-of-9,236 passes (66.9 percent) for 69,961 yards, 486 touchdowns and a 96.7 rating. He is the NFL’s all-time most accurate passer, ranked second in completions, third in passing yardage and touchdown passes and has the sixth-highest passer rating.

Ingram was selected to the second Pro Bowl of his seven-year NFL career. Through the first 14 games, he ranks fifth in the NFL (and second in the NFC) in total yards from scrimmage with 1,420 (1,045 rushing and 375 receiving). On Sunday vs. the New York Jets, he became only the third Saint to rush for 1,000 yards in two consecutive seasons. Overall, Ingram has carried 204 times for 1,045 yards (5.1 avg.) with 11 touchdowns and has also made 51 receptions for 375 yards (7.4 avg.). Ingram has set career-highs in rushing yardage, for which he’s ranked sixth in the league, total yards from scrimmage, rushing touchdowns, for which he’s tied for second and total touchdowns.

Originally selected by the Saints in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft (28th overall) out of Alabama, where he was the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner, Ingram has played in 92 career games and has carried 1,157 times for 5,283 yards (4.6 avg.) with 43 touchdowns and has also grabbed 200 passes for 1,387 yards with four touchdowns. Ingram is ranked second in the club record books in rushing yards, yards per carry and rushing touchdowns. He joins George Rogers (1981-82), Rueben Mayes (1986-87) and Deuce McAllister (2002-03) as only the fourth Saints running back to be selected twice.

This is Jordan’s third Pro Bowl, the most selections in franchise history for a defensive end. Jordan has enjoyed a standout season, starting all 14 games and recording 55 tackles (41 solo), 14 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, one interception return in the end zone for a touchdown, 11 passes defensed and two forced fumbles. The former University of California standout, who was the club’s first draft choice in 2011 (24th overall), is tied for 10th in the NFL in quarterback takedowns and ranked first among defensive linemen in passes defensed.

In seven seasons, Jordan has appeared in all 110 games with 109 starts, including opening 95 consecutive games, the longest active consecutive games started streak by an NFL defensive lineman and has posted career totals of 449 tackles (270 solo), 56.5 sacks for losses of 504.5 yards, two interceptions, 40 passes defensed, nine forced fumbles and eight fumble recoveries.

Kamara and Lattimore have been significant contributors to a rookie class, as only five Saints rookies before them (K Tom Dempsey in 1969, RB George Rogers in 1981, P Brian Hansen in 1984, RB Rueben Mayes in 1986 and ST Tyrone Hughes in 1993) have been selected to the Pro Bowl. They are the first Saints to be selected to the Pro Bowl as rookies since Sean Payton was hired as head coach in 2006. They are the first Saints rookie duo to be selected in the same season as well.

Selected in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Tennessee (67th overall), Kamara ranks seventh in the NFL in total yards from scrimmage (1,336), as he has carried 99 times for 652 yards (6.6 avg.) with seven touchdowns and one two-point conversion, while catching 68 passes for 684 yards (10.1 avg.) with five touchdowns for a club-best 12 total scores, which is tied for second in the NFL. Kamara is ranked first in the league in yards per carry.

Kamara and his teammate Ingram are the first tailback duo to be selected to the Pro Bowl since the St. Louis Cardinals’ Jim Otis and Terry Metcalf in 1975 (the Tampa Bay duo of Warrick Dunn and Mike Alstott were selected in 1997 and 2000 with Dunn as a running back and Alstott as a fullback). Together, Ingram and Kamara have combined for 2,756 total yards from scrimmage, the sixth-highest total since the NFL adopted a 16-game schedule in 1978.

Lattimore, the 11th overall pick by the Saints out of Ohio State, has enjoyed a standout season as he is the only the fourth cornerback in franchise history to be selected to the Pro Bowl and the first since Eric Allen in 1995. At 21 years old, he is the club’s youngest selection in franchise history. The Cleveland native has started all 11 games he has played in and has posted 44 tackles (36 solo), a club-best four interception returns for 85 yards with one returned for a touchdown, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Lattimore’s four picks are tied for first among NFL rookies.

Thomas is the first Saints wide receiver to be selected to the Pro Bowl since Joe Horn in 2004 and the first since Payton was hired as head coach of New Orleans as well. A second-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft (47th overall) out of Ohio State, Thomas has followed up a standout rookie season with a second campaign where he ranks third in the NFL in receiving, recording 94 receptions for 1,085 yards and five touchdowns.

As an offensive trio in Ingram, Kamara and Thomas, the Saints are the only team with three players having 1,000 total yards from scrimmage, while it marks the third time in Saints history that three players have reached the 1,000-yard mark in the same season.