2012 All-Pro Team « Sports Righting

Earlier this week I posted a short article on the 2012 NFL All-Pro team and how many stars they had from Scout and Rivals coming out of high school. It had such a positive response that I decided to do the same thing with the 2011 NFL All-Pro team and compare them to the 2012 All-Pro team.

So here’s the 2011 NFL All-Pro Team and how many stars (the star counts are now hyperlinked to their recruiting profiles) they had from Scout and Rivals coming out of high school (players that graduated high school before 2002 are not in the database):

Position	Player	Scout	Rivals
QB	Aaron Rodgers	–	–
RB	Maurice Jones-Drew	4	4
RB	LeSean McCoy	5	4
FB	Vonta Leach	–	–
WR	Calvin Johnson	5	4
WR	Wes Welker	–	–
TE	Rob Gronkowski	4	4
OT	Jason Peters	–	–
OT	Joe Thomas	NR	4
G	Carl Nicks	–	–
G	Jahari Evans	–	–
C	Maurkice Pouncey	4	4
DE	Jared Allen	–	–
DE	Jason Pierre-Paul	5	4
DT	Haloti Ngata	5	5
DT	Justin Smith	–	–
OLB	Terrell Suggs	–	–
OLB	DeMarcus Ware	–	–
ILB	NaVorro Bowman	4	4
ILB	Patrick Willis	2	3
ILB	Derrick Johnson	–	–
CB	Charles Woodson	–	–
CB	Darrelle Revis	3	3
S	Troy Polamalu	–	–
S	Eric Weddle	2	2
KR	Patrick Peterson	5	5

And here’s the All-Pro team’s broken down by star and year (Scout’s stars and Rivals’ stars are averaged):

Stars	2011	2012
5	2	1
4.5	4	1
4	4	4
3.5	0	3
3	1	3
2.5	1	2
2	1	4
Total	13	18
Out of	26	25

While only 13 players from the 2011 All-Pro team were in the database, they still managed to produce 10 players 4-stars or higher. In contrast, the 2012 team had 18 players, but only managed 6 players 4-stars or higher.

But the real story in all of this? Rob Gronkowski.

Dumbfounded doesn’t even begin to describe whatever is going on up there. And keep in mind, that guy—yes, that guy—was just offered $3.75M to be in an “adult film.”

————

By: Tyler Raborn

Earlier today, J.J. Watt tweeted this motivational tweet:

The All-Pro defensive end makes a good point— a player’s college or pro football success doesn’t depend on how highly touted a player is coming out of high school. Hard work, good coaching, and a few lucky breaks significantly weigh into a recruit’s eventual performance on the field.

For proof, just look at the 2012 NFL All-Pro Team and how many stars they had from Scout and Rivals coming out of high school (players that graduated high school before 2002 are not in the database):

Position	Player	Scout	Rivals
QB	Peyton Manning	–	–
RB	Adrian Peterson	5	5
RB	Marshawn Lynch	4	4
FB	Vonta Leach	–	–
WR	Calvin Johnson	5	4
WR	Brandon Marshall	–	–
TE	Tony Gonzalez	–	–
OT	Duane Brown	3	3
OT	Ryan Clady	2	2
G	Mike Iupati	2	2
G	Jahari Evans	–	–
C	Max Unger	2	3
DE	J.J. Watt	2	2
DE	Cameron Wake	–	–
DT	Geno Atkins	3	4
DT	Vince Wilfork	–	–
OLB	Von Miller	4	4
OLB	Aldon Smith	3	3
ILB	NaVorro Bowman	4	4
ILB	Patrick Willis	2	3
CB	Richard Sherman	3	3
CB	Charles Tillman	–	–
S	Earl Thomas	4	4
S	Dashon Goldson	3	4
KR	Jacoby Jones	2	2

So, more than likely, there’s a 2-star player signing somewhere today with little to no media attention that will one day be an All-Pro NFL player.

————

By: Tyler Raborn