Quarterback Lamar Jackson and six other Ravens have been named to the Pro Bowl, including four first-time honorees and kicker Justin Tucker, honored for the seventh time.
Inside linebacker Roquan Smith earned his second consecutive selection, while the first-time Pro Bowl picks include defensive lineman Justin Madubuike, inside linebacker Patrick Queen and 2022 first-round picks safety Kyle Hamilton and center Tyler Linderbaum.
The NFL no longer holds a traditional Pro Bowl game, instead hosting a series of events and skills competitions folded into the “Pro Bowl Games,” culminating with a flag football game on Sunday, Feb. 4.
Tucker, Hamilton and Smith were named AFC starters for the Pro Bowl Games.
The San Francisco 49ers led all teams with nine Pro Bowl selections, while the Ravens and Dallas Cowboys had seven each.
Jackson is the favorite to win the league’s Most Valuable Player Award for the second time after leading the Ravens to a 13-3 record and No. 1 overall seed in the AFC. The Ravens have announced that he won’t play in the regular-season finale against Pittsburgh, and he finishes his season 307-for-457 for 3,678 yards, all career highs. His completion percentage of 67.2 percent is also the best of his career.
Smith and Queen gave the Ravens a clean sweep of the AFC’s inside linebacker spots for the Pro Bowl, and it’s an especially rewarding honor for Queen, a 2020 first-round pick who was told before the season that the team wouldn’t be picking up his fifth-year option.
Queen never pouted about the decision, and he has excelled since the start of training camp. He has a career-high 125 tackles, 3.5 sacks, one interception and six passes defensed.
Smith leads the Ravens with 158 tackles and is the unquestioned leader of the Ravens’ defense, and the inside linebacker duo of Smith and Queen has been at the heart of a defense that ranks No. 4 overall and No. 1 in scoring defense.
Smith has made the Pro Bowl in both seasons since the Ravens acquired him in a 2022 midseason trade from the Chicago Bears, a deal that head coach John Harbaugh has called “one of the all-time great trades that we’ve made.”
Like Queen, Madubuike is in a contract year and is sure to cash in after what has been a record-breaking season. The 2020 third-round pick has 13 sacks, the most among interior defensive linemen, and tied an NFL record by recording at least a half-sack in 11 straight games. He has also set career highs in total tackles (54) and quarterback hits (32).
Hamilton and Linderbaum have quickly established themselves as the centerpieces of the Ravens’ 2022 draft class. Each earned Pro Bowl recognition in Year Two. Hamilton, at age 22, ties tight end Todd Heap as the youngest Pro Bowl pick in team history.
The No. 14 overall pick in 2022, Hamilton has cemented himself as one of the cornerstones of the Ravens’ defense, using his 6-foot-4 frame and physicality to disrupt offenses as a traditional safety or as a slot defender. The Notre Dame product has 10 tackles for loss, the most ever by a Ravens defensive back. He also has 13 passes defensed, four interceptions — one of which he returned for a touchdown — and three sacks, all of which came against Indianapolis. He ranks third on the team with 81 tackles.
Linderbaum has quickly validated the Ravens’ decision to make him the first center they have ever selected in the first round. Acquired with an extra first-round pick after trading wide receiver Marquise Brown, Linderbaum immediately became a hard-nosed, physical anchor in the middle of the Ravens’ line. This season, the Ravens’ offense ranks No. 4 overall and No. 1 in rushing, averaging 159.7 rushing yards per game.
With his seven Pro Bowl awards, Tucker ties Terrell Suggs for the fifth most in franchise history. Ray Lewis (13) and Jonathan Ogden (11) top the list, followed by Ed Reed (9) and Marshal Yanda (8).
Tucker this year has made 31 of 36 field goals with a long of 50. All but one of his misses have come from at least 53 yards. His career field-goal percentage of .902 (394-for-437) is the best in NFL history. Tucker is also 50-for-51 on extra-point kicks this year and has set a franchise record with 143 points — one more than he totaled last season.
Tucker joins Morten Andersen as the only seven-time Pro Bowl kickers.
In statements released by the team, Ravens honored for the Pro Bowl expressed gratitude to coaches and teammates for helping them get there, but several of them noted that they have their eyes on a bigger prize.
“It’s an honor to be voted into the Pro Bowl,” Smith said. “I’m very grateful for my teammates and coaches. … My plan, though, is not to be playing in the game, because I want to be in the Big Dance.”
Hamilton echoed those comments.
“It’s kind of surreal,” he said. “I don’t think it has settled in yet. I have to be thankful for where I’m at and for all the people who got me here. … Obviously, we want to be playing in the Super Bowl, but I’m blessed either way, just to be selected.”
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