Three Packers Named To The Pro Bowl: Rodgers, Matthews, and Jeff Saturday?

QB Aaron Rodgers' 2012 season isn't as good as was when he won the MVP, and LB Clay Matthews isn't playing as well as he did in 2010 when he finished second in the voting for defensive player of the year, but both of them are playing great and deserve to be named to the Pro Bowl.

QB Aaron Rodgers, LB Clay Matthews and C Jeff Saturday were named to the Pro Bowl by @nfl: pckrs.com/9np7
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 27, 2012

Last week, Bill Barnwell wrote an article at Grantland about who should make the Pro Bowl. What he said about the selection last year of Broncos LT Ryan Clady sums up why C Jeff Saturday was named to the team:

He made the Pro Bowl last year because nobody who votes on the Pro Bowl actually watches offensive linemen.

Saturday didn't deserve to make the Pro Bowl, but name recognition is just as important as anything else, so his selection is business as usual when it comes to the NFL's annual beauty pageant.

For the purests out there, who'd like to see the voters actually select the best player at each position, take heart in the fact that Saturday was voted in as a backup. The starter is Seattle's center Max Unger, who actually deserves a trip to Hawaii and might have played his best game of the season last week when the Seahawks' offensive line demolished the 49ers' defense.

The backup nod probably should have gone to Vikings C John Sullivan, who's great at attacking the second level, which is what I look for in a standout center.