Doing the all decade top 10 player lists made me realize how many good players the Saints had that never made the Pro Bowl. That’s the curse of playing for a team in a small market that lacks national exposure. Some of these are real head scratchers. But these guys were great players and deserve their due.
1. Marques Colston, WR, 2006-2015: I actually concluded based on extensive research that Colston was a top 5 player in NFL history to never make a Pro Bowl. In 2007, Colston had 98 catches for 1,202 yards and 11 touchdowns for crying out loud. That year he was 2nd in the NFC in receptions, 3rd in receiving yards and 4th in touchdowns. Guys who did make the Pro Bowl that year? Torry Holt had 93 catches, 1,189 yards, 9 touchdowns, Donald Driver had 82 catches, 1,048 yards, 2 touchdowns. Both had less catches, less yards and less touchdowns than Colston. In his 10 years in the league he was over 1,000 six times, over 900 yards twice, and never had less than 5 touchdowns scored in a season until last year (4). It’s criminal by any standard.
2. Stan Brock, T, 1980-1992: Brock was a really really good player. He played 186 games for the Saints and I can probably count on one hand the number of times I saw him make mistakes. It’s shocking that he never made it to the Pro Bowl because in his prime as he was definitely an elite tackle. He was also very consistent and durable throughout his time with the Saints.
3. Johnnie Poe, CB, 1981-1987: In 1983 he had 7 interceptions. The three corners that made it in the NFC Pro Bowl had 4, 4 and 3 respectively.
4. Jim Dombrowski, G, 1986-1996: Played with Brock for a long time and together with center Joel Hilgenberg this formed a really solid line. Hilgenberg made one Pro Bowl, funny enough, but Dombrowksi and Brock were the better players of the three in my opinion. It’s hard to quantify just how good an offensive lineman is compared to another, all I can tell you is I watched him play and he was very good.
5. Derland Moore, DT, 1973-1985: Sacks wasn’t an officially kept statistic until 1982, which is a big bummer for Moore because he probably had double digits or close in a couple seasons. He would definitely be in the all time leader board if they tracked that stat in the 70s. I wish they could go back and figure that out. Moore was one of the best defensive linemen in team history. He did have 6 sacks in 1983 in the twilight of his career.
6. Gene Atkins, S, 1987-1993: One of the hardest hitters to ever play on the Saints. A good playmaker too, though. If he was ever going to make it, 1991 was the year. He had 5 interceptions, 198 return yards, 4 forced fumbles, 2 recoveries, 3 sacks and 75 tackles. Meanwhile, Shaun Gayle of the Bears made the Pro Bowl with 1 interception, no sacks, 67 tackles and 1 forced fumble. Ridiculous.
7. Frank Warren, DE, 1981-1994: Warren’s 52.5 career sacks are 5th in team history. He sustained a high quality ability of rushing the passer for a really long time. He never had a double digit sack season, though, which is probably why he never made it. He was consistently around 5, 6, 7 every season. His best year was 1989 when he had 9.5 sacks. The guys making the Pro Bowl at DE that year had 12 sacks at worst. So he probably didn’t deserve a Pro Bowl, but he came close and he was a very good player.
8. Jim Wilks, DT, 1981-1993: He played alongside Warren and they always made a terrific tandem. Wilks was an interior rusher but he produced a high volume of sacks too. His 45.5 career sacks are 8th in team history. His most productive season was 1983 when he had 8 sacks. Dave Butz of the Redskins made the Pro Bowl with 11.5 sacks that year.
9. John Hill, C, 1975-1984: He was in the era before Brock/Dombrowski/Hilgenberg, although there was a little overlap with Brock. At the time Hill was a terrific leader and top notch center in the league. The teams he played on were so bad, though, no one was ever paying attention.
10. Reggie Bush, RB, 2006-2010: In his rookie season he had 88 catches. But it wasn’t as a running back that I thought he deserved a Pro Bowl spot. It was as a returner. In 2008 Bush ran back 3 punts for touchdowns. Clifton Smith of the Bucs got the nod, probably because he returned both kicks and punts, but he only had 2 returns for touchdowns despite getting double duty and way more reps than Bush.
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