Britain Covey was snubbed from the NFL’s Pro Bowl roster even though the former University of Utah receiver leads the NFL in punt return yards this season.
Rashid Shaheed, a Weber State product, took the NFC’s return specialist spot in the Pro Bowl, while Marvin Mims Jr. got selected in the AFC.
Covey still holds the title of the league’s top punt returner despite not returning any punts Sunday in the Eagles Week 17 game against the Cardinals.
Because the Cardinals didn’t punt the entire game, Covey didn’t have a chance to build on his success from the week before.
During the Eagles’ Dec. 25 game against the New York Giants, he had his best return of the season and of his career so far. He returned a punt for 54 yards and also caught his first NFL pass, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Covey has racked up 409 punt return yards on 28 returns in 15 games this season, according to Fox Sports. He leads the Los Angeles Chargers’ Derius Davis by 24 yards and averages 14.6 yards per return.
Covey has already surpassed his total from last season, which was 308 yards on 33 returns according to NFL.com.
Did Britain Covey deserve to be a Pro Bowler?
After Covey’s electrifying punt return on Christmas, his head coach Nick Sirianni urged fans and the media to vote the second-year player into his first Pro Bowl.
“Vote for that guy (for the Pro Bowl),” he said, per NBCS Philadelphia’s John Clark. “Who is returning the ball better than him? Who is a better punt returner in the NFL than Britain Covey? He changes games. That first one after the defense gets a big stop and then Britain coming and doing what he did, he’s a special returner. He has turned himself into a very special football player who’s a weapon for us. Philadelphia, get out there and vote for Britain Covey for Pro Bowl, because I haven’t seen anybody play better than him and return the ball better than him. He’s a stud.”
But Sirianni’s plea wasn’t enough to garner enough votes from the fans, who make up a third of the votes.
Despite his success this season, Covey didn’t even finish in the top 10 of fan votes for the Pro Bowl, according to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport.
The return specialists that finished in the top 10 of fan voting were:
- Braxton Berrios, Miami Dolphins.
- Ray-Ray McCloud, San Francisco 49ers.
- Keisean Nixon, Green Bay Packers.
- Rashid Shaheed, New Orleans Saints.
- Xavier Gipson, New York Jets.
- Devin Duvernay, Baltimore Ravens.
- Kadarius Toney, Kansas City Chiefs.
- KaVontae Turpin, Dallas Cowboys.
- Derius Davis, Los Angeles Chargers.
- Deven Thompkins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Any love from coaches or his fellow players, who voted after fan voting closed on Christmas, wasn’t enough to make up the difference. He even finished behind Kadarius Toney, whose infamous offsides penalty last month cost the Chiefs a game-winning touchdown against the Bills.
A full list of player who made the AFC and NFC rosters for the Pro Bowl can be found on NFL.com.
Why didn’t Britain Covey make the Pro Bowl?
Covey’s lack of a role in the Eagles’ kick return game may have hindered his Pro Bowl chances. The Pro Bowl lumps both kick and punt returners into one position: return specialist.
And Covey has returned only one kickoff — for 30 yards — this season. This put him at a stark disadvantage to players like Shaheed, who has 705 combined kick and punt return yards.
The disadvantage isn’t Covey’s fault. The Eagles have had six players return kickoffs in 2023, but only one, Boston Scott, has returned more than one. The team has only had 11 kickoff returns this season.