Why should the Associated Press re-examine the makeup of its All-Pro team? Primarily because fullbacks are guaranteed a first-team All-Pro spot, even though they’re part-time players.
This year, the first-team All-Pro fullback is Mike Tolbert of the Carolina Panthers. But Tolbert was only in the starting lineup for three games in the 2015 season, and he played just 38.3 percent of the Panthers’ offensive snaps. That’s by far the fewest snaps of anyone named first-team All-Pro.
In fact, the All-Pro teams are so heavily skewed toward old-school run-heavy formations of the 1940s that the three first-team All-Pros who played the fewest snaps are the fullback and the two running backs: After Tolbert, running back Doug Martin played the second-fewest snaps of any first-team All-Pro, and the other running back, Adrian Peterson, played the third-fewest snaps of any first-team All-Pro.
It just doesn’t make sense to guarantee three All-Pro spots for two running backs and one fullback, in a league when it’s far more common to see three receivers or two tight ends. The All-Pro teams should accurately reflect the way NFL teams line up, and fullbacks just aren’t full-time players anymore.
Here’s the full list of first-team All-Pros, ranked in order of their snap count percentage:
100% OT Joe Thomas
100% G David DeCastro
99.8% G Marshall Yanda
97.7% QB Cam Newton
97.0% OT Andrew Whitworth
96.5% CB Josh Norman
96.5% ILB NaVorro Bowman
96.2% DE J.J. Watt
95.7% WR Antonio Brown
94.9% S Eric Berry
94.6% CB Patrick Peterson
91.2% OLB Thomas Davis
90.7% C Ryan Kalil
87.1% OLB/DE Khalil Mack
85.1% WR Julio Jones
84.6% S Tyrann Mathieu
84.0% TE Rob Gronkowski
78.9% DT Aaron Donald
72.4% DT Geno Atkins
69.7% ILB Luke Kuechly
65.1% RB Adrian Peterson
56.8% RB Doug Martin
38.3% FB Mike Tolbert