Michael Pierce:
NOSE TACKLES ARE PEOPLE, TOO!
I will continue to be the loudest advocate for the NFL to add a nose tackle spot to the Pro Bowl roster for the most slept on players in the league. Yes, it makes players like Haloti Ngata (hello!) and Vince Wilfork that much more impressive in hindsight that they had Pro Bowl appearances as nose tackles, but nonetheless more often than not these men get overlooked.
Year in and year out, the league’s most elite gap eaters get cheated out of deserving Pro Bowl spots. Detroit Lions nose tackle Damon Harrison has had enough:
Still no pro bowl 🤷🏾♂️ what y’all really want from me
— Billy (@snacks) December 18, 2018
“Snacks” has perhaps been the best nose tackle in the league for the past decade, yet has no Pro Bowl nods to his name. That’s OK though, because he’s not alone.
For years, Ravens Flock has clamored for Brandon Williams to get into the Pro Bowl, and he still should. However, there’s a new face on the Baltimore Ravens defensive line who’s even more deserving than Williams: Michael Pierce.
Pierce isn’t a great pass rusher, but he is a monster lining-up over the center. Pierce simply doesn’t get moved off his spot and dominates the trenches. It’s a wonder how he went undrafted out of Samford in 2016, because this kid is all-world talented. But, in an NFL dominated by Fantasy Football and stat fanatics, nose tackles simply don’t get love because they aren’t getting the digits that guys like Geno Atkins are (and no, I’m not saying Atkins is undeserving).
It’s hard to rack up sacks when you’re 330+lbs. and do more work taking out blockers than recording stats. Maybe one day the NFL will be more accepting to the nose tackle spot and give them its own Pro Bowl voting selection. Regardless, something has to change because this is entirely unacceptable.