Four New Orleans Saints were voted to the Pro Bowl, the NFL announced Wednesday evening. defensive back J.T. Gray (special teams starter), defensive end Cameron Jordan, running back Alvin Kamara and cornerback Marshon Lattimore were selected to the NFC squad to play in the NFL's All-Star game, which will be held on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. It marks the 14th consecutive season that the club has at least one Pro Bowl selection.
Gray, was originally signed by New Orleans as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State in 2018. This is his first Pro Bowl selection as he set a career-high with 17 special teams tackles (NFL-best 14 solo) to lead the entire league through the first 15 games. Voted by his teammates as the club's special teams captain at the start of the season, Gray has appeared in 51 regular season games since 2018, posting 40 stops, a blocked punt and a fumble recovery. Gray is the first Saints non-specialist special teams player to be voted to the Pro Bowl since fellow Mississippi native and current Vice President of Player Development Fred McAfee (2002). Gray is coming off a stretch where he has recorded 10 stops in the last six games, at least one in each, including a career-high four in the team's Dec. 12 win at the New York Jets.
This is Jordan's seventh Pro Bowl, the most selections for a defensive player in club history, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Rickey Jackson's six. In 13 games, all starts, Jordan has recorded 42 tackles (27 solo) to lead the defensive line, six sacks for a loss of 37 yards, four passes defensed and a team-leading two forced fumbles. The team's first round pick (24th overall) out of the University of California in 2011, Jordan is coming off a standout performance on "Sunday Night Football" in the team's 9-0 shutout win, recording five solo tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, three quarterback hits and a forced fumble of Tom Brady on a run play recovered by Lattimore. With the two takedowns, Jordan now has 100.5 career sacks, reaching the century mark and moving into a tie for 34th place all-time in takedowns.
In 11 seasons, Jordan has appeared in 173 games with 172 starts. He missed his first career game on Dec. 12, while on the Reserve-Covid-19 list, snapping his streak of 172 consecutive appearances, what was the longest total by a position player and 171 straight starts, which was also the longest in the league among all players. The Chandler, Ariz., native has posted career totals of 650 tackles (408 solo), 100.5 sacks for losses of 665.5 yards, two interceptions, 56 passes defensed, 13 forced fumbles and 10 fumble recoveries. His takedown total is ranked second in club record books behind Jackson.
Kamara is a five-year NFL veteran who was selected in the third round (67th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Saints out of the University of Tennessee. In 2021, Kamara has played in 10 games with eight starts and leads the Saints in rushing and receiving for the second consecutive season with 184 carries for 668 yards with four touchdowns, to go with 38 grabs for 348 yards and four touchdowns. Kamara leads the team in total yards from scrimmage (1,015) and total touchdowns (eight). In five seasons, he has appeared in 70 regular season games with 43 starts, rushing for 4,008 yards on 668 attempts (4.7 avg.) with 47 touchdowns and has posted 348 receptions for 3,172 yards with 19 touchdowns. Kamara's 7,180 total yards from scrimmage since entering the league ranks second over that period. With 67 total touchdowns (47 rushing, 19 receiving and one kickoff return), Kamara is five scores from tying the franchise record. The Atlanta native is the only Saint to be named to the Pro Bowl in each of his first five NFL seasons.
Lattimore is the first Saints defensive back to be selected to the Pro Bowl four times, having started all 13 games he's played in this season and recording 59 tackles, two interceptions, leading the NFL with 18 passes defensed and adding a fumble recovery on Sunday night at Tampa Bay to tie for the team-lead in takeaways (three). Lattimore, a first round draft pick of the Saints in 2017 out of Ohio State (11th overall), is often assigned with covering an opponent's top wideout. He has opened all 70 games he has appeared in and has 289 career tackles (239 solo), 12 interceptions returned for 133 yards, five forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and 73 passes defensed, the highest total by an NFL defender since he entered the league in 2017.
