Seven members of the Oakland Raiders have been selected to represent the AFC in the 2017 Pro Bowl, the league announced Tuesday evening. Conversely, zero members of the San Francisco 49ers (1-13) were selected to the NFC team.
Five members of the Raiders’ sixth ranked offense, including three members of the offensive line, were named to the team with Amari Cooper (wide receiver), Donald Penn (offensive tackle), Kelechi Osemele (offensive guard), Rodney Hudson (center) and Derek Carr (quarterback) all selected.
Defensive player of the year candidate Khalil Mack (defensive end) and safety Reggie Nelson were Oakland’s standouts on the other side of the ball to earn the trip to Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 29, 2017.
This is the first Pro Bowl selection for Osemele and Hudson, while the rest of the Oakland honorees have been selected once before.
There is still a possibility that a member of the 49ers could be eventually named as an alternate, depending on how many players drop out and elect not to make the trip for the NFC team.
The 49ers sent two players to the Pro Bowl last season in Joe Staley (offensive tackle) and Navarro Bowman (linebacker). Bowman’s season ended in early October when he sustained a ruptured left Achilles tendon against the Cowboys. Staley missed the first game of his nine-year career two weeks ago against the Jets and was also sidelined in last week’s loss to Atlanta with a hamstring injury.
The Raiders haven’t sent at least seven players to the Pro Bowl in a single season since 1991 when eight were selected.