Budda Baker, Chandler Jones lead Cardinals’ 4 Pro Bowlers, 9 alternates

Four Arizona Cardinals were named to the 2022 Pro Bowl on Wednesday.

The four players named to the NFC squad were safety Budda Baker, running back James Conner, linebacker Chandler Jones and quarterback Kyler Murray.

Baker and Jones were the only two players on the team selected to start in the game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Feb. 6.

Additionally, nine Cardinals were chosen as alternates in case an NFC starter in their respective position is unable to play due to injury or Super Bowl LVI preparations.

Those players feature the likes of wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, tight end Zach Ertz, center Rodney Hudson, offensive tackle D.J. Humphries, guard Max Garcia, linebacker Markus Golden, cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., kicker Matt Prater and punter Andy Lee.

Baker will be heading to his fourth Pro Bowl and third consecutive as a safety after being selected as a special teamer during his rookie season in 2017. He joins Patrick Peterson (five), Ollie Matson (five) and our own Ron Wolfley (four) as the only players in franchise history to receive at least four Pro Bowl nods within their first five years in the NFL.

The safety is top-seven in the league with 75 tackles this year while posting a career-high three interceptions. And since becoming a full starter in 2018, Baker leads all NFL defensive backs with 444 total tackles (322 solo).

Conner will be heading to the Pro Bowl for just the second time in his career and his first while in Arizona. In fact, the running back is the fifth Cardinal in the general manager Steve Keim era to have been selected after DeAndre Hopkins (2020), Budda Baker (2017), Mike Iupati (2015) and John Abraham (2013).

The 26-year-old RB is currently tied for the third-most touchdowns in the league this year with 16 total and is second in the NFL with 14 rushing scores.

Jones will be going to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time in his career and third as a Cardinal, continuing his streak of being selected only on odd-numbered years since 2015.

In addition to posting a career-high and matching a Cardinals single-game record of five sacks in Week 1, the 31-year-old pass-rusher set the franchise record for sacks earlier this season when he picked up No. 67 to pass the late Freddie Joe Nunn’s 66.5.

Murray is the first quarterback in franchise history to be named to two Pro Bowls within his first three seasons. The 24-year-old signal-caller also joins Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers as the only three QBs to be selected to each of the last two Pro Bowls.

This season, Murray ranks second in the NFL in completion percentage (69.8%), passing yards per attempt (8.4) and games with at least a 120.0 passer rating (five). He is currently on pace to break his own single-season franchise record of a 67.2% completion percentage last year.

Murray is also tied with Kurt Warner for the Cardinals’ record for the most games with at least a 120.0 passer rating in a season (five), as well as for the most career games with at least a 70% completion percentage (15). Six of those 15 have come this season with three games still left on the 2021 regular-season docket.

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