News: BTB: Pro Bowl Rosters 2017: Record Pro Bowl Haul For The Dallas Cowboys Tonight?

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The Cowboys led all teams in the fan vote, will they also lead all teams once the NFL players and coaches votes are tallied tonight?

The NFL will announce the 2017 Pro Bowl players tonight at 8pm ET on NFLN and NFL.com.

The Pro Bowl players are determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches, with each group’s vote counting one-third toward determining the All-Star players.

In an important change from previous years, the 2017 Pro Bowl will feature a return to the traditional AFC vs. NFC game format following three years using a revised, "unconferenced" format. The NFL's best will once again be in the spotlight as 88 players -- 44 from the AFC and 44 from the NFC -- are determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches.

Earlier this month the NFL announced the interim results of the fan vote, which saw 14 Dallas Cowboys players rank in the Top 5 at their respective positions, according to data from the NFL. Here's the full table of all 14 Cowboys, where they rank at their positions in the NFC, and how many Pro Bowl berths are available for that specific position in the NFC Pro Bowl team.

COWBOYS PRO BOWL FAN VOTE LEADERS
Player​

Position​

Votes​

NFC Position Rank
Avail. NFC Berths
Elliott, Ezekiel​

RB​

681,361​

1​

3
Prescott, Dak​

QB​

607,621​

1​

3
Smith, Tyron​

OT​

252,590​

1​

3
Frederick, Travis​

OC​

249,976​

1​

2
Bailey, Dan​

K​

130,954​

1​

1
Lee, Sean​

OLB​

166,579​

1​

2
Jones, Chris​

P​

70,331​

1​

1
Martin, Zack​

OG​

222,470​

2​

3
Free, Doug​

OT​

183,210​

2​

3
Heath, Jeff​

ST​

68,518​

2​

1
Whitehead, Lucky​

KR​

63,810​

2​

1
Leary, Ronald​

OG​

152,624​

3​

3
Witten, Jason​

TE​

173,995​

3​

2
Church, Barry​

S​

83,374​

5​

3
Green denotes Pro Bowls players based on the interim fan vote.​

​

A record Pro Bowl haul for the Cowboys?

To get to the required 86 players, more players will be added to the Pro Bowl roster either as injury replacements or as replacements for Super Bowl-bound players, so a player could still make the Pro Bowl if he is ranked fifth or sixth, even though his position may only officially have three spots available.

Going strictly by the available spots and the fan vote, ten Cowboys would make the Pro Bowl: Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott, Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, Dan Bailey, Sean Lee, Chris Jones, Zack Martin, Doug Free, and Ronald Leary. - seven offensive players (including the entire O-line), two special teamers, and one defensive player.

If we allow for injury replacements, that list could potentially extend to Barry Church (Seattle's Earl Thomas is out for the season with a leg injury, and Minnesota's Harrison Smith might be done for the season as well). Of course, that assumes the Cowboys won't be playing in the Super Bowl...

Players and coaches obviously could also alter the vote in favor of the Cowboys and vote up Jason Witten and perhaps even vote in Dez Bryant or Byron Jones.

With those names, there's a chance the Cowboys could surpass the 2007 franchise record of 13 Pro Bowlers this year, and a double-digit total is likely for only the sixth time in franchise history (2007: 13, 1993: 11, 1994: 11, 1995: 10, 1967: 10).

The Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday, January 29, 2017, 8pm ET at the Citrus Bowl, Orlando.

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