Detroit Lions defensive end Kerry Hyder leads all NFL defensive ends with five sacks through five weeks, but he’s not on the Pro Bowl ballot.
This isn’t terribly surprising. After all, casual fans outside of Detroit wouldn’t recognize the name Kerry Hyder if it was plastered all over billboards across America. In fact, the fact that he is dominating for the Lions this year is one of the biggest early shocks of the NFL season.
So with that in mind, Hyder is taking this whole not being on the Pro Bowl ballot in stride: “I’m sure people don’t know who I am, anyway,” Hyder said, via the Detroit Free Press.
That said, the NFL should know who Hyder is by now — it’s not the fans putting together the voting ballots. Hyder has one sack in each of his first five games.
Before this season? He was on the New York Jets’ practice squad in 2014 and the Lions’ practice squad last year. A three-sack performance in the final preseason game earned him a spot on Detroit’s active roster, and he made the most out of this opportunity.
There’s no doubt Hyder deserves to be counted among the NFL’s best on the ballot. This is something the league needs to fix, and fast.