Pro Bowl fan voting is open. And Miami Dolphins fans not doing enough so far | Opinion

This space took time off from discussing Pro Bowl votes and Most Valuable Player races of any kind last year because, well, you know ...

5-11 and tanking and all that.

But we’re baaaaack!

This season the Miami Dolphins have some legitimate Pro Bowl and end-of-season award candidates that should and will be considered.

Already on Thursday, the NFL released some early figures of its Pro Bowl voting by fans and cornerback Xavien Howard and punter Matt Haack were the AFC’s leading vote-getters at their positions.

Fan voting, by the way, ends Dec. 17.

Vote here, Dolfans. Be heard!

But before you go, keep reading to make an informed decision:

You obviously can just do the fan thing and vote for all your team’s guys. That’s the problem with fan voting. A lot of guys that do not deserve it, get votes simply because their fan base mindlessly votes for them.

Jets left tackle Mehki Becton, for example, is leading the AFC in voting at his position when he’s really not been playing to that height after missing some games and since his injury earlier this season.

As to the Miami Dolphins players worthy of your vote:

Tight end Mike Gesicki might get some votes from Dolphins fans but it’s hard to see him qualifying ahead of Travis Kelce, Darren Waller, Mark Andrews, and Hunter Henry in the AFC.

At tackle, the NFL fan ballot doesn’t distinguish from left or right tackles. You simply vote for six tackles regardless of side or conference. It’s crazy.

So Jesse Davis has very little shot because even if fans are voting for players from the AFC, he’s not going to get in ahead of Garrett Bolles, Jack Conklin, Patriots rookie Michael Onwenu, Laremy Tunsil, Eric Fisher, Alejandro Villanueva and others.

As to rookie Austin Jackson, he’s on the ballot. But he’s not there yet.

At guard you should vote for Ereck Flowers. I don’t know if he’s going to get in because of Joel Bitonio, Nate Davis, Shaq Mason, Wyatt Teller, Quenton Nelson and others. But worthy of your fan vote?

Yes.

At center, Ted Karras has been generally good for the Dolphins.

Elite? Pro Bowl worthy?

Probably not.

But bang the vote for him. Why not?

Meanwhile, you definitely should vote for Emmanuel Ogbah for the Pro Bowl — not only because he’s one of Miami’s better players, but his performance so far is deserving of a Pro Bowl trip.

He’s trailing only Myles Garrett in sacks among AFC players and he’s been generally solid against the run.

No Dolphins defensive interior lineman is likely to get into the Pro Bowl with Chris Jones, Quinnen Williams, Calais Campbell, Jeffery Simmons, Cameron Heyward and others playing better than Christian Wilkins and Raekwon Davis. I must say, however, Wilkins has improved this year and Davis is promising.

Houston’s Zach Cunningham leads the fan voting for inside linebackers. Again, you can pick six, regardless of conference. Your Dolphins choices are Elandon Roberts and Jerome Baker.

Baker is a credible fan vote but, honestly, he’s not going to the Pro Bowl. The AFC inside backers include Darius Leonard, Tremaine Edmunds, Patrick Queen, and others.

The Dolphins candidates at outside linebacker are Kyle Van Noy and Shaq Lawson. Neither are going to the Pro Bowl because fans, and even players and coaches, often look at sacks as the thing for this position.

And neither Van Noy (3 sacks) nor Lawson (2 sacks) are going to turn any heads in that department. Van Noy does have two forced fumbles. Lawson has one.

But T.J. Watt, Bradley Chubb, Harold Landry, and even Malik Reed are going to get more attention. And more votes.

At cornerback, you know Howard is the the vote. Byron Jones has played well, but he missed a couple of games and is without an interception so that’s not going to get him noticed.

At strong safety, Eric Rowe has a case and you should try to help him with a vote. Dolphins coach Brian Flores was asked about both Rowe and slot cornerback Nik Needham on Thursday.

“I think both guys have played well. I think their communication has gotten better, I think they’re tackling well, I think they are both giving us competitive coverage,” Flores said. “I think they are both playing well and hopefully that continues.

“It’s a week-to-week league so how they prepare this week will say a lot about how they play. I think they’ve prepared each week, or they have attacked each week, in the correct manner and it has showed up on game day. Hopefully that continues.”

Rowe faces a tough battle to get to the Pro Bowl, with Jordan Poyer and Jonathan Abram producing more and Tyrann Mathieu collecting fewer tackles but more interceptions. Plus, Mathieu plays for the Kansas City Chiefs and that matters.

Still, a vote for Rowe is a good vote.

The top-getting free safety is, of course, Minkah Fitzpatrick. He’s going to go to the Pro Bowl again. He is on that career arc, folks.

Bobby McCain has one interception for the Dolphins and has been a good communicator in the back end of the Miami secondary. But he’s going to need more than that to get to the Pro Bowl.

And this is where you, Dolphins fans, must step up because so far, you’ve been lacking.

Colts kicker Rodrigo Blankenship leads all AFC kickers in the fan voting. I don’t know if it’s his college reputation, or the glasses, or what?

But clearly the best kicker in the AFC right now is Jason Sanders of the Miami Dolphins.

Blakenship has connected on 23 of 26 field goals and is 16th in the NFL with an 88.5 field goal percentage. He is 0-for-1 on 50-yard-plus attempts.

Sanders is 8-for-8 from 50 yards out and further.

And his overall field goal percentage of 96 percent is best in the AFC.

This is on you, Dolphins fans. Your doing.

Other positions ....

You can pick up to six wide receivers, but I don’t see DeVante Parker (52 catches, 642 yards, 4 TDs) currently more deserving than Stefan Diggs, Keenan Allen, A.J. Brown, Tyreek Hill, Brandin Cooks, or Tee Higgins -- and that’s just in the AFC.

Maybe if Parker has a breakout game in the next couple of weeks..

Sorry, passing on the quarterback category.

Sorry, passing on the running back position.

Nothing at fullback, either.

Vote here.