The New England Patriots only had one player named to the AFC roster for the 2023 Pro Bowl Games. Outside linebacker Matthew Judon is the Patriots' lone representative, likely because he has 14.5 sacks (second in the league ) while New England has a 7-7 record.

Even though the Patriots have struggled for much of the season, they still have a few other players who were at least worthy of Pro Bowl consideration. Here are five players that deserved a closer look at a Pro Bowl bid.

Rhamondre Stevenson

You could make a case that the second-year running back is the Patriots’ best player this season.

Stevenson’s been a do-it-all player for New England, rushing for 914 yards on an efficient 5.0 yards per carry with five touchdowns. He’s also caught 60 passes for 381 yards and a touchdown. On top of all of that, he’s also been a force in the blocking game. Stevenson’s consistently graded out as positive pass-blocker by Pro Football Focus, something the Patriots ended up needing this season as their offensive line has been injured and struggled for much of the season.

Stevenson has been one of the few bright spots for a Patriots offense that has struggled for much of the season. They rank in the bottom 10 of many offensive stats, and in some occasions, Stevenson’s had to carry the unit. In Week 8 against the Jets, Stevenson worked from a deficit, getting 83 yards after contact as he rushed for 71 yards. He also had seven receptions for 72 yards in that game.

Sure, the offense Stevenson’s been an engine for hasn’t been the best. But without their engine, the Patriots would have a much worse record than 7-7.

Kyle Dugger

The third-year safety has grown to be a vital part of the Patriots’ defense this season. He’s recorded 44 solo tackles, tied for the second-most on the team, while missing two games.

More importantly, Dugger’s made some game-changing plays on defense. Just in the last two games, Dugger’s made a play that’s led to a touchdown. He knocked the ball out of DeAndre Hopkins’ hand, allowing linebacker Raekwon McMillan to pick up the ball and score a touchdown in the Patriots’ Week 14 over the Arizona Cardinals. A week later against the Las Vegas Raiders, he perfectly read a Derek Carr screen pass, jumping in front of the throw and ran into the end zone with ease for six points.

Dugger also made a big play in Week 5, though that was more of a situation of him being in the right place at the right time as he scooped up a fumble forced by Judon and scored a touchdown in the 29-0 win over the Detroit Lions.

Potentially an even bigger indictment on Dugger’s importance to the Patriots’ came in Week 3, a game he didn’t play in. Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews dominated with Dugger out, getting eight receptions for 89 yards and two touchdowns to bury the Patriots, 37-26.

Nick Folk

Speaking of the Ravens, the Patriots have a kicker that’s probably not as good as Justin Tucker, but they’ve got one that might have been worthy of a bud if he played in the NFC.

Folk’s been reliable again for New England this season, which is a bit of a surprise considering the Patriots didn’t seem to view him as a long-term option at kicker when they signed him in 2019. The 38-year-old is 30-of-35 (85.7 percent), leading the league in field goal makes and is just one of six kickers that have played at least 12 games to make every single extra-point attempt this season.

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Matthew Slater/Brenden Schooler

You know it's a bad Patriots season when even Slater can't even make the Pro Bowl.

The gunner made the Pro Bowl 10 times in the previous 11 seasons, making it a bit of a surprise he didn't receive a legacy vote to make it into the game (Justin Hardee of the New York Jets made it instead). There aren't really many stats that you could use to determine the quality of a gunner, but Slater appears to still have an impact on the game at 37 years old. He's typically one of the first players to get down the field on a punt and if he's not, it's because he's either receiving extra attention from the returning or is being interfered with in a way that ends up getting the other team penalized.

However, you could make the case the Schooler is a bit more deserving of the two players. The rookie seems to be just a bit quicker running down the field on punt returns this season. That's resulted in Schooler picking up a pair of muffed punts – including in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns when he gave a ball to Bill Belichick after he recovered it. Schooler also recovered Jonathan Jones' blocked pun against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9.