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Many of you felt the same way as Pokeysaurus about this week’s Have at It topic, which asked you to name the best player in the NFC North who has never played in the Pro Bowl.

“Honestly,” Pokeysaurus wrote, “outside of the players already mentioned you're not going to find many of those ‘long-suffering’ types that haven’t been to a Pro Bowl. Green Bay, Chicago, and Detroit have all made roster turnover a priority for differing reasons, so those kinds of guys aren’t going to be around any more.”

Fair point. But of those who named a player, it seemed Chicago cornerback Charles Tillman got most of the action. Pulyxbears considers Tillman “THE most underrated cornerback in the NFC.” And while MalcolmZion noted that “Tillman misses a lot of tackles in efforts to knock the ball out,” Viiito wrote that “Tillman is the only good things about Chicago’s D these days.”

I suggested Minnesota linebacker Ben Leber as an example of a player who is rarely recognized, but none of you agreed that an all-around efficient game should merit a Pro Bowl berth. Wrote Paragon of Iniquity:

Leber has been the steadiest of the LBs in MN for a few seasons and is certainly an underrated player. I'm not sure, however, that he's ever played at a Pro Bowl level. He's more of a starter who does his job quite well, without missing an assignment, but rarely stands out as spectacular.

My take? Sometimes I get to these circle-back posts and realize the questions I’ve asked you to answer are difficult to settle on my own. (Not feeling real good about this one, for example.) But I’ll agree with another suggestion from Pokeysaurus, who wrote that Minnesota left tackle Bryant McKinnie should be more of a part of the Pro Bowl conversation on an annual basis.

Reputation drives the voting for offensive linemen probably more than any other position; McKinnie’s hasn’t always been great, either on or off the field. More important, for most of his career, the best left tackles in the NFC have been Walter Jones and Orlando Pace.

But McKinnie has had a couple of really strong years, especially as a pass-protector, and this season he is a big reason why the Vikings’ offensive line doesn’t seem to have missed a beat despite two new starters. With Jones out for the season and Pace struggling in Chicago, this could be McKinnie’s year.