One of the greatest honors any NFL analyst can have is an addition to the small group that votes every year for the Associated Press Most Valuable Player award, all other individual awards, and the AP All-Pro first and second teams. I was given that honor two years ago, and it's something I take very seriously.
Something else I take very seriously is offensive line play. It's much more complex and nuanced than a lot of people think — at least five big men working in concert (six a lot of the time if you're the Buffalo Bills) to make everything go for all kinds of offenses. The best offensive linemen at all positions are fully conversant with everything from inside and outside zone to power, counter, trap and straight-up man-on-man blocking. They also have to shift on a dime from blowing people up in the run game to countering the NFL's best pass-rushers from every gap.
It's a difficult job, and it's no coincidence that if you interview every player on any NFL team, most of the smartest people you'll talk to are those Hog Mollies up front.
Which is why I was among those highly pleased with the Wednesday news that at the most recent NFL owners meetings, the league added a "Protector Of the Year" award to honor the league's best offensive lineman.
As Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins, one of the men behind the initiative, has said, "We may not have all the fancy stats or end up on a highlight reel every week, but without us, there's no rushing titles, passing titles, or touchdowns." And he is absolutely right.
Let's say this award had been established before the 2024 season; of course, it should have happened decades ago. But if there had been a Protector Of the Year award for last season, who should have won it?
In my mind, Detroit Lions right tackle Penei Sewell would have been the man.
Last season, Sewell (my first-team All-Pro vote at right tackle, and it wasn't close) allowed one quarterback sack, five quarterback hits, and 23 quarterback hurries in 664 pass-blocking reps. You always have to watch these plays as opposed to taking the metrics as gospel, and the one sack Sewell was debited for last season came in Week 17 against the San Francisco 49ers, when he danced Nick Bosa around for a good few seconds on a play in which Jared Goff should have thrown the ball quite a bit sooner than was the intent.
Against the blitz in 2024, Sewell allowed one hit and seven hurries. Against line stunts, in which he had to diagnose two defensive linemen flipping gaps and roles, he allowed one hit and 12 pressures. And on passing attempts of 20 or more air yards, which obviously take more time than quicker passes, Sewell allowed one hit and three hurries.
Basically, if the play went off even remotely as it should have from a quarterback perspective, Penei Sewell was just about impenetrable.
For man his size (6-foot-5 and about 335 pounds), Sewell is remarkably agile, and this really shows up when he's asked to block to and through the second level of the defense. Sewell accentuates his natural athleticism with leverage and technique that allow him to nail those open-space targets... and then, it's party time.
It's my belief that Sewell was the NFL's most complete and effective offensive lineman in 2024, and would have had my vote for "Protector Of the Year." As to the other offensive linemen I think should have been considered, here were my votes for the 2024 First- and Second-Team All-Pro offensive lines.
