Awards races are won and lost down the stretch, and that’s exactly where we are right now. Most people will be paying close attention to the MVP race, but there are plenty of other ones that deserve recognition as well. One of which is the NFL’s newest player award, the Protector of the Year.

If you are tired of awards season being mostly about quarterbacks, then this is the award for you. Let’s take a look at our current frontrunners for the 2025 Protector of the Year, as well as some players who have been surprisingly good or bad. We’ll use a couple of metrics to compare different linemen, including our all-encompassing player value stat, Total Points (click the link to learn more).

Total Points Leaderboard – Offensive Linemen

For a little context on these metrics, let’s start with blown block rate. SIS charts blown blocks as cases where a defender physically beats a blocker and disrupts the play within a few seconds of the snap. The typical rate for a player might be 3-5 percent.

Total Points takes blown block rate into account but also incorporates relevant details about the play beyond that. For rushing, we consider which blockers a run went behind and the balance of yards before and after contact. For passing, we consider the dropback type and how much time the quarterback had to operate.

Chicago’s offensive line has taken a massive step forward this season. Caleb Williams was sacked a league-leading 68 times in 2024, but his sack rate has dropped by more than half thanks in part to Joe Thuney, Darnell Wright, and Drew Dalman. Thuney is leading the pack in Total Points, and he doesn’t have any holding penalties on the year either. As a unit, the Bears also rank first in run blocking Total Points (105).

Dion Dawkins was one of the biggest advocates for the Protector of the Year award, and his teammate David Edwards is a top candidate so far in 2025. Dawkins also ranks first among left tackles in Total Points, slightly ahead of Philadelphia’s Jordan Mailata.

Penei Sewell is one of the best players in the NFL, regardless of position. It’s not a surprise that he’s one of the leaders after 14 weeks. Our very own Nathan Cooper picked him to win this year when I wrote about who would’ve won Protector of the Year in 2024, and he’s well within striking distance.

Zach Frazier and Creed Humphrey have been two of the top centers in all of football this year. Frazier has the slight edge in Total Points, but Humphrey has the lowest blown block rate of all linemen. It’s worth noting that interior linemen tend to have lower blown block rates on average.

Tennessee’s offensive line has struggled as a whole (28th in Total Points), but Peter Skoronski has been playing very well in his 3rd season. In fact, he’s at the top of the list for pass blocking Total Points. Having a young and talented left guard will do wonders for Cam Ward’s development.

The Panthers rank 4th in run blocking Total Points (84), and Damien Lewis is a big reason why. He also has just 2 blown blocks on 418 pass blocking snaps. Lewis ranks 12th as a pass blocker and 19th as a run blocker across the league.

Jacksonville is averaging 20 more rushing yards per game than they were last season. They have also already surpassed their run blocking total points with time to spare. Their right guard, Patrick Mekari, leads the unit in Total Points, and 4 of their 5 starters rank within the top 50.

Landon Dickerson was the SIS-voted winner of the 2024 Protector of the Year, but he’s taken a step back in 2025. He has been dealing with several injuries this season, and his production has taken a hit.

Predicting The Winner

It’s shaping up to be a very close race for the inaugural Protector of the Year. Not only are there tons of offensive linemen having great seasons, we also don’t know how the committee is going to vote.

The left tackle position is widely regarded as the most important, but does the committee think the same? If they do, perhaps they don’t think a left tackle is deserving simply due to the position he plays. It’s also incredibly difficult to compare the value of a guard or tackle on one side of the line to the other, in addition to the center position.

Luckily for us, Total Points is an all-encompassing statistic that allows us to compare players that don’t play the same position.

Joe Thuney is the current leader and has been a model of consistency throughout his career. He’s been a major reason why the Bears’ offensive line has significantly improved in both pass protection and run blocking. My prediction is for Thuney to win, but like I said earlier, awards are won and lost down the stretch.