Lions’ Penei Sewell not getting the Protector of the Year award might be the biggest snub of all time
How does this even happen?
NFL Honors went down on Thursday night, and the Detroit Lions had multiple players up for awards. The one award that made the most sense for the Lions to take home was the Protector of the Year award.
This is the first time offensive linemen got their own award in the NFL. Lions right tackle Penei Sewell was up for the award against Garett Bolles (OT, Broncos), Aaron Brewer (C, Dolphins), Creed Humphrey (C, Chiefs), Quinn Meinerz (G, Broncos), and Joe Thuney (G, Bears).
Penei Sewell somehow did not win the Protector of the Year award
This makes absolutely no sense at all. Sewell had arguably the best season of his career in 2025, and he did it with 13 different offensive line combinations this season. He allowed a career low 19 pressures this past season. That was the lowest among all tackles in the league with a minimum of 900 snaps.
Sewell’s 95.2 Pro Football Focus grade made him the highest graded offensive lineman in the NFL and one of the highest graded football players in the league period. His 96.8 run block grade was the highest in the league among offensive linemen. He was also penalized just two times in 2025.
Frankly, if this award existed last year, he probably would have gotten it then, too. Sewell is very much deserving of this award.
But instead, the award was given to Bears guard Joe Thuney despite Thuney grading lower in every category than Sewell, allowing more pressures, and being on a healthy offensive line. So he basically got the award for being on a winning team. Which is the issue with these awards in the first place.
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