This week, the Associated Press revealed its finalists for every major award, including MVP, Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year. There’s been plenty of criticism recently when it comes to our traditional NFL awards. MVP has become a QB award, while the criteria for Comeback Player of the Year was adjusted this season. Then, the NFL could also add more individual awards if it wanted to.

Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins is standing up for offensive linemen, as he’s fighting for a new annual award.

“Offensive linemen don’t have awards for being great,” Dawkins said, via the Batavia Daily News. “There’s not a Protector of the Year award. I’m knocking at so many doors now to get this award going. I’m gonna [spearhead] it and make sure that this gets done before I’m done playing. Because there’s so many greats. There’s so many greats. If we have great quarterbacks, we have great running backs, we have rushing titles, we have quarterback passing titles. All those titles are reflections of the O-linemen, which are the protectors.”

Dawkins is correct. Offensive linemen do not get the credit they deserve. Quarterbacks and running backs wouldn’t find much success without the talented “big uglies” in the trenches. When you hear offensive linemen’s names mentioned on the TV broadcast, it usually means they are failing at their jobs. You don’t often hear about the stars who do their jobs each and every snap.

Who could have won this “Protector of the Year award” in 2024? Offensive tackles Penei Sewell of the Detroit Lions and Tristan Wirfs of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers both had impressive seasons. Chris Lindstrom of the Atlanta Falcons finished with the top PFF grade among offensive guards with a 93.5, while Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata headlined all tackles with a 95.4.