At long last, the hog mollies are getting some love.
The NFL is debuting a new award for the league's best offensive lineman in 2025. Known as the Protector of the Year award, the honor will be decided upon by a panel that includes a number of former standout NFL linemen.
"I'm going to give credit to Dion Dawkins from Buffalo," NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said Wednesday from the Spring League Meeting in Minnesota. "He was truly instrumental, him and Andrew Whitworth, of just making sure that we recognize the big fellas. LeCharles Bentley, Jason Kelce, Shaun O'Hara, Orlando Pace, Will Shields and Andrew Whitworth will be the panel. ... They've come up with a criteria on skills, metrics, impact, leadership, durability and strength of the opponent. We'll be tracking that quarterly with this group."
Position-specific awards are commonplace in college football, but despite the MVP's tendency to skew toward quarterbacks in the NFL, the league doesn't designate top players at each position, leaving it to just two categories: Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year. Instead, that prestige comes with selection to the annual All-Pro team.
The Protector of the Year award is intended to shine a light on the most overlooked, yet essential position in the sport. It's also the culmination of an effort that began as an idea pushed by two decorated linemen of past and present: Whitworth and Dawkins.
Whitworth stumped for the idea in early April, telling the Los Angeles Times' Sam Farmer he believed the position group deserved an accolade to recognize the best of the starting five. Whitworth added such an honor might also influence the next generation of future offensive linemen, incentivizing the position that is traditionally shut out of year-end awards.
Now, they'll have a new piece of hardware to pursue -- all while preventing the opposition from reaching their most important teammates.
