Joe Thuney’s latest honor fits the arc of a career that keeps stacking up until the résumé almost looks unreal.
NFL.com has been rolling out its Top 100 Players of 2026, and the Chicago Bears guard checked in at No. 49, his first time making the list. After coming up short of the Top 100 a year ago, Thuney didn’t just break through this time - he vaulted straight into the Top 50.
That placement lines up with what he just did in his first season in Chicago. Thuney played 1,149 snaps across all 17 regular-season games and didn’t allow a sack.
NFL.com pointed to his 88.6 PFF pass-blocking grade, which ranked first among 81 qualifying guards. He gave up zero sacks, only one quarterback hit and was charged with just two penalties.
Next Gen Stats added another layer to the picture, crediting Thuney with 99.5% of Chicago’s offensive snaps, including 643 pass-blocking snaps, while allowing a pressure rate of only 4.5%.
That level of steadiness at 32 years old is exactly why he’s been collecting hardware. After the season, Thuney was named the inaugural NFL Protector of the Year, an award created to recognize the best offensive lineman in professional football.
For decades, offensive linemen did the dirty work without a signature individual honor built for them. When the league finally made one, Joe Thuney became the first player to win it.
NFL.com even questioned whether No. 49 was high enough for someone coming off a season in which he was recognized as the league’s best offensive lineman.
Chicago’s move to land him looks even better in hindsight. The Bears traded a fourth-round pick to Kansas City for Thuney before the 2025 season, then signed him to a two-year, $35 million extension before the year began.
He helped reshape the offensive line, and Chicago ended up winning the NFC North. NFL.com specifically cited his arrival as a major reason for the turnaround.
By the end of the season, Thuney had added another First Team All-Pro selection, another Pro Bowl and the first Protector of the Year trophy to a cabinet that’s already crowded.
And the Hall of Fame conversation is getting louder.
Through 10 NFL seasons, Thuney has six Super Bowl appearances, four Super Bowl championships, four Pro Bowls, three First Team All-Pro selections, two Second Team All-Pro selections and the 2025 NFL Protector of the Year award. He’s been to six Super Bowls and won two with New England and two with Kansas City.
The most striking part is that this dominance didn’t begin with elite billing. Coming out of Archbishop Alter High School in Dayton, Ohio, Thuney was a 2-star recruit by 247Sports, ranked as the No. 122 offensive tackle in the 2011 recruiting class and the No. 75 player in Ohio.
He hoped for offers from Notre Dame and Ohio State, but they never came. NC State did, and he became an All-American for the Wolfpack before New England took him with the 78th overall pick in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Ten seasons later, the former NC State standout is now a four-time Super Bowl champion, five-time All-Pro, four-time Pro Bowler, the first Protector of the Year in NFL history and one of the Top 50 players in the NFL.
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