Offensive Linemen (6)
Tony Boselli (2022), Alan Faneca (2021), Steve Hutchison (2020), Kevin Mawae (2019), Joe Thomas (2023)
Modern Positional Average
Offensive Lineman:
Here are the five Offensive Linemen who have entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame and played within the last 25 years. They comprise our baseline:
Tony Boselli (2022), Alan Faneca (2021), Steve Hutchinson (2020), Kevin Mawae (2019) & Joe Thomas (2023).
As football analytics advance, it is easier than ever to calculate the effectiveness of offensive linemen. We will add more metrics as analytics continue to evolve, but games are won and lost in the trenches, and football fans are invested there.
Here are the statistical averages that we are using based on the last group of Offensive Linemen to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
- Games Played: 174.8
- Approximate Value: 188
- Approximate Value per Games Played: 0.6760
- Games Started: 173
- Approximate Value per Games Started: 0.6832
- Approximate Value per Five-Year Peak: 65.4
- Approximate Value’s Best Five Results: 68.0
- Pro Bowls: 7.8
- First Team All-Pros*: 4.8
- Super Bowl Wins 0.4
- Super Bowl Appearances 0.2
*This is an aggregate of the Top Five finishes (5th = 1, 4th = 2, 3rd = 3, 2nd = 4th, 1st = 5)
**This is a reminder that the All-Pros we use are from the AP.
Stats
- Games 174.8
- Approximate Value 118
- Approximate Value per Game 0.6760
- Games Started 173
- Approximate Value per Games Started 0.6832
- Approximate Value: Five-Year Peak 65.4
- Approximate Value: Best Five Years 68.0
- Pro Bowls 7.8
- First Team AP All-Pros 4.8
- Super Bowl Championships 0.2
- Super Bowl Appearances 0.4
#6 Overall, Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers, Offensive Tackle, #1 Offensive Lineman
2025 Pre-Season Rank #5, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #6, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #6, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #20, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #33, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #35. 2018-23*
Aging like wine, we love the story of Trent Williams, who was one of the better Offensive Linemen in Washington history and who wanted out after he felt that the team misdiagnosed a dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, a growth that was determined to be a type of cancer in 2019 but was dismissed by the Redskins medical team in 2013. He did not play at all in 2019 and wanted out, landing in San Francisco in 2020, where he was a First Team All-Pro from 2021 to 2023 and now has the most Pro Bowls (12) of any active Offensive Lineman.
What Williams has accomplished in San Francisco has cemented a bronze bust.
*Williams sat out in 2019.
Stats
- Games 204 (+29.2)
- Approximate Value 148 (+30)
- Approximate Value per Game 0.7255 (+0.0495)
- Games Started 203 (+30)
- Approximate Value per Games Started 0.7291 (+0.0459)
- Approximate Value: Five-Year Peak 61 (-4.4)
- Approximate Value: Best Five Years 73 (+5)
- Pro Bowls 12 (+4.2)
- First Team AP All-Pros 3 (-1.8)
- Super Bowl Championships 0 (-0.2)
- Super Bowl Appearances 1 (+0.6)
#22 Overall, Quenton Nelson, Indianapolis Colts, Left Guard, #2 Offensive Lineman
2025 Pre-Season Rank #2025, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #29, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #42, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #51, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #78, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #89. Peak Period: 2018-20/2024-25
Here is another fascinating one for us.
Quenton Nelson shot out of a cannon in 2018, finishing third in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting, a rare feat for an Offensive Lineman, and in all of his eight seasons in the NFL (all with Indianapolis), he was named to the Pro Bowl. Notably, he has six AP All-Pros (three First Team and three Second Team), yet the Colts haven’t been great around him, and he has appeared in only three playoff games.
Nelson looks like an early candidate for an All-Decade nod, and though he has not made the NFL 100 often (only four times), his AV/G is well over the MPA. Throw in the association with only one team (thus far), his spot as the number two active O-Lineman on the list is well earned.
Stats
- Games 129 (-45.8)
- Approximate Value 92 (-26)
- Approximate Value per Game 0.7132 (+0.0372)
- Games Started 129 (-44)
- Approximate Value per Games Started 0.7132 (+0.03)
- Approximate Value: Five-Year Peak 67 (+1.6)
- Approximate Value: Best Five Years 67 (-1)
- Pro Bowls 8 (+0.2)
- First Team AP All-Pros 3 (-1.8)
- Super Bowl Championships 0 (-0.2)
- Super Bowl Appearances 0 (-0.4)
#34 Overall, Lane Johnson, Philadelphia Eagles, Right Tackle, #3 Offensive Lineman
Pre-Season Rank #27, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #40, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #57, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #107, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #143. Peak Period 2017-18/2022-24
When you are on the same Offensive Line as Jason Kelce, you fall easily into the shadows. As Kelce’s teammate, Johnson won a Super Bowl, went to five Pro Bowls (2017-19 & 2022-23), and was twice a First Team All-Pro, cementing him as one of the top Tackles in Football. Following Kelce’s retirement in 2023, Johnson accomplished something that Kelce could not do: win a second Super Bowl. That occurred in 2024, when Johnson added Pro Bowl number six. How much does Johnson’s legacy increase if Philadelphia wins it all again this year?
Stats
- Games 168 (-6.8)
- Approximate Value 113 (-5)
- Approximate Value per Game 0.6726 (-0.0034000000000001)
- Games Started 168 (-5)
- Approximate Value per Games Started 0.6726 (-0.0106)
- Approximate Value: Five-Year Peak 64 (-1.4)
- Approximate Value: Best Five Years 66 (-2)
- Pro Bowls 6 (-1.8)
- First Team AP All-Pros 2 (-2.8)
- Super Bowl Championships 2 (+1.8)
- Super Bowl Appearances 3 (+2.6)
#38 Overall, Penei Sewell, Detroit Lions, Tackle, #4 Offensive Lineman
2025 Pre-Season Rank #68, 2024: Pre-Season Rank: #121. Peak Period: 2021-25*
Standing at 6'5” and 330 pounds, Penei Sewell can state that going into 2025, he is the most athletic and explosive Tackle in the game of football. One of the rare Linemen that is dominant on the run and pass, his power and speed have made him and many around him All-Pros. Only a five-year veteran, Sewell has already been named a First Team All-Pro three times, with a four-year Pro Bowl streak. Who is to say he can't do the same think in the next five years?
*Sewell has only played five seasons.
Stats
- Games 83 (-91.8)
- Approximate Value 70 (-48)
- Approximate Value per Game 0.8434 (+0.1674)
- Games Started 83 (-90)
- Approximate Value per Games Started 0.8434 (+0.1602)
- Approximate Value: Five-Year Peak 70 (+4.6)
- Approximate Value: Best Five Years 70 (+2)
- Pro Bowls 4 (-3.8)
- First Team AP All-Pros 3 (-1.8)
- Super Bowl Championships 0 (-0.2)
- Super Bowl Appearances 0 (-0.4)
#41 Overall, Joe Thuney, Chicago Bears, Left Guard, #5 Offensive Lineman
2025 Pre-Season Rank #64, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #75, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #120, 2022 Pre-Season Rank: #140. Peak Period: 2021-25
Over the last few seasons, the profile of Joe Thuney rose to the point where he is nationally recognized as one of the top pass protectors in the National Football League, and legendary Quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes will tell you that firsthand.
Thuney helped anchor both Brady’s New England Patriots and Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs to two Super Bowl Championships. In 2025, Thuney joined the Chicago Bears, and in his first campaign in the Windy City, he was just as dominant. Last season, he added his fourth straight Pro Bowl and third straight First Team All-Pro, and is positioning himself for a coveted All-Decade selection.
Thuney’s next two seasons will likely determine his Hall of Fame bust.
Stats
- Games 163 (-11.8)
- Approximate Value 104 (-14)
- Approximate Value per Game 0.6380 (-0.038)
- Games Started 163 (-10)
- Approximate Value per Games Started 0.6380 (-0.0452)
- Approximate Value: Five-Year Peak 59 (-6.4)
- Approximate Value: Best Five Years 61 (-7)
- Pro Bowls 4 (-3.8)
- First Team AP All-Pros 3 (-1.8)
- Super Bowl Championships 4 (+3.8)
- Super Bowl Appearances 5 (+4.6)
