It’s a travesty that has gone uncorrected for far too long.

Why can’t offensive linemen win NFL awards?

Throughout NFL history, offensive linemen have been mostly excluded from receiving votes for any major award, besides the Pro Bowl and All-Pro teams. There is no specific rule that states offensive linemen are not allowed to win awards like OROY (Offensive Rookie of the Year), OPOY (Offensive Player of the Year), or even MVP, but they simply get ignored in the voting process.

The last offensive lineman to even receive a single vote for MVP was Miami Dolphins right guard Larry Little in 1972, who earned one vote as he helped Miami lead the league in rushing yards on the way to an undefeated season. Little also received two votes for OPOY.

Most likely, it is a stretch to think that an offensive lineman will ever truly deserve to win MVP. Even if an individual lineman is the best player in the NFL relative to their position, it will be difficult to argue that he is more “valuable” than the best quarterback.

However, we continue allowing running backs to be involved in the MVP discussion, despite it being common knowledge in today’s league that offensive linemen are more valuable than running backs. Look no further than the salary difference between running backs and offensive tackles or guards.

It was only 13 years ago that Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson won MVP, and in each of the last two seasons, the third-ranked player in the MVP voting was a running back (Christian McCaffrey in 2023 and Saquon Barkley in 2024). So, as long as running backs are still getting serious MVP consideration, maybe offensive linemen should be, too. After all, those running backs couldn’t do a darn thing without their linemen opening up holes for them.

READ MORE: Are the New York Jets ‘close’ or just plain bad?

MVP has become a bona fide quarterback award, though, with quarterbacks winning each of the last 12 awards and no end in sight. Simply put, an offensive lineman will never win MVP — unless the sport undergoes some sort of radical shift in its rules and playstyle that renders quarterbacks interchangeable and linemen of the utmost importance. For that reason, arguing about whether linemen deserve to receive any MVP votes is a waste of time.

It is more realistic to argue that linemen should be viewed as serious candidates to win OPOY, as that award is typically reserved for non-quarterbacks. Certain dominant linemen in recent NFL history, such Penei Sewell and Trent Williams, could have made strong cases to be the NFL’s best non-quarterback offensive player in a given season.

In 2024, three offensive linemen received votes for OPOY: Kansas City Chiefs guard Joe Thuney, Detroit Lions tackle Penei Sewell, and Philadelphia Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata. However, none were remotely close to having a legitimate chance of winning the award.

This past offseason, the NFL finally took action to address the lack of recognition for elite offensive linemen. In May, the league announced a new “Protector of the Year” award, which will honor the best offensive lineman each season beginning in 2025. At last, the sport’s most underrated position group will receive the national attention it deserves.

While this is great news for offensive linemen, it should not stop the push for them to become more prominent in the voting for other NFL awards.

MVP is a stretch, while OPOY will always be difficult when competing against the league’s flashiest offensive weapons.

One award that could be in reach as soon as this year, though?

Offensive Rookie of the Year.

That’s because the New York Jets’ first-round pick is building a strong case to make history.

Armand Membou’s OROY candidacy

When the Jets chose Missouri product Armand Membou with the seventh overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, expectations for his rookie year were held in check.

Membou would only be 21 years old in his debut season. And while he boasted a high ceiling thanks to his elite athleticism, Membou seemed like the type of prospect who would need multiple years to put everything together from a technical standpoint.

Toss in an early schedule that featured seasoned edge defenders like T.J. Watt, Joey Bosa, Haason Reddick, and Bradley Chubb, and it felt likely that Membou would undergo some serious growing pains to begin his NFL career.

That could not be further from the truth.

From a statistical perspective, Membou has not only been one of the NFL’s best rookie linemen, but he has been one of the best right tackles in football.

At Pro Football Focus, Membou has earned an overall grade of 76.6, the third-best mark among right tackles through Week 4. His 79.0 run-blocking grade ranks fourth at the position, while his 68.8 pass-blocking grade ranks 11th. The only right tackle who has Membou beat in all three categories is Lions superstar Penei Sewell.

Membou has yet to commit a penalty across 242 offensive snaps. Only three right tackles have played more snaps without committing a penalty: Sewell, Rob Havenstein, and Mike McGlinchey.

As a pass protector, Membou has been charged with allowing just eight total pressures on 147 pass-blocking snaps, including only one sack and one hit. Those are highly impressive numbers when blocking for a quarterback (Justin Fields) who holds the ball longer than anybody else in the NFL; Fields averages a league-high 3.5 seconds to throw.

When evaluating offensive line statistics, one of the most appealing things you can find is consistency across multiple sources. Every website and metric uses a unique method for evaluating linemen, which can lead to wildly different results for the same player. However, if a player generates the same results across all websites and metrics, then the story being told is likely accurate.

Every metric agrees that Membou is playing dominant football.

ESPN’s win rate metrics often do not align with PFF’s numbers, but in this case, ESPN is just as high on Membou as PFF. Through Week 4, Membou ranks eighth among all tackles (fourth among right tackles) with a 94% pass-block win rate, and fourth among all tackles (second among right tackles) with an 83% run-block win rate.

Is it enough to win OROY?

With that resume, there is no doubt that Membou has a strong chance of finishing as the best rookie lineman.

But we’re here to talk about Offensive Rookie of the Year. That means Membou has to outshine every rookie quarterback, wide receiver, running back, and tight end, too.

Is Membou’s resume enough to outpace every offensive rookie in the 2025 draft class?

Here are the current betting favorites to win OROY, according to Vegas Insider:

  1. Buccaneers WR Emeka Egbuka (18 rec, 282 yds, 4 TD)
  2. Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty (75 touches, 302 yds, 4 TD)
  3. Chargers RB Omarion Hampton (68 touches, 380 yds, 2 TD)
  4. Giants QB Jaxson Dart (13 for 20, 111 yds, 1 TD, 54 rush yds, 1 TD)
  5. Colts TE Tyler Warren (19 rec, 263 yds, 1 rush TD)
  6. Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan (18 rec, 278 yds)
  7. Browns RB Quidshon Judkins (57 touches, 284 yds, 2 TD)
  8. Titans QB Cam Ward (64 for 125, 614 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT, 42 rush yds)

While there are a lot of talented, promising players in that group… do any of them rank as highly at their positions as Membou?

For seven of them, the answer is a resounding no, at least based on their production to this point of the season. Anything can happen over the next 13 weeks, but right now, most of those players have no feasible argument for being as impressive at their position as Membou is at his.

The only other rookie with a case is Emeka Egbuka, who is off to a scorching start for Tampa Bay. Egbuka is tied for third among wide receivers in receiving touchdowns (4). He is the OROY favorite by a comfortable margin at all sportsbooks, boasting +250 odds across the board.

Save for his early spike in touchdowns, though, Egbuka has not been quite as impressive at wide receiver as Membou has been at offensive tackle.

  • Egbuka (ranks among 60 WRs): 35th in overall PFF grade (68.0), 47th in contested-catch rate (33.3%), 35th in missed tackles forced (1), 12th in receiving yards (282), 19th in first downs (11), 22nd in receptions (18), 3rd-most drops (3)
  • Membou (ranks among 60 OTs): 10th in overall PFF grade (76.6), 8th in pass-block win rate (94%), 4th in run-block win rate (83%), 7th in snaps without a penalty (242), 20th-most sacks allowed (1), 30th-most hits allowed (1), 35th-most total pressures allowed (8)

Through four weeks, Armand Membou has been the best offensive rookie in the NFL relative to his position, and it isn’t much of a debate.

For that reason, he deserves to be viewed as a legitimate contender for Offensive Rookie of the Year. While it’s nice that the NFL threw offensive linemen a bone with the Protector of the Year award, it should not stop linemen from being included in the voting for other awards when they clearly deserve consideration.

It’s long overdue for NFL award voters to stop viewing offensive linemen as ineligible for recognition. It was excusable in the past when we did not have enough data to compare them against players at more easily trackable positions, but that excuse is gone. We have the numbers.

And while numbers often lie, they pass the polygraph examination with Membou.