One sign of a good offensive lineman is rarely having their name heard during game broadcasts, it means their opponent is having little-to-no success getting to the quarterback.
That’s why New England Patriots fans rarely see attention put on Joe Thuney week to week.
Thuney, a third-round pick in 2016, has established himself as one of the best guards in all of football. In fact, the 2019 second-team All-Pro recently was listed at No. 5 on ESPN’s ranking of the NFL’s best interior linemen. The list was comprised with the help of league executives, coaches, scouts and players, and one exec, in particular, delivered a pretty spot-on way of evaluating Thuney.
“He’s not flashy, but at the end of the game you look up and say, man, his guy didn’t do (expletive),” the exec told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
He’s certainly not wrong.
An important date nears for Thuney and the Patriots. The sides have until Wednesday to reach an agreement on a long-term contract, and should a new deal for Thuney not come to fruition by that deadline, he’ll play under the franchise tag in the 2020 season.
