If the NFL MVP award wasn’t handed to the best quarterback and was instead given to the league’s best player, then one of the league’s most unheralded big men would finally receive his due this February.
The MVP has never gone to an offensive lineman and probably never will, simply because it’s a position group largely ignored by the masses. But if there’s a player who can make even the most casual fans appreciate line play, it’s San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams, the unique offensive lineman with a legitimate highlight reel.
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Williams runs like a tight end out in space (his trainer, James Cooper, always tells him, “You're not a lineman. You're just big.”) and regularly sends NFL defenders of all shapes and sizes flying.
Exhibit A:
PFF’s best run blocker this season?
???? Trent Williams – 97.0 ????pic.twitter.com/Bfsumc1UNn
— PFF (@PFF) November 4, 2021
Exhibit B:
Trent Williams is sending LBs to next week
— PFF (@PFF) September 13, 2020
Exhibit C:
It’s a guaranteed TD with Trent Williams as a lead blocker
pic.twitter.com/FBKdeXr8iF— PFF (@PFF) October 10, 2021
Exhibit D:
Trent Williams: PFF’s highest-graded Tackle in 2021 (92.0)
Straight bullying defensive linemen ????
(???? @nineralex)
pic.twitter.com/Fhn5zP2jyn— PFF (@PFF) September 22, 2021
With a 98.3 overall grade and two games to go, the 6-foot-5, 320-pound tackle is PFF’s highest overall graded player this season. He’s also having the highest-graded season out of any position in PFF’s history, which dates back to 2006.
PFF’s Steve Palazzolo and Sam Monson recently made a case for Williams to win NFL Offensive Player of the Year on the “NFL Daily” podcast.
It unfortunately probably won’t happen, but he’s deserving. One of Williams’ “lofty” career goals is “winning awards that offensive linemen generally wouldn't win.”
“That's one of those reaching-for-the-stars type of deals, landing on the moon where I know if I'm wanting to be above and beyond, I know that at the minimum, I'd be better than average,” Williams told PFF this week. “I think that's kind of one of those deals that I always keep in my back pocket as motivation.”
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