Tyrann Mathieu, Juan Thornhill win Kansas City Chiefs midseason awards
By Matt Conner
We’ve polled our writers and submitted our nominees. Now it’s time to unveil our official Kansas City Chiefs midseason awards!
Before the Kansas City Chiefs kick off the second half of their season on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings, we wanted to celebrate the first half with… well, honestly there’s more to lament than to celebrate.
Despite the fact that the Chiefs are 5-3 and in control of their destiny alone at the top of the AFC West (for a fourth consecutive year), the team is hobbling into the second half with an injury report that’s nearly as long as the active roster (we’re kidding slightly)—one that has, at times, included the reigning league MVP, the biggest defensive import, the biggest defensive holdover, the greatest offensive weapon, the starting left tackle, both starting guards, and much, much more.
The bottom line is this: the Chiefs are fortunate their rivals aren’t all that great in 2019 and that they took care of business so early in the season. Without Patrick Mahomes these last few weeks, life has been tough. Still there has been some signs of life worth celebrating. We now turn our attention to those with a look at our winners of the Kansas City Chiefs Midseason Awards.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: JUAN THORNHILL
This was the closest race of any of our Chiefs Midseason Awards and it comes predictably down to two players: Rashad Fenton and Nick Allegretti. Wait…
No, in all seriousness, safety Juan Thornhill slightly edged out wide receiver Mecole Hardman by a single vote in a category that has been a wonderful turn for the Chiefs this season.
Thinking back to the 2018 draft class, Derrick Nnadi would have received this award by default as the only rookie to even move the meter last season. This year, however, Brett Veach’s draft class has really been something to sing about with a group that looks to have lasting impact for the next four seasons in Kansas City.
Thornhill walks away with our Midseason Rookie of the Year award due to his ability to help the defense turn the corner from league’s worst to ever-improving. The tandem he provides with Tyrann Mathieu (more on him in a minute) is turning into one of the league’s finest and it’s clear he’s seeing the game more clearly each week. Thornhill came into the league with a reputation as a ballhawk and his experience is finally allowing him to play instinctually at this highest level. He should only get more exciting to watch as the season grows.
The same can be said for the runner-up here in Hardman. He leads the team in receiving touchdowns and has looked unstoppable in the last couple weeks as he’s been given real chances to display his speed. As he becomes more experienced in this offense and works on the finer points of his route-running, Hardman could easily slot in next to Tyreek Hill as the team’s 1A receiver for the long term.