Tyrann Mathieu, Juan Thornhill win Kansas City Chiefs midseason awards
By Matt Conner
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR (NON-MAHOMES): MITCHELL SCHWARTZ
With apologies to tight end Travis Kelce and wideout Mecole Hardman, who each received a couple votes, our nod to the Midseason Offseason Player of the Year goes to right tackle Mitchell Schwartz.
More than ever, Chiefs fans are appreciating their starting offensive linemen in a year in which so many of them have gone down and missed playing time. Eric Fisher has missed the majority of the season due to a groin injury and Chiefs Kingdom is still waiting for him to come back. Andrew Wylie has also missed significant time next to him at left guard, forcing the Chiefs to go all subs on the left side. That doesn’t mention the fact that Laurent Duvernay-Tardif might be the latest injured starter on the offensive front.
All of this has led us to realize just how rare it is to have a player like Schwartz who never, ever misses any time at all—like ever. The ironman is not only available but he’s elite and available. Schwartz is more than a reliable presence. He’s reliably dominant. That combination is just very hard to find in the NFL.
As for the others, it deserves mention that in a season where Sammy Watkins and Tyreek Hill have both missed games due to injuries, the Chiefs continue to move the chains well. Much of that is owed to the league’s best tight end in Kelce. (Sorry Kittle fans.) This year, Kelce is on pace for 84 catches and 1,208 yards and a likely fifth straight Pro Bowl invitation. He’s as close to a sure thing as you can get and he’s a reliable mismatch no matter what the defense draws up against him.