Joe Thuney picked as most likely Chiefs player to make first Pro Bowl

You can file this one in two categories: “things that surprise us” and “things we already thought about”.

Over at the official site of the NFL, they made a list of the players most likely to make their first Pro Bowl from each and every team in the AFC. When it comes to the Kansas City Chiefs, their choice was offensive lineman Joe Thuney, a man who already made our list of players who could reach the NFL’s version of an all-star game this year. So in that sense, we called it. Still, the fact that Thuney can be even be qualified for this story remains a bit of a surprise.

Thuney is a well-known lineman for most NFL fans as a member of the New England Patriots for the last five seasons. In that span, he blocked for Tom Brady and earned high marks in doing so. He also has two Super Bowl rings to his name and that’s before striking a five-year deal to now play left guard for the team that everyone has penciled in as Super Bowl favorites for the next half-decade.

Joe Thuney is a good bet to make his first Pro Bowl.

Over at NFL.com, Marc Sessler lists Thuney and the shock of his lack of Pro Bowl accolades is part of what struck the columnist. When commenting on the lack of acclaim for Thuney, Sessler writes:

"That says more about the Pro Bowl than it does about Thuney, who now finds himself protecting Patrick Mahomes. You can already hear Tony Romo going bonkers over Thuney-themed highlights come September. That should be enough to grease the skids into Pro Bowl Land."

The bottom line is that money talks and the Chiefs had to serve up $80 million over five seasons in order to secure Thuney’s services on a completely remade offensive front. Thuney will be the veteran anchor and leader for a line that could feature as many as three rookie starters, although that seems a bit of a stretch. At the very least, the presence of Orlando Brown Jr., Creed Humphrey, Lucas Niang, and Trey Smith figure to keep the Chiefs young across the offensive front for the next few years, which makes Thuney’s influence all the more important.

At this point, it’s time for Thuney to receive his due since he’s already been named a second-team All-Pro in 2019, the sort of honor that feels reminiscent of Mitchell Schwartz‘s lack of respect when it came to the Pro Bowl.