A current member of the Kansas City Chiefs just barely made the cut for the Pro Football Focus All-Decade Top-101 list. Chiefs right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, who receives annual praise from PFF but is generally underappreciated, came in at No. 100 on PFF’s All-Decade Top-101.
Schwartz was originally selected by the Cleveland Browns in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He spent the first four seasons of his career playing with the Browns before leaving as a free agent. In 2016, Schwartz signed a five-year deal with the Chiefs worth $33 million.
PFF’s Sam Monson pointed to the reliability of Schwartz, and his postseason performance in 2019 on the way to Super Bowl LIV, as just a few of the many reasons that he’s deserving to make this list.
“Mitchell Schwartz has been one of the best offensive linemen of the past decade. His run to the Super Bowl last season was one of the greatest postseason performances in NFL history by any player at any position, but it went largely unnoticed because he’s a tackle. Schwartz was a good player in Cleveland to begin his career, but his final season there hinted at how good he could become. In Kansas City, he has kicked on to another level and is able to shut down some of the game’s best pass-rushers in the AFC West. Schwartz has racked up almost 9,000 total snaps over the decade, and it took until last season for him to miss any.“
During the 2019 postseason, Schwartz had 140 pass-blocking snaps against some of the best pass-rushers in the NFL. According to PFF, Schwartz allowed just one hurry in those pass-blocking snaps, marking one of the most dominant performances by an offensive lineman in the PFF era. Of course, as Monson also mentioned, Schwartz had an impressive consecutive snap streak. He actually held the NFL’s active record for consecutive snaps and it finally concluded with 7,894 snaps dating back to his first snaps in Cleveland.
During the 2010s decade, all during seasons with the Chiefs, Schwartz has become a three-time second-team All-Pro selection and a one-time first-team All-Pro. He has routinely been graded by PFF as one of the top offensive tackles in the NFL in pass protection and he’s also regarded as one of the Chiefs’ most consistent run blockers.
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