{"id":662518,"date":"2026-01-08T01:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T01:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/662518\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T01:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T01:08:13","slug":"dolphins-ol-aaron-brewer-named-protector-of-the-year-nominee-by-espn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/662518\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins OL Aaron Brewer named Protector of the Year nominee by ESPN"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As the NFL debuts its new award, the Protector of the Year, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statesman.com\/sports\/college\/football\/article\/texas-state-football-bobcats-transfer-portal-21277310.php\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Texas State football<\/a> alumnus could take home the honor.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/47503914\/2025-nfl-season-awards-ranking-mvp-best-rookies-coaches-players-candidates\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ESPN&#8217;s Bill Barnwell<\/a> mentioned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statesman.com\/sports\/college\/longhorns\/football\/article\/quinn-ewers-dolphins-buccaneers-texas-football-21266389.php\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Miami Dolphins<\/a> center Aaron Brewer as a lone bright spot in an otherwise despondent year for the offense. A rough year from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statesman.com\/sports\/college\/longhorns\/football\/article\/quinn-ewers-miami-dolphins-texas-longhorns-21247979.php\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">quarterback Tua Tagovailoa<\/a> and a season-ending injury to wide receiver Tyreek Hill didn&#8217;t stop head coach Mike McDaniel from creating a dynamic ground game with Brewer as a key component.<\/p>\n<p>Dolphins running <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statesman.com\/story\/sports\/columns\/2022\/09\/18\/offense-takes-a-back-seat-in-texas-ams-much-needed-win-over-miami\/69498143007\/\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">De&#8217;Von Achane<\/a> totaled 1,350 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns on a league-leading 5.7 yards per attempt. Although the former Aggie deserves credit for his blazing speed in the open field, Barnwell said coach Mike McDaniel&#8217;s scheme doesn&#8217;t work without Brewer.<\/p>\n<p>The secret to Brewer&#8217;s success is his frame (6-foot-1, 295 pounds), with Barnwell comparing him to former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce (6-foot-3, 295). Brewer and Kelce exchange prototypical size for elite athleticism, allowing them to reach areas of the field that other linemen can&#8217;t.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A lineman blocking a linebacker or a defensive back is a size mismatch, but in the open field, linemen aren&#8217;t always able to square up their blocks,&#8221; Barnwell wrote. &#8220;Brewer is so good at getting enough on those blocks to influence defenders and create run lanes for Achane.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Brewer spent four seasons at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statesman.com\/sports\/college\/football\/article\/texas-state-football-bobcats-transfer-portal-21277310.php\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Texas State<\/a> from 2016-2019, eventually signing with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent after the 2020 NFL draft. He signed with the Dolphins after four years on a three-year, $21 million deal. Barnwell also noted San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams and Indianapolis Colts left guard Quenton Nelson as others who could win Protector of the Year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the NFL debuts its new award, the Protector of the Year, a Texas State football alumnus could&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[331,217,7,216,251,2087,49,5065,6,32006,57826,21179],"class_list":{"0":"post-662518","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-dolphins","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-miami","12":"tag-miami-dolphins","13":"tag-miamidolphins","14":"tag-ncaa","15":"tag-ncaa-division-i","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-texas-state-bobcats-football","18":"tag-texas-state-university","19":"tag-texas-state-bobcats"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115856808873499845","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}