Joe Thuney
Chicago BearsModel Score
How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →
Season Stats · 17 games
Draft & College
He went about where consensus had him.
Comps
STM Take
Four Super Bowl rings plus three Pro Bowls plus the 2025 tier 1 (#6) finish at age 33 with Chicago puts Thuney in the rarefied air of late-career guards rebuilding into top-10 STTM status. The 2023 tier 8 (#71) dip plus the 2024 tier 6 (#43) suggested the decline was here, then the trade to Chicago triggered the bounce. The 2026 question is whether Thuney holds tier 3 or better across a full second Bears season at age 34.
Thuney came out of NC State as the New England Patriots' 3rd-round pick (78th overall) in 2016 and has built one of the most decorated careers at his position. He has won four Super Bowls (LI, LIII with New England, LVII and LVIII with Kansas City), made three Pro Bowls (2021-2023), and earned 2022 1st-team All-Pro recognition. The Bears traded for him in 2025, and his STTM career runs tier 2 (#16) in 2021, tier 4 (#27) in 2022, tier 8 (#71) in 2023, tier 6 (#43) in 2024, and tier 1 (#6) in 2025 with Chicago.
Strengths
- Four Super Bowl rings (LI, LIII, LVII, LVIII) plus three Pro Bowls (2021-2023) plus 2022 1st-team All-Pro establishes the highest career résumé of any active guard.
- Tier 1 (#6) at age 33 after the 2023-2024 tier 6-8 dip confirms the change-of-scenery rebound restored elite production.
Concerns
- Tier 8 (#71) in 2023 plus tier 6 (#43) in 2024 confirms the structural age-related decline was real before the Bears bounce.
- Age 33 plus four-Super-Bowl-run accumulated wear puts late-2026 durability question on every projection.
What to watch: Whether Thuney holds tier 3 or better across the full 2026 Chicago season at age 34, or whether the 2025 tier 1 finish was a one-year change-of-scenery spike.