In the modern NFL, unless you're a skill position player, odds are you probably aren't getting enough appreciation for your contributions. And this has been the exact paradox that's why the Atlanta Falcons are sitting on one of the most under-appreciated players in football in Chris Lindstrom.
To the casual fan, an interior linemen like Lindstrom are far from the most interesting position to monitor, so they're never truly discussed in the way they deserve to. IOLs aren't making jaw-dropping plays or picking up fantasy points, so most fans treat the position like it's obsolete for some reason.
Chris Lindstrom is one of the, if not the best offensive guard in the NFL, but since his name isn't Quenton Nelson he isn't discussed enough. Part of this could be the Falcons tax, as most players on this team not named BIjan Robinson don't enough credit, but he's becoming way too underrated for a player this talented.
Chris Lindstrom was way too low in ESPN's interior lineman rankings
For the seventh straight year, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler has been surveying over 70 NFL scouts, executives, and. coaches to determine the 10 best players at every position entering the 2026 season, and in the interior OL rankings, Lindstrom came in at a respectable but still too-low sixth.
"He doesn't get enough recognition -- he's been really good for a long time," a veteran NFL defensive coach said.
The only defense of having the 29-year-old this low is that interior linemen were lumped together, so the list consisted of both offensive guards and centers. If the list consisted of guards only, he'd be in the top five, but he has more of an argument to be a top-three guard in the NFL than fans realize. He claimed the top spot back in 2023, the same year he was made the highest-paid guard in NFL history.
Even still, the four-time All-Pro came in behind four guards: Tyler Smith, Quenton Nelson, Quinn Meinerz, and Joe Thuney. Smith is the highest-paid IOL in the league for good reason and Meinerz is a stud, but are we really trying to say Thuney is better than Lindstrom in the year of our lord 2026?
In the last six years, Lindstrom has missed just one game, and hasn't missed extended time due to injury since his rookie season in 2019. He's been everything a team should want in a lineman, but was docked points because Atlanta doesn't ask him to pull as much as other teams ask their guards to.
If you want to know why the Falcons' run game has been so consistent across the last seven seasons, it's because the veteran guard is one of the best run-blockers in the NFL. And while he's Bijan Robinson's best friend, he's improved considerably across the last few years as a pass-blocker.
The 2019 first-round pick out of Boston College already plays a position that doesn't get their props, and now he has to be disrespected among his position? Just like some of his teammates, he's been getting nitpicked in these rankings over every flaw when many of his elite traits got overlooked.
Chris Lindstrom has been a Pro Bowler and Second-Team All-Pro in each of the last four years, but because of the position he plays only Falcons fans know how truly elite he is--and Fowler's survey didn't do anything to help this narrative.
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