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Top NFL Candidates Most Likely to Win DPOY

Defensive Player of the Year

Year in and year out, the NFL dishes out a plethora of player awards to reward the most outstanding athletes in their respective fields. While most of the attention of fans and NFL oddsmakers usually goes to the offense-driven awards, the race for the best defensive player in the league is usually just as exciting and worth paying attention to as the others.

While the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) Award is usually fought out between the league’s best pass rushers and edge defenders, that doesn’t mean that top secondary players like cornerbacks or safeties don’t get any love. Even with the regular season action getting nearer, all of the top Vegas NFL odds outlets are already dishing out initial prediction lists of who the best candidates to win this season’s DPOY award are.

Top NFL Candidates Most Likely to Win DPOY
Myles Garrett | Jason Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

So, with that said, how about if we just cut to the chase and talk about who we see as the top favorite defensive behemoths, as we count down our favorites to win this season’s DPOY award?

  • Myles Garrett

Let me offer a simple question to begin this conversation. How is it that a player as physically dominant as Myles Garrett, star defensive end for the Cleveland Browns still hasn’t won a DPOY Award? Please, if you know why let me know because, in all honesty, it feels ridiculous that Garrett, who can easily be considered the best defender in the league continues to get subtly snubbed.

Yeah sure, there was that whole whacking Mason Rudolph with a helmet incident. But if you leave that out of the picture and focus on the man’s stats, we’re talking about a sacking machine. Every year that he has been in the league he has managed to somehow rewrite the role of what is expected of a defensive end. Not only is he a nightmare for opposing offenses, but he is also the kind of player you build a franchise around because he is the kind of athlete that commands respect.

Coming into the season, it’s no wonder why Garrett is widely considered the favorite to win this season’s DPOY Award, even with the chances of the Browns being a contending team being as big as the chances of me getting called up to play as the starting QB for the Jets when they finally make it to the Super Bowl. Jokes aside, mark my words when I say that if Garrett goes through the season in his usual demolishing ways, it will be hard for the league not to finally award him the DPOY Award.

  • T.J. Watt

Leaving the Garrett hype train behind, let’s talk about last year’s DPOY, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt. If you’re a quarterback playing against Pittsburgh and you see Watt eyeing your pocket, the chances of coming out and making a play are slim, very slim. The way that J.J, Watt’s little brother manages to move around offensive lines and how he overpowers any player in his way feels like we’re watching a millennial version of Lawrence Taylor.

Funny enough, winning DPOY awards seems second nature for the Watt family, with older brother J.J. having won three times, a feat that only the previously mentioned Taylor and Aaron Donald have managed to accomplish.

Last season alone, even after missing two complete games and parts of three other matchups, Pittsburgh’s premiere OLB managed to record 22.5 sacks, tying Michael Strahan’s record from 2001. Now, with the new season coming up and with Watt once again ready to lead the Steelers’ elite defensive line into battle, it’s hard not to picture Pittsburgh’s No. 90 gunning to shatter the season sack record and by doing so, winning his 2nd DPOY award in as many years.

  • Aaron Donald

The LA Rams’ star defensive tackle Aaron Donald embodies the saying that “offenses win games, defenses win championships.” Since Donald emerged in the league he has been widely considered the staple of defensive excellence. He is a game-changing athlete whose mix of power and slickness when avoiding blockers have made him a menace for all opposing offenses.

It doesn’t matter how many players teams put to block Donald, if he wants to get through and stop an offensive drive, the man will get through and stop that drive without any real hesitation. Sure, the Rams have one of the most stacked rosters not only in the NFC but in the NFL in general, but Donald seems like he plays in a league of his own. If there’s any doubt as to how good the man really is, watch the myriad of highlight-reel videos all over the internet of the three seasons in which he won the DPOY Award.

Now, as the Rams prepare to defend their Super Bowl title, in the hopes of running it back once again this upcoming season, Donald will surely be a pivotal part of the team’s success.

 

Top NFL Candidates Most Likely to Win DPOY
Aaron Donald | Jayne Kamin-Oncea  / Getty Images via AFP
  • Micah Parsons

If you want to talk about a rookie that caused an immediate splash on their team and whose stock went through the roof toward their second season, look no further than Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons. With Dallas in dire need of a leader on defense, drafting Parsons from Penn State last season could easily be considered the Cowboys’ best move in years.

Parsons balled out throughout the whole 2021 season and became the premier defensive leader that the Cowboys desperately needed. Now, with his second season in the pros coming up and after winning last year’s Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, capturing this season’s DPOY award feels right for Parsons, even with the competition for the prize reading like a who’s who of stellar defenders.

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