Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns and T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers engaged in a heated competition last season to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year. In the end, Garrett took first place with 23 votes and 165 points, whereas Watt only managed 19 votes and 140 points. Garrett won the call in spite of Watt’s stellar statistics, which included numerous forced fumbles and a league-high 19.0 sacks.
Garrett and Watt were once again among the leading candidates for the DPOY award when the 2024 NFL season got underway, with +650 odds each, behind only Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, who was at +550. The three players were the front-runners in the competition, but after Week 2, a new competitor surfaced. After recording 4.5 sacks in a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, three of which came in the first quarter, Aidan Hutchinson of the Detroit Lions shot to the top of the odds list at +350. After the Steelers’ Week 2 victory over the Denver Broncos, in which Watt added another sack to his season total, Watt remained stable at +400.
Parsons had a poor game against the New Orleans Saints, managing just three tackles, which caused his odds to tumble from first to third at +600. Alongside Maxx Crosby, who shone with two sacks in the Las Vegas Raiders’ unexpected victory over the Baltimore Ravens, Garrett, who also contributed with a sack in the Browns’ victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, fell to a tie for fourth at +900.
