Myles Garrett has put himself in a strong position to etch his name in NFL history this season. Through 12 games, he has racked up an NFL-leading 19.0 sacks. That means he needs just 4.0 more sacks in his final five games to surpass the single-season record of 22.5, shared by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt. However, some believe that might not even be enough for Garrett to secure Defensive Player of the Year this season.
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Other edge rushers are having impressive campaigns as well. Brian Burns has been a rare bright spot for the New York Giants with 13.0 sacks, but the player truly challenging Garrett for the award is Micah Parsons.
The newly-acquired Green Bay Packer has now tallied 12.5 sacks this season and has received backing for his DPOY case from none other than Aaron Donald. As arguably the greatest defensive player in NFL history and a three-time DPOY winner, Donald’s support is no small thing.
“To be honest with you, I think this guy can mess around and have about 15 sacks this season. His team go make this playoff run? Defensive Player of the Year. I know Myles Garret is going for the record, but I don’t know,” Donald said on the Inner Circle Podcast.
“I think Micah Parsons is heating up and playing some good football at the right time. And from the team’s success and his success, if he can get to like 15 sacks, I think Defensive Player of the Year is in his future, this season possibly. We’ll see, though,” he added.
Donald was specifically impressed by Parsons’ big performance in front of the whole nation on Thanksgiving. He and his Green Bay Packers upset the Detroit Lions in the Motor City. And Parsons had 2.5 sacks and eight tackles to lead the team.
“I think Micah Parsons playing some good ball man. A big performance for him, eight tackles, 2.5 sacks. I think he was really productive. But he did a lot of things and opened up a lot of things for other guys to make plays. Man, I think he’s dominating, playing at a really high level,” Donald added.
It’s nice that Donald wants to make it seem like this race is still wide open, but it’s not. Garrett has over 33 percent more sacks than Parsons. He also has twice as many tackles for loss (28 to 12), showing he is the better run stopper. He even has more QB hits (30 to 24) and nearly twice as many solo tackles (35 to 18) as Parsons.
He’s also forced three fumbles to Parsons’ one, has three more pressures (39 to 36), and misses tackles half as often as Parsons does (3.9 to 7.3 percent). Parsons’ team is better, but that’s never really mattered for DPOY discussions.
So, as you can see, there’s a reason Garrett is a prohibitive -1,200 odds favorite to win the award as it stands now.
