NFL announces five finalists for Defensive Player of the Year

The finalists for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award have just been announced. This season, the top defensive stars shined, showing why they are the best in the business, resulting in a few familiar names on this year’s finalist list. However, there are a few new faces in contention for the DPOY award who put together historic performances in the 2023- 2024 season.

Could it even be considered a Defensive Player of the Year list without a Watt featured on it? Possibly, but we will not find out the answer to that question this season as Pittsburgh Steelers star linebacker T.J. Watt, younger brother of three-time DPOY winner J.J. Watt, is named a finalist for the fourth time in five seasons. This year, he is accompanied by another defensive player of the year fixture in Cleveland Browns EDGE Myles Garrett, along with the Las Vegas Raiders EDGE Maxx Crosby and a pair of young talented stars from the Dallas Cowboys: linebacker Micah Parsons and cornerback DaRon Bland.

Deciding a winner for this year’s Defensive Player of the Year award might be trickier than it has been in previous seasons. However, as we continue, we will break down each finalist’s case to become the 2023 DPOY.

Cowboys CB DaRon Bland

An unfortunate injury to Dallas’ star starting quarterback, Trevon Diggs, provided an opportunity for Bland to truly showcase what he could do as a starter. And boy, did he ever.

Bland, a second-year corner out of Fresno State, put together an all-time performance in the Cowboys secondary, finishing the regular season with 69 total tackles, 15 passes defended, and an impressive nine interceptions with a jaw-dropping five returned for touchdowns. His five pick-6s set a new NFL season record, eclipsing the previous mark of four, which three individuals held.

Raiders DL Maxx Crosby

This season, Crosby was able to shine amongst the chaos happening in Las Vegas. Despite the Raiders’ struggles, the former fourth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft was able to finish the 2023 season with 90 total tackles, 23 tackles for loss (which list tied before tops in the league), and 14.5 sacks.

All three of those are career highs for Crosby to go along with his two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery on the season.

Browns DL Myles Garrett

Once again, Garrett was the engine behind the Browns’ dominant defense, which has already earned him the Professional Football Writers of America Defensive Player of the Year award. The former number one overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft led Cleveland in sacks (14) while listing the year with 42 total tackles, 33 solo, four forced fumbles, three passes defend it, and even one block kick in 16 games in 2023.

Cowboys EDGE Micah Parsons

Dallas is the only franchise with two players vying for the DPOY award, which could split the volts between the players. However, how could Parsons not be a part of the 2023 defensive Player of the Year finalist list after the season he put together? In just three years in the NFL, the 24-year-old has dominated opposing offenses, finishing 2023 as the league leader in quarterback pressures (102), pass rush win rate (37.6%), and quarterback pressure rate (22.4%).

Parsons coupled that with a new career high in sacks (14) to go along, which is 64 total tackles, 36 solo, two passes defended, and one forced fumble and recovery.

Steelers EDGE T.J. Watt

T.J. Watt is continuing on the Watt legacy of terrorizing opposing quarterbacks. For the third time in his career, he finishes the regular season as the league leader in sacks with 19. The next closest individual is Crosby, who is 4.5 off of Watts’s pace.

Watt also tied a few career highs in 2023 with 68 total tackles and eight passes defended to go along with 48 solo tackles, four forced fumbles, three fumbles recovered, and one of those fumble recoveries returned for a touchdown.

The winner of the DPOY award, along with multiple others, including the NFL MVP, will be announced on Feb. 8, 2024, during the NFL Honors show, which will be held at the Resorts World Theater in Las Vegas. Fans can catch all the action live on their local CBS station, the NFL Network, or by streaming with Paramount+ and NFL+.