Pittsburgh Steelers fans are still aggravated with the way that the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year voting went with T.J. Watt being snubbed in favor of Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett. We all saw it coming from a mile away with the various advanced metrics communities pushing hard for Garrett to win his first DPOY award, yet the stat comparison between the two players was clearly in favor of Watt. Well, thanks to SuperBook Sports’ early 2024 DPOY odds, we can once again argue who will be the winner of the award for next season.
This shows Watt in a four-way tie for the second-best odds at +700 with Dallas Cowboys EDGE Micah Parsons holding the top spot alone at +600. Tied with Watt are the usual suspects – Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett, and Nick Bosa. There is a pretty large drop-off in odds after those initial five players with Aidan Hutchinson next on the list at +1400.
Three of the top five on the list have already captured a DPOY award with Watt winning in 2021, Bosa winning in 2022, and Garrett winning in 2023. There are eight players in league history to have won the award multiple times, and just three players to win three times. Among the three-time DPOY winners is T.J. Watt’s brother, J.J. Watt.
Following his snub, Watt stated that he is using it as motivation to have an even better 2024 season. Every year you wonder if Watt will be able to match or top his previous year’s production and he manages to keep raising the bar.
He didn’t have the 22.5 sacks last season like he did in 2021, but his overall stat sheet was extremely impressive. He led the league in sacks with 19.0 and had 68 combined tackles, 48 solo tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 36 QB hits, four forced fumbles, one interception, one defensive touchdown, and eight passes defensed. It was arguably his most complete season and earned him Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro selections.
He finished the DPOY voting in second place with 140 points to Garrett’s 165. Parsons, the current favorite to win in 2024, was in third place in the voting with 89 points. Parsons had his fifth-year option exercised by the Cowboys, so this will act as his contract year for a possible extension next offseason.
