Part of the content creation culture that most of us are an active part of today is the attempt to establish a level of authority. One only hopes to gain a certain level of credibility before presenting opinions that anybody might take seriously.
When it comes to the NFL, that involves handing out postseason awards that don’t actually count for anything. And Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett is continuing to rack up the imaginary honors for his performance during the 2023 season.
Having already won the “Defensive Player of the Year Award” handed out by Pro Football Focus Thursday, he received the same honor from Pro Football Talk later in the night. A more prestigious honor I can hardly fathom.
A large piece of the puzzle for Garrett’s campaign this season has been the notion that he is the best player on the best defense in the league. And to their credit, they did finish first in the NFL in total yards allowed, primarily due to allowing the fewest passing yards. They ranked 11th in rushing defense, and fifth in takeaways.
But they ranked 13th in points allowed. Even if you factor in six non-offensive touchdowns scored by opponents, they still allowed 20.82 points per game this year, which would move them all the way up to…12th place. Is the best defense in the league giving up 20-plus points per game when paired with an offense that only ranked 10th in scoring?
As far as statistics go, Garrett ranked seventh in the NFL in sacks and hits, eighth in tackles for loss, and tied for fifth in forced fumbles. He had one fumble recovery, zero interceptions, three passes defensed, and zero touchdowns. The statistical argument clearly doesn’t support his candidacy when T.J. Watt ranks above him across the board.
And there’s the rub. Garrett is winning the imaginary, meaningless awards. But will he win the one that matters, the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year Award? Pro Football Focus’ history of picking the winners is not very good. Nobody cares what Mike Florio and his associates think.
We won’t know until Feb. 8 during the NFL Honors awards show when all of these titles will be bestowed upon the latest dedicatees. If Garrett does win, it would, frankly, be a big win for the supposed analytics crowd given that he was statistically outperformed across the board by his Steelers rival.
I frankly am very curious to find out. The betting lines seem to favor Garrett, but I don’t rightly recall how well they have predicted past winners. It’s not something I’ve ever decided to care about since I have no interest in betting.
But the winner isn’t determined by betting lines. It’s determined by a pool of 50 voters consisting of journalists from across the spectrum of the industry, and Pro Football Focus has one vote. The players don’t vote, either. That’s why they had to make up their own All-Pro team, which also snubbed Watt.
But like the rest, they don’t actually matter in the long run. Only the AP carries weight. At least at this current time, I don’t see anybody being pitched for the Hall of Fame based on earning the Defensive Player of the Year Award from Mike Florio.
