With the unfortunate injury to Detroit Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson, who is out for the season due to a broken leg, Pittsburgh Steelers EDGE T.J. Watt is the new NFL favorite to win DPOY, Defensive Player of the Year. Per Betonline’s updated odds, Watt is the favorite at +140. It’s a clear lead over second place, San Francisco 49ers LB Fred Warner at +800.
Here are the top six.
2024 NFL DPOY Odds
1. T.J. Watt – +140
2. Fred Warner – +800
3. Maxx Crosby – +1000
3. Will Anderson Jr. – +1000
5. Chris Jones – +1200
5. Dexter Lawrence – +1200
Watt is coming off a dominant performance Sunday, even though he didn’t register a sack. A well-rounded player, he found other ways to impact the game by forcing a pair of fumbles in the run game while notching two tackles for loss. It was the fifth multi-forced fumble game of his career and his first where both came against the run. His first set up Pittsburgh at the Las Vegas 30 while his second came on the goal line and prevented a touchdown in a game the Raiders still had a chance to climb back into.
On the year, Watt is currently 11th with 4.5 sacks and tied for fourth with eight tackles for a loss. He’s second in forced fumbles with three, one behind Warner.
Hutchinson’s season got off to a hot start thanks to a 4.5-sack performance in Week 2. He entered yesterday as the NFL’s sack leader and picked up another in a blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys. But he gruesomely broke his tibia, his leg immediately placed in an air cast as he was carted off the field. Monday, the Lions released the following statement on his status.
Head coach Dan Campbell indicated Hutchinson would miss 4-6 months. Perhaps that could create a miracle Super Bowl recovery, but he certainly won’t play another regular-season snap.
Watt is a one-time winner of Defensive Player of the Year, taking home the trophy in 2021 after tying the single-season sack record with 22.5 takedowns. He’s arguably been snubbed multiple times since, including finishing second behind Myles Garrett despite recording more sacks.
Interestingly, Garrett has fairly long odds to win the award at +2800. The favorite coming into the season was Dallas Cowboys LB/EDGE Micah Parsons, but a high ankle sprain has robbed him of his last two games, and he has just one sack on the season. His odds now reside at +4500.
Now the favorite for DPOY, some believe his sights could be set on an even bigger award. MVP. An award won by a quarterback every year since 2007, the last defensive player to take home that kind of hardware was LB Lawrence Taylor in 1986.
