It was Myles Garrett, not T.J. Watt, who stole the show last Thursday night. Garrett posted three first-half sacks to lead the Cleveland Browns to a 24-19 upset over the Pittsburgh Steelers. On the other end, Watt had one of his quietest pass-rushing performances of his career. No quarterback hits, no sacks, maybe one pressure (though we officially charted him with zero), and getting schooled by Browns RT Jack Conklin in their baker’s dozen of one-on-one matchups. Garrett is closer to the top of the NFL sack leaderboard than Watt. But Watt remains at the top of the DPOY oddsmaker’s list, still the favorite heading into Week 13.
As shared by FOX Sports via DraftKings, Watt remains the most likely player to win the award at minus-200. Here are the top three.
2024 DPOY Odds
1. T.J. Watt: -200
2. Will Anderson: +1200
3. Myles Garrett: +1200
They’re followed by a pair of ball-hawk defensive backs in Detroit Lions S Kerby Joseph and Green Bay Packers S Xavier McKinney, each of whom have seven interceptions.
Coming off a three-sack night, it’s surprising Garrett didn’t gain more ground. He’s still far away from Watt for DPOY, perhaps for good reason. Garrett has more sacks, 10 to 7.5, but Watt has more forced fumbles (4 to 3) and more total tackles (40 to 28) while the two are tied in QB hits (18 each) and tackles for loss (13).
Legacy will be on the line for this award. Watt won it in 2021 while Garrett took it home last season. Who will be the first to repeat? Whoever does will join an elite defensive club. The only multi-time DPOY winners are Lawrence Taylor, J.J. Watt, Aaron Donald, Bruce Smith, Reggie White, Joe Greene, Ray Lewis, and Mike Singletary. Taylor, Watt, and Donald did it three times. All eight are in the Hall of Fame.
Regardless how much more hardware they rack up, Watt and Garrett will eventually join them. But the debate over who is better will live on. Both were drafted in 2017 and each have similar sack production (Watt 104, Garrett 98.5) with one DPOY to their names. Whoever gets the second could get the tiebreaker in the national conversation even if Browns fans will always choose Garrett while Steelers fans will forever side with Watt. Hopefully the winner will create less controversy than the 2023 outcome.
The 2024 winner will be announced at the NFL Honors ceremony in February. Until then, Watt and Garrett have six weeks to burnish their resumes. For the Steelers, they’ll need to contain the NFL’s sack leader in Cincinnati Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson, who isn’t getting a peep in the DPOY conversation.
