For the second year, Pro Football Focus is naming Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett its Defensive Player of the Year over T.J. Watt and everyone else in the league. Arguably the most muddied group of candidates in years, PFF lands on the same result as a year ago in what was a two-horse race between Garrett and Watt. Ultimately, Garrett won with the website and the AP voters, who leaned on what PFF had to say and the analytics the outlet provided to determine a winner.
Author Mason Cameron laid out why Garrett became a two-time winner.
“Garrett’s relentless dominance on the edge defined the 2024 season, with his 92.7 overall grade leading all qualifying defenders. This performance ranks as the seventh highest among qualifying edge defenders in the PFF era (minimum 300 snaps), and it marks the third time Garrett has secured a spot in the top eight — a testament to his sustained excellence.”
Garrett’s individual numbers were again impressive. Remarkably consistent in sack production, he finished 2024 with 14, the same number he registered a season ago. In 2021 and 2022, he posted 16 sacks while his QB hits have floated between 26 and 33 each year. But PFF’s love of advanced numbers, the core of its site, is what has consistently given Garrett an edge over others like Watt.
In 2024, Garrett ranked in the 98th percentile in several categories: Pass-rush grade, pass-rush grade on “true” pass rushes, and everyone’s favorite pass-rush win percentage. While his run defense wasn’t as elite, PFF praised Garrett for a lack of negative plays.
Watt is regarded as a better run stopper, arguably the best of the league’s top-level pass rushers. And PFF has shown him love there and paired him with Garrett on its All-Pro team. But when it comes to DPOY, it consistently favors Garrett over Watt. For 2024, that’s more justifiable than last year. Watt finished this season with just 11.5 sacks, his fewest in a non-injury shortened season since his rookie year, and he has gone sack-less in three consecutive games. That’s his longest drought since 2018. While Watt hasn’t played poorly and had some bad luck, three sacks this season were taken away by penalties outside his control, this season’s resume isn’t his strongest to win the award.
On a Browns team with a bad defense and worse team, Garrett winning the AP DPOY award is unlikely. That leaves the door wide open. Perhaps it will still be Watt. Or current favorite Denver Broncos CB Patrick Surtain II while Cincinnati Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson has the numbers to lock up the award, finishing the season with a 3.5-sack dominant performance against Steelers LT Dan Moore Jr. The winner will be announced less than one month from now during the NFL Honors ceremony.
