With 18 sacks already this season and sitting just 4.5 sacks away from the NFL’s single-season record, Cleveland Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett is a shoo-in for Defensive Player of the Year honors.
But why not give him consideration to be the league’s Most Valuable Player?
Earlier this season, the Browns made Garrett the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league at the time with a four-year, $160 million deal that pays him $40 million annually. How dominant has Garrett been this season? He has three games with at least three sacks and 13 sacks over his last four games — the most on record in a four-game period.
It’s not just this season that Garrett’s been dominant, either. Garrett has posted at least 13 sacks in five straight seasons, dating back to 2021, the longest streak of any defender since sacks were first tracked in 1982. He’s taken over for Aaron Donald as the most dominant defensive player in the NFL following the former Rams star’s retirement at the end of the 2023 season.
The league has had game wreckers in the past who have not won MVPs, but have been deserving. J.J. Watt and Donald won the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award three times. Neither won an MVP. However, Lawrence Taylor, the league’s only other three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner, was the last defensive player to win MVP back in 1986.
The year Michael Strahan set the single-season sack record with 22.5 sacks in 2001, Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher finished fifth in MVP voting and Kurt Warner won the award. Strahan won Defensive Player of the Year over Urlacher that year.
T.J. Watt tied Strahan’s sack record with 22.5 sacks in 2021, but Aaron Rodgers won MVP that year. Watt took home Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Myles Garrett has emerged as a clear favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year, holding -1000 odds for the award, via DraftKings Sportsbook. (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)
One thing working in Garrett’s favor is that perennial MVP candidates like Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow are having off years, compared to the numbers they usually produce.
But Cleveland’s 3-8 record works against Garrett’s candidacy. So, the Browns would need to put a run together in the second half of the season for Garrett to have a legitimate chance to win the award. Still, Garrett has put together an impressive season and deserves consideration in a year when no one is running away with the league’s MVP.
Garrett’s MVP odds sit at +25000 at DraftKings Sportsbook. Matthew Stafford continues to lead the MVP odds at -215, followed by Drake Maye (+200), Jonathan Taylor (+1800) and Josh Allen (+2200).
Let’s take a closer look at my top five for MVP heading into Week 13.
5. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts (Last week: No. 3)
The Wisconsin product’s play has cooled a bit recently from when he was on pace to rush for 2,000 yards and chase down LaDainian Tomlinson’s single-season touchdown record of 31 scores.
A game after rushing for a season-high 244 yards, Taylor had just 58 rushing yards in an overtime loss on the road to the Kansas City Chiefs. Taylor was hit behind the line of scrimmage at a season-high rate (62.5%) and averaged only 0.7 yards before contact against the Chiefs, per Next Gen Stats.
Odds to win MVP: +1800
4. Myles Garrett, DE, Cleveland Browns (Last week: Unranked)
Not only does Garrett lead the league in sacks with 18, but he also leads the NFL in tackles for loss with 26 — the most by a player in his team’s first 11 games of a season since 2000, eclipsing Von Miller (24 in 2012 with the Broncos) and J.J. Watt (24 in 2012 with the Texans).
Odds to win MVP: +25000
3. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Seattle Seahawks (Last week: No. 4)
In his third season, Smith-Njigba has already posted a franchise record for a single season with 1,313 receiving yards through 11 games — breaking the previous Seahawks’ record of 1,303 set by DK Metcalf in 2020. Smith-Njigba finished with a season-high 167 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a win over the Tennessee Titans last week and has eight 100-yard receiving games this season.
Smith-Njigba gets a chance to add to those numbers when Seattle hosts the Minnesota Vikings, led by a blitz-heavy approach on defense by defensive coordinator Brian Flores and who most NFL observers considered the best receiver in the league before Smith-Njigba’s breakout season in Justin Jefferson. Smith-Njigba will try and help quarterback Sam Darnold get a win against the team that moved on from him for the struggling J.J. McCarthy.
Odds to win MVP: +4000
Chasing down the “old guy” is the 23-year-old Maye, who has caught fire in his second season with the Patriots. Maye played solidly in his team’s 26-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, completing 63% of his passes for 294 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
The Patriots have won nine straight and at 10-2 are fighting with the Denver Broncos (9-2) for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Maye and New England face what appears to be a light lift at home against the reeling New York Giants before the team’s bye week.
And yes, Maye was a bucket in high school.
Odds to win MVP: +200
1. Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams (Last week: No. 2)
After another scintillating performance by Stafford in a blowout victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it feels like the MVP award is Stafford’s to lose. Stafford finished 25 of 35 for 273 passing yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Stafford leads the league with 30 passing touchdowns and hasn’t thrown an interception since Week 3. In the last eight games, Stafford has thrown 25 touchdown passes and no interceptions. He’s been sacked just 11 times over that period.
Stafford entered the season with serious questions about his health due to a balky back that kept him out of most of training camp. But so far, the Rams have done a nice job of protecting their 37-year-old quarterback and he’s playing the best football of his career.
And Stafford is still throwing no-look dimes like he’s at the playground.
Odds to win MVP: -215
Honorable mentions: Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Christian McCaffrey, Patrick Mahomes, Jordan Love.
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on X at @eric_d_williams.
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