The NFL Defensive Player of the Year award is one of the few ways defense is celebrated in today’s NFL. With rules continuing to be bent in the favor of offenses, this is one of the only avenues for defense to be encouraged. And in the NFL Defensive Player of the Year betting markets, bettors can often find value betting on who will win this award that supports the stifling of opposing offenses.
This award has largely been passed around by defensive linemen in recent years, with defensive linemen winning it seven out of the last nine years. If you count T.J. Watt as a defensive linemen, it is eight out of nine. Of course, five of those combined awards went to Aaron Donald and J.J. Watt. But the ability to make plays up front has been rewarded handsomely in this market in recent seasons.
That brings us to the betting odds for this year’s NFL Defensive Player of the Year:
2023 NFL Defensive Player Of The Year Odds
Player | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Parsons | +450 | +550 | +450 | +500 | +600 |
Watt | +650 | +650 | +600 | +800 | |
Garrett | +700 | +700 | +700 | +700 | +700 |
Bosa | +700 | +650 | +700 | +700 | +800 |
Watt | +700 | +700 | |||
Crosby | +750 | +650 | +750 | +700 | +1000 |
Hutchinson | +1400 | +1100 | +1400 | +1200 | +1600 |
Allen (JAX) | +1400 | +1400 | +2000 | +2500 | |
Allen (Jac) | +1800 | +1800 | |||
Jones | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 | +3000 | +3000 |
Warner | +3000 | +3500 | +3000 | +3500 | +5000 |
Hamilton | +3000 | +3000 | +3000 | +3500 | +5000 |
Anderson Jr. | +3000 | +3000 | +2500 | +2500 | |
Sweat | +3500 | +3000 | +3500 | +3000 | +5000 |
Anderson Jr | +3500 | +3500 | |||
Burns | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 | +5000 |
Hunter | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 | +5000 | +5000 |
Reddick | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 | +5000 |
Madubuike | +4000 | +6600 | +4000 | +5000 | +10000 |
Gary | +4000 | +5000 | +4000 | +5000 | +5000 |
Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
Myles Garrett finished last season with 16 sacks, second in that category to the player who won Defensive Player of the Year in Nick Bosa. This season, Garrett is seventh in the league in sacks with 14 sacks at the end of the regular season. He is the favorite to win this award, despite not being at the top of the sack charts, thanks to his overall impact on opposing offenses.
Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys
Micah Parsons came into this season as the favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year award, as he aims to help the Dallas Cowboys make a deep run in the playoffs this season. Parsons had 13.5 sacks a season ago and beat that number with 14 this year. He has helped the Cowboys defense remain excellent in spite of Trevon Diggs getting injured early in the season, which has helped Parsons to remain at the top of the list of DPOY favorites.
TJ Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers
Last season, TJ Watt did not play for the full year, as he only took part in 10 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The year before that, he tied the record for the most sacks in a single season with 22.5, claiming Defensive Player of the Year honors with ease. Watt finished this season with the most sacks in the NFL, racking up 19, though late-season injuries could be costly to his candidacy.
2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Prediction
The unfortunate nature of this award is that pass rushers are always going to have the advantage over players at other positions unless a defensive back puts up an insane number of interceptions. We will back another pass rusher to win this award this season, as Myles Garrett has been so influential to the success of the Browns this season that he makes the most sense to come away with this honor in 2023.