Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is the overwhelming favorite to win the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award this season. But the Patriots may have the defensive player of the year as well.
New England defensive end Chandler Jones is leading the league with 10.5 sacks, and he has a strong claim to be the top defensive player in the league right now. Jones had the Patriots’ best defensive play in Sunday’s win over the Giants, a strip-sack of Eli Manning that ended a good Giants drive, but afterward he was more interested in talking up teammates Malcolm Butler and Rob Ninkovich.
“Everyone was working together,” Jones said. “We played until the end. We played down to the wire, and everyone stayed together. Guys are just feeding off each other. Guys are making big plays. Malcolm made a tremendous play. Rob made a tremendous sack. We had an opportunity to get after him a little bit for a team that didn’t give up too many sacks before the game. We executed and tried to do what we do best.”
The race for defensive player of the year is wide open, and there will be plenty of other players getting consideration. J.J. Watt is never a bad choice for defensive player of the year. The stellar defenses in Denver and Carolina will produce multiple candidates, including the Broncos’ Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware and Aqib Talib and the Panthers’ Luke Kuechly and Josh Norman. Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson has been getting some defensive player of the year hype, although that’s more about Woodson getting respect for still playing well as the oldest defensive player in the NFL than about Woodson actually being the best defensive player in the entire league.
Jones isn’t a runaway favorite for defensive player of the year the way Brady is for MVP, but if he stays on top of the sack charts while the Patriots stay on top of the standings, he’s going to be a strong candidate for the claim of best defensive player in football.