As the NFL Honors ceremony approaches this Thursday to recognize the best in the game, these players stand out and have the best NFL odds to win the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year award. Following a historic season, who will be heading home with the hardware?
Update 02/10/22: T.J. Watt was officially announced as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year odds
With the announcement set to come on Thursday night at the NFL Honors celebration, here are the latest odds for the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
- T.J. Watt (-350)
- Micah Parsons (+200)
- Aaron Donald (+500)
- Myles Garrett (+1400)
- Trevon Diggs (+2000)
- Robert Quinn (+3000)
- Nick Bosa (+5000)
- Darius Leonard (+10000)
T.J. Watt’s historic season has him leading the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year odds
After coming up just short in last year’s voting to Aaron Donald, T.J. Watt is the odds-on favorite to win 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. The latest odds via VegasInsider have Watt at -350 to take the crown.
It’s easy to see why. Playing in just 15 games due to various injuries, Watt recorded 22.5 sacks, tying New York Giants’ all-time great Michael Strahan (2001). After posting 15.0 last season, Watt now has 72.0 sacks in 77 career games played with the Steelers. He also acknowledged this is not an individual award when asked at the Pro Bowl.
“It would be a great honor,” Watt said. “I know I get asked about it a lot, and it gets tiresome just because it’s such an individual award, but it’s so much more than that. So many guys helped me, whether it was guys in coverage, guys in the rush with me as well. Just great schemes by the coaches as well.
“It’d be a great honor, but it would be the Pittsburgh Steelers as a whole.”
Unless we get a Steve Harvey moment and the wrong person gets announced by mistake, expect Watt’s name to be called on Thursday night as they reveal the recipient of the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.
Could a rookie win 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year?
No doubt about it, Micah Parsons is special. The fact he fell to the Cowboys in the draft is almost sacrilegious at this point. He will win Defensive Rookie of the Year — and it’ll likely be unanimous. Could he double-dip? There’s a chance.
He recorded 84 tackles (64 solo), 20 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 3 pass breakups, and 30 quarterback hits in 16 games. In addition to his Pro Bowl selection, Parsons was a first-team All-Pro as voted by the Associated Press. He was the leading vote-getter at linebacker, and he was the only rookie to make first-team honors.
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Also, Parsons was the Professional Football Writers of America’s 2021 Rookie of the Year and 2021 Defensive Rookie of the Year, and he was also voted onto the All-NFL, All-NFC, and All-Rookie teams. There is a reason people are already comparing his and Lawrence Taylor’s stats and measurements together.
What else do you want the guy to do? He has insane closing speed, superb instincts, and he can cover just as easily as defending the box. Want to call him the best linebacker in the NFL? I won’t stop you. Do you want to call him the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year recipient? At +200 odds, you certainly wouldn’t be the only one making a case for Parsons.
Aaron Donald’s odds to win 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year are high
Aaron Donald is a freak. I say that with the highest amount of respect possible. If aliens invaded and we needed a representative to defend us against total annihilation and/or enslavement, I’m sending Donald as our champion. He is and has been the best football player on the face of the Earth for multiple seasons. In 127 career games, he has 226 QBs hits, 441 tackles (285 solo), 150 tackles for a loss, and 98.0 sacks — as a freaking 3-technique defensive tackle.
Think about this. Despite facing a double-team at the highest rate in the NFL, Donald was No. 2 in pass rush win rate at 26%, trailing only Myles Garrett at 28% despite him being an edge rusher. Donald led Watt in pass-rush wins a staggering 94 to 53. Remember, Donald is a defensive tackle, not an edge rusher.
In 2021-2022, Donald ranked tied for seventh in sacks with 12.5, fourth in tackles for a loss with 18, and fourth in forced fumbles with 4, all while taking on multiple 320-plus-pound dudes and keeping them at bay with a single arm.
There is a reason Donald has won the DPOY in three of the last four seasons. At +500 odds, he is in third place among contenders for the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year award. Sure, there will be some uproar if he wins over Watt again, but you cannot deny the talent.
