The Cleveland Browns were the biggest winners of the NFL Honors ceremony.
Most people agreed that Joe Flacco, Kevin Stefanski, and Jim Schwartz were rightful winners of the Comeback Player of the year, AP Coach of the Year, and Assistant Coach of the Year honors, respectively.
Nonetheless, some continue to debate whether Myles Garrett should’ve been named Defensive Player of the Year over, say, T.J. Watt, who had better stats overall.
With that in mind, Browns analyst Kelsey Russo wanted to make sure to put an end to this narrative once and for all.
Russo mentions that people can acknowledge that Watt’s stats were more impressive, but Garrett’s impact has always gone way beyond the stat sheet (via Cleveland Browns on Twitter).
“Garrett finished the 2023 season with six quarterback hurries, 16 quarterback knockdowns and 30 quarterback hits. He totaled 37 pressures, alongside his 42 total tackles – 33 of which were solo tackles – and 17 tackles for loss. He also added three passes defended, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one blocked kick.
Those stats indicate how he was able to affect quarterbacks throughout the league and how effective he was in the pass rush, as well as create key defensive stops. Garrett played a necessary role in their success in third down situations, as the Browns had the best third down percentage in the league at 29.1 percent, allowing just 67 third down conversions out of 230 attempts.”
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We’re talking about a disruptive defensive force who actually makes opposing teams change their entire scheme and game plan.
Garrett is dealt with like no other defensive player in the league right now, yet he’s still able to shake off double-teams and disrupt the opposing team’s offense.
No other player put more pressure on opposing quarterbacks, whether it was with hurries, sacks, passes defended, or whatnot.
Garrett’s the most athletic defensive end in the league, and he might be the strongest as well.
Other players, such as Watt, had a red carpet to the opposing quarterback, whereas Garrett had to go through hell to put up his numbers.
At the end of the day, the numbers only tell one side of the story, but the tape never lies, and there was no better defensive player in the game this year than Myles Garrett.
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