Browns Myles Garrett wins Defensive Player of the Year; TJ Watt a close second

Garrett is the first Browns player to take home DPOY

The Cleveland Browns are two for two so far at the NFL Honors show. First, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz won Assistant Coach of the Year in a surprising landslide. Then DE Myles Garrett followed that up with the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Garrett was the straw that stirred the drink of Schwartz’s dominant defense this year. The hulking defensive end had 14 sacks, 17 tackles for loss, 30 QB hits, four forced fumbles, three passes deflected, one fumble recovery and a blocked field goal.

For a franchise that has had some great defensive players, Garrett is the first to ever win Defensive Player of the Year playing for the Browns.

Unlike with Schwartz’s award, the voting was close between AFC North rivals with Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher TJ Watt coming in second place:

Watt hinted at not winning the award about an hour before it was announced:

Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons, who was also up for the award, made it clear that Garrett should have won:

As Parsons noted, Garrett’s impact is felt beyond the boxscore and recognized by both the Pro Football Writers of America and the players of the NFLPA as better than Watt.

Do you agree with all the different voters that have Garrett as the Defensive Player of the Year over Watt or are Steelers fans right?