00:00Joe, the Defensive Player of the Year award, though,
00:02has seemingly been decided for a long time now.
00:05Miles Garrett, he breaks the sack record.
00:08He is on a five-win team.
00:10Any issue or pushback on that reality?
00:15No.
00:16Again, when you, I mean,
00:18and we know about the hype surrounding Miles Garrett.
00:21Coming in, we thought he was one of the most
00:22dominant defensive players in the league.
00:25When Micah Parson went down in the middle part of the year,
00:28I think it was signed, sealed, and delivered.
00:30And the fact that he breaks the sack record,
00:32I just can't give it to anybody else.
00:34I mean, I think, look, defensively, right,
00:40is the one area where when we're looking at this award,
00:43you don't have to be on a winning team.
00:45I think defense is looked at as, hey, you know,
00:48sometimes you could have a dominant defense,
00:50but if your offense can't win you games, you're given a pass.
00:53We're on the offensive side of the ball.
00:55We're so offensive metric-based,
00:58and the perception is starting quarterback,
01:01and when we talk about these awards, right,
01:03we go and we obviously relate it to record.
01:07Yeah.
01:08On the defensive side of the ball, it's more like, hey,
01:10you could be a dominant defensive player on a terrible team,
01:14and you're still deserving.
01:15I think that's the way you look at it,
01:18and you just look at the performances,
01:20and you look at the people on that list.
01:22The only household name that you could make an argument outside of
01:27Micah Parsons, I believe, would be Hutchinson.
01:30I don't even think Will Anderson is a household name.
01:32I'm saying just in just normal perception.
01:36We know him from college and obviously covering the league,
01:39and the people, you know, covering the league.
01:41He's getting there, though.
01:41He's getting there, but I'm just saying, like,
01:45Miles Garrett, you ask 100 people who's one of the best defensive end
01:49or defensive players in the league, they're going to say Miles Garrett.
01:53And it's almost like LT back in the day.
01:56It's just.
01:57Right.
01:57I just, there is.
02:01It's very weird because I think Miles Garrett is truly one of the all-time
02:06greats.
02:07So for him to have that season, right, break the record, gosh,
02:12I hate that it took him 17 games, though.
02:14You wanted him to break it in 10?
02:16No, I wanted him to break it in 16.
02:19They did.
02:21I'm happy that he actually got the legitimate sack as opposed to Favre
02:25breaking down and giving it to Strahan.
02:28I'm just saying.
02:29Yeah, I know.
02:31I mean, you can look at it both ways.
02:33Right.
02:34You know, and the fact that how many sacks did he have heading into,
02:37like, week 15?
02:38Didn't he have, like, 22?
02:40Well, that's my point.
02:41Yeah, I know.
02:41Is he was set up to crush it.
02:45He was at one point set up to crush it.
02:47We legitimately were like, you think he's going to get 30?
02:50Like, that's how it felt.
02:51So, yes, him not being able to do that was a little bit, again,
02:56frustrated isn't the word.
02:57I'm just saying I don't like, I don't want to add questions on top of things
03:03that shouldn't be questioned.
03:05Okay.
03:05Okay?
03:06Yep.
03:06And I think that we now are in this unfortunate position where people will
03:11question a little bit just the, eh, just down the road.
03:15Okay?
03:16Down the road.
03:17But I am someone who fully believed something that ended up not mattering,
03:22which is had Micah Parsons not tore his ACL,
03:25I think he might have actually took the award off Garrett.
03:27Well, I think he would have been the exception and the outlier.
03:31And the reason why is because...
03:32Because I think they would have won the North.
03:33Yeah, and he was a household name, though.
03:35Yeah.
03:36Well, that's true.
03:36They weren't giving it to...
03:38That's a good point.
03:38They weren't giving it to Nick Benito.
03:41No, but I'm saying Benito's a great player.
03:43Yeah.
03:43But he's not a household name.
03:45Right.
03:46You know, you survey 100 NFL or 1,000 NFL fans,
03:50they're not picking Nick Benito out of a hat before Miles Garrett and Micah Parsons.
03:56Right.
03:56And that's, you know, when you get down to this award, that's the problem.
04:00You know, you can make the argument Will Anderson was, you know,
04:03dominant defensive player and a main reason why him and Merciless, right,
04:08led that team and main reason why they got even to the divisional round.
04:13And, but when you just look at overall body of work,
04:19it's like the home run record.
04:21It's like Barry Bonds, and I know he's not in the Hall of Fame,
04:24but my point is, you know, it's that recognizable feat.
04:29Yeah.
04:30You break the home run record, you break the sack record.
04:32It's like, wow, you're, oh, all world.
04:34Right.
04:35And I guess.
04:36It doesn't matter the team that you're on.
04:38No.
04:39And, I mean, look, there's so much attention paid to him.
04:44People have also mentioned, like, it's not like they won a bunch of games,
04:46so it's not like there was a bunch of times where they were,
04:48like, they were playing the run a lot in Cleveland, right?
04:51Right, yeah.
04:52These teams are just running the clock out.
04:53So, I promise I am not trying to downgrade what will be a legendary season.
04:59I'm just saying, I never would have thought Myles Garrett could be on a five-win team
05:04and win defensive player of the year.
05:06But, ultimately, I do think he would have won defensive player of the year,
05:11even if he didn't get the record.
05:14Like, by the end of it, because the rest, to your point, Joe,
05:17there wasn't enough for Benito.
05:18There wasn't enough for Anderson.
05:20Micah got hurt.
05:21The Lions' defense wasn't even very good.
05:23Hutchinson was excellent.
05:25But just that defense was not good enough to, you know, get it to him, ultimately.
Comments