Player Of The Week Is Not All That Myles Garrett Is Coming For
Myles Garrett was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week just yesterday for his performance against the Dallas Cowboys. Garrett was a force to be wreck-end with, putting up three tackles, 2 sacks, a forced fumble and plenty of pressures. It is a nice short term award, but Garrett is heading toward much more. The impact that Garrett is putting out on the field has given the Browns life and points numerous times on the young season already.
After Garrett was suspended last year for 10 games, he contemplated quitting football - luckily for Cleveland fans he did not do that. Instead, Garrett became one of the highest paid players in the game just a few months ago. Through four games this season it is easy to see why Andrew Berry and the Browns inked number 95 for a long time.
Five sacks through three games leads the NFL, but that is not the most exciting thing for the Cleveland defense. Garrett has 27 pressures through four games on the opposing quarterback. That right there shows the pure domination that is being put out on the field. The flexibility of being able to play either end position and the combination of pass rush moves have been lethal for Garrett. Pro Football Focus has him as a 91.4 pass rush grade, as well as an All-Pro player to this point.
Garrett would have been All-Pro last year if it was not for the suspension, in fact he had a chance at the NFL’s Defensive POY award. So far this season Garrett is on track to once again be in that talk, perhaps even leading it to this point. The season is young but it is fair to expect this level of play to continue for the star pass rusher, he even holds himself to that high of standards. When you are the leader of the defense, high expectations come.
Cleveland’s defense has been really banged up, one constant has been Garrett. If you look up the definition of difference maker, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Myles Garrett on the Cleveland Browns as an example. It was quickly seen last year what things are like without number 95. There was next to no pass rush and quarterbacks were able to basically play a 7-on-7. This year Garrett has forced three fumbles and Cleveland has scored off of every one of those forced turnovers. Yes, the Browns struggle in pass defense, some of that is made up with the pass rush they have assembled led by Garrett.
While the player of the week award was nice, they may pile up a bit before he can be named All-Pro, or even the player of the year on the defensive side of the ball. Playing at this pace Garrett could very well lead the league with 17-19 sacks on the season. The impressive thing about it is teams game plan to stop Garrett. Whether that is double teaming, chip blocking or getting it out quick, it happens. It happens with every elite pass rusher, it’s just that much more impressive when they execute and change games at the level that Cleveland’s defensive end is doing.
