Haason Reddick Won't be DPOY but Has the Eagles on Brink of a Sack Record
Only once, and not since 1987, have the Eagles had an NFL Defensive Player of the Year winner.
That was Reggie White, who had 21 sacks, four forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery to earn the AP's annual award.
Haason Reddick will come close this year, but the Eagles' pass rusher won’t quite get to the finish line in the voting process. He could, and probably should be in the top five, though, and at 28, maybe someday he will scale that DPOY mountain.
San Francisco’s Nick Bosa is the odds-on-favorite to claim this year's award with Dallas’ Micah Parsons installed as the second favorite in odds released on Tuesday.
Bosa is deserving of the award and a case could be made for New England’s Matt Judon.
As for Parsons, he is good, but he's also overhyped. Reddick's numbers are comparable to the second-year Dallas star.
Bosa has 17.5 sacks, 48 tackles (39 of which are solo), 42 quarterback hits, and 14 tackles for loss with two forced fumbles. Bosa has done that in 14 games.
In 15 games, Judon has 15.5 sacks, 56 tackles (34 solos), 27 QB hits, 13 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and one recovery.
The numbers for Reddick and Parsons break down this way in 15 games each:
Reddick: 14 sacks, 43 tackles (31 solos), 21 QB hits, nine tackles for loss with five forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.
Parsons: 13 sacks, 62 tackles (20 solos), 24 QB hits, 14 tackles for loss with three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Others who could push into the top five of voting include Cleveland’s Myles Garrett and Kansas City’s Chris Jones.
Reddick has never fully gotten the recognition he deserves, though he was named to his first Pro Bowl this season.
It’s probably because the Temple product was close to being written off as a bust in his first three seasons after being the 13th player taken overall in 2017 by the Cardinals.
He was tried at linebacker before asking the Arizona coaching staff at the time to be moved to the defensive line for his fourth season. He put up 12.5 sacks that year and hasn’t looked back.
Of his 45 career sacks, 37.5 of those came in his last three seasons.
His 14 sacks this season, which included two against Dallas last Saturday in a game where Parsons had none, are a career-high, and his five forced fumbles and three recoveries are more than any other defensive linemen in the league.
While Reddick would welcome an individual award, he will have to be satisfied with being a key piece to an Eagles defense that is doing jaw-dropping things.
They have collected 61 sacks as a team, one away from tying the club record of 62 set by a 1989 team led by White himself.
They are the first NFL team since 1982 to record at least six sacks in four straight games.
They are one more Brandon Graham sack away from having four players with double-digit sacks. That would mark the first time in NFL history that would happen.
In addition to Reddick’s 14 and Graham’s nine, Josh Sweat has 11 and Javon Hargrave has 10.
Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon has said that sacks alone aren’t a winning statistic by his measurement, though he clarified that a bit on Tuesday, saying that in and of itself, sacks aren’t a winning metric.
“There's always pride in being the best at what you do,” he said. “…affecting the quarterback is a winning stat, and that's one way that you can affect the quarterback. Our guys have done a really good job with that.
“…I'm prideful of any time we're high in certain stats, and it's really a testament to the players of staying connected, doing their job, other guys doing their job that allows those guys to get sacks and do that, along with some really good individual performances, too.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
