3 Reasons Why Defensive Player of Year Finalist Micah Parsons Should Win

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons is one of five finalists to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He won’t win – Myles Garrett is a lock – but he should.

Here are three reasons why the award should go to Parsons.

1. Micah Parsons Was Army of One

Parsons finished seventh in the NFL with 12.5 sacks and, according to Pro Football Focus, 79 pressures.

Rashan Gary was next with 7.5 sacks, none of which came after Parsons was injured. Parsons had as many pressures as the next two Packers defenders (Gary and Karl Brooks) combined. There were a few games, such as Week 11 against the Giants and Week 13 against the Lions, when Parsons had more pressures than the rest of the defense combined.

As a team, the Packers had 36 sacks and 317 quarterback pressures. Parsons had 34.7 percent of the sacks and 24.9 percent of the pressures. Those numbers would have been higher had he not suffered a torn ACL at Denver. After the Denver game, for reference, Parsons had 37.9 percent of the sacks and 29.9 percent of the pressures.

Garrett set the sacks record with 23, and nobody else on the Cleveland roster had more than 6.5. He had 43.4 percent of the Browns’ sacks and 27.2 percent of the pressures.

The other finalists got more help than Parsons.

The finalists for AP Defensive Player of the Year presented by @TCL_USA! #NFLHonors pic.twitter.com/uCYIuxpnmU
— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2026

Denver’s Nik Bonitto had 14 sacks, but the Broncos threatened the NFL sacks record as three other players had at least seven sacks. Bonitto had 20.6 percent of the sacks and 18.5 percent of the pressures. Teammate Zach Allen led the NFL with 47 quarterback hits; Bonitto had 28.

Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson had 14.5 sacks but Al-Quandin Muhammad added 11. Hutchinson had 30.2 percent of the sacks and 31.1 percent of the pressures.

Houston’s Will Anderson was second on the team with 12 sacks; Danielle Hunter had 15. Anderson had 25.5 percent of the sacks and 25.3 percent of the pressures.

Putting a bow on it, of the five finalists, Parsons had the second-highest percentage of sacks (behind Garrett) and would have had the second-highest percentage of pressures (behind Hutchinson).

Opponents knew who could win the game. According to Pro Football Focus, among edge defenders, Parsons was third in double-team percentage (behind Arik Armstead and Garrett) and first in triple-team percentage.

2. The Packers Won …

Green Bay was 9-3-1 before its Week 15 showdown at the Broncos when Parsons was injured.

For all of Garrett’s dominance, the Browns were still a woeful 5-12. The Lions with Hutchinson didn’t make the playoffs, either. Houston and Denver did make the playoffs, though, as shown above, Anderson and Bonitto are merely very important cogs on superb overall units.

3. … Until Parsons Was Injured

The Packers led the Broncos 23-20 in the third quarter when Parsons went down. They wound up losing 34-26, kicking off a five-game losing streak to end the season.

Why? The lack of a pass rush was a big reason. The Packers had zero sacks at Denver, zero sacks at Chicago, one sack against Baltimore, two sacks in the clear-the-bench game against Minnesota and one sack in the playoff game against Chicago.

Before the Denver game, the Packers were sixth in the NFL with 19.0 points allowed per game. During the final four games, which includes the Denver game as well as Week 18, the Packers allowed 28.3 points per game, the eighth-most.

The Packers allowed 25-plus points only twice when Parsons was in the lineup – 40 in the tie at Dallas and 25 at Pittsburgh, which included a meaningless touchdown late in the game. Without Parsons, the Packers gave up 34 against Denver, 41 against Baltimore and 25 in the fourth quarter alone in the playoff loss to the Bears.

Defensive Player of the Year Finalists

Micah Parsons is one of five finalists for the award, which will be handed out during NFL Honors. Here’s the list.

Will Anderson Jr., Houston Texans: Anderson tied for eighth with 12 sacks and was tied for fourth with 20 tackles for losses. He added three forced fumbles.

Nik Bonitto, Denver Broncos: Bonitto finished fifth with 14 tacks and was tied for sixth with 28 quarterback hits. He forced two fumbles.

Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns: Garrett set the NFL sacks record with 23. Not only did he lead the NFL in sacks – Brian Burns was a distant second with 16.5 – but he was No. 1 in tackles for losses (33; Max Crosby was next with 28 and nobody else had more than 22). He added three forced fumbles.

Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions: Hutchinson came back from last year’s broken leg to finish fourth with 14.5 sacks, third with 35 quarterback hits and tied for second with four forced fumbles. He is one of five finalists for Comeback Player of the Year, as well.

Micah Parsons, Green Bay Packers: Despite missing the final three-plus games with a torn ACL, Parsons was seventh with 12.5 sacks.

Ultimately, even Parsons knows that Garrett is going to get the award. His sack production is impossible to overlook.

His former defensive coordinator, Jeff Hafley, who was introduced as the Dolphins’ new head coach on Thursday, predicted Parsons would set the sack record next year with 24. That would be quite a comeback.

“He told me that,” Parsons said. “He’s putting a lot of pressure on me. I’m not scared of those challenges, either. They know I’m coming. I had a little fun with Myles. He talked about, he’s going to put the trophy – the Defensive Player of the Year trophy – in the training room so we can look at it. I said, ‘The light’s bright, but the sun always sets, too, so we’re coming.’”

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER

Grading the 2025 Packers

1. Micah Parsons Was Army of One

2. The Packers Won …

3. … Until Parsons Was Injured

Defensive Player of the Year Finalists

Grading the 2025 Packers

More Green Bay Packers News