Even ending with an ankle harm, T.J. Watt is coming off a powerful sport in opposition to the Philadelphia Eagles. Two sacks, a pressured fumble, he made splash performs and vaulted himself close to the highest of the NFL sack leaderboard, now only one again from the Cincinnati Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson. After seemingly shedding floor to Myles Garrett earlier this 12 months, Watt is again on high and will cruise to his second DPOY award. Proper?
Not if the Denver Broncos have one thing to say about it. They’ve two defenders sizzling on Watt’s heels for the award. There’s CB Patrick Surtain II together with his 4 picks, NFL-leading 132 interception return yards, 11 cross breakups, and general resume as one of many sport’s high corners.
However the identify gaining essentially the most steam is EDGE rusher Nik Bonitto. He’s had a powerful season and been remarkably constant. A full sack in 10 of 14 video games to offer him 11.5 on the season, the identical quantity as Watt. Like Watt, Bonitto has discovered methods to make performs past simply sacks. Two weeks in the past, he picked-sixed Cleveland Browns QB Jameis Winston for a 71-yard rating.
In Sunday’s win over the Indianapolis Colts, a sport that clinched Pittsburgh’s playoff spot, he did it once more with a 51-yard runback.
Total, Bonitto and Watt’s DPOY resumes are comparable. Right here’s how they break down within the main classes.
| Stat | T.J. Watt | Nik Bonitto |
|---|---|---|
| Sacks | 11.5 | 11.5 |
| QB Hits | 27 | 20 |
| TFL | 18 | 14 |
| FFs | 6 | 2 |
| Def. TDs | 0 | 2 |
| Tackles | 54 | 41 |
No query, Watt nonetheless holds the general edge solely tied in sacks and solely shedding in defensive scores. However Bonitto’s in vary. Oddsmakers have begun to take discover. Caesar Sportsbook has rocketed Bonitto as much as the third-best odds at +600 solely trailing Watt (-150) and Surtain (+400). FanDuel is in an analogous boat inserting Bonitto at +650. Once more, that’s third behind Watt (-160) and Surtain (+340).
Myles Garrett has pale sitting middle-of-the-pack on most boards, starting from +1500 on DraftKings to +3300 on FanDuel. The fact is that on an underachieving protection for one of many worst groups in soccer, it’s exhausting to take dwelling {hardware}. Proper or flawed, successful is what will get you within the door of a voter’s thoughts. Watt has it in Pittsburgh and with Denver sitting at 9-5 and robust possibilities to make the playoffs, Bonitto has it, too.
This isn’t an commercial or endorsement for Bonitto to win it. Watt stays the DPOY favourite and has nice causes to be in pole place. And as of PFF’s newest posting, Watt is being chipped at triple the speed Bonitto has. That makes his numbers look even stronger. Truthful or not, Watt has considerably increased identify recognition than Bonitto which all the time offers him a leg up, too. Any tie goes to Watt and proper now, Bonitto isn’t even that shut.
It’s simply to say if somebody goes to journey Watt up on the very finish, it’s Bonitto. If he pops off the final three weeks with extra large performs whereas Watt actually and figuratively limps to the end line, Bonitto would possibly simply shock the world. However he wouldn’t have snuck up on Watt. He’s been constructing an excellent season all alongside.
