At the 2017 NFL Honors awards, Khalil Mack of the Oakland Raiders won the Defensive Player of the Year award. Players like Von Miller, Landon Collins, and Vic Beasley were also up, but at the end of the day, the Associated Press decided that Khalil Mack was the best defensive player during the 2016 NFL season.
Khalil Mack Wins Defensive Player of the Year
There’s no question that Khalil Mack was a worthy winner. He was dominant in the second half of the season, registering at least one sack in at least eight games. More impressively, he forced five fumbles, and even had an interception that he returned for a touchdown. He had 11 sacks over 16 games, and he did so without the help of a legitimate pass rush.
Mack might’ve won the award in 2015, as he had 15 sacks, but that pesky J.J. Watt had yet another phenomenal season and stole it away from him. Mack’s career has been off to a phenomenal start, registering 30 sacks in his first three seasons. That’s more than Lawrence Taylor, Michael Strahan, or Jared Allen had during their first three seasons.
No Help
Khalil Mack had 11 sacks, but the Raiders only had 25 as a team. That means that number fifty-two had almost fifty percent of Oakland’s sacks in 2016. Teammate Bruce Irvin had seven, but outside of those two, nobody else on the team even had three. Vic Beasley had more sacks than Mack this year, but the Falcons also had three other players with at least three sacks, including future Hall of Famer, Dwight Freeney.
Last season, Mack became the first player in NFL history to be named First Team All-Pro at two different positions in the same season. Now in his third season, Khalil back has a Defensive Player of the Year award to add to his resume. Maybe next year, he can add a Lombardi.
