AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year

The AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) is an annual award presented by the Associated Press (AP) to the defensive player in the National Football League (NFL) deemed to have had the most outstanding season. It has been awarded since 1971. The winner is decided by votes from a panel of 50 AP sportswriters. Since 2011, the award has been presented at the annual NFL Honors ceremony the day before the Super Bowl, along with other AP awards, such as the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year award, AP NFL Most Valuable Player award, and AP NFL Rookie of the Year award. The most recent winner of the AP Defensive Player of the Year award is cornerback Patrick Surtain II of the Denver Broncos.

Lawrence Taylor, J. J. Watt, and Aaron Donald are the only three-time winners of the award.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Joe Greene, Ray Lewis, Mike Singletary, Bruce Smith, and Reggie White have each won it twice. Taylor is the only player to win the award as a rookie, doing so in 1981.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 2008, James Harrison became the only undrafted free agent to win the award.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> White is the only player to win the award with two different teams, winning in 1987 with the Philadelphia Eagles and again with the Green Bay Packers in 1998.<ref name=White2/> J. J. Watt is the only player to win the award unanimously, receiving 50 out of 50 first place votes in 2014.<ref name=Watt2/> He was also a near-unanimous winner in 2012 as he earned 49 out of 50 votes.<ref name=Watt2/>

As of the end of the 2024 NFL season, linebackers have won the award seventeen times, more than any other position. A defensive end has won fifteen times, followed by ten defensive tackles, seven cornerbacks, and five safeties. Only two winners of the AP Defensive Player of the Year award have also won the AP's Most Valuable Player award for the same season: defensive tackle Alan Page in 1971 for the Minnesota Vikings and linebacker Lawrence Taylor in 1986 for the New York Giants.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Winners

File:Willie Parker and Cedric Wilson.jpg

Ray Lewis (No. 52) and Terrell Suggs (No. 55) each won the award playing for the Baltimore Ravens.

List of AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year winners

Season	Player	Position	Team	Template:Ref.
1971	Template:Sortname	Defensive tackle	Minnesota Vikings	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1972	Template:Sortname	Defensive tackle	Pittsburgh Steelers	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1973	Template:Sortname	Safety	Miami Dolphins	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1974	Template:Sortname Template:Small	Defensive tackle	Pittsburgh Steelers	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1975	Template:Sortname	Cornerback	Pittsburgh Steelers	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1976	Template:Sortname	Linebacker	Pittsburgh Steelers	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1977	Template:Sortname	Defensive end	Dallas Cowboys	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1978	Template:Sortname	Linebacker	Denver Broncos	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1979	Template:Sortname	Defensive end	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1980	Template:Sortname	Cornerback	Oakland Raiders	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1981	Template:Sortname	Linebacker	New York Giants	<ref name=LT>Template:Cite news</ref>
1982	Template:Sortname Template:Small	Linebacker	New York Giants	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1983	Template:Sortname	Defensive end	Miami Dolphins	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1984	Template:Sortname	Safety	Seattle Seahawks	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1985	Template:Sortname	Linebacker	Chicago Bears	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1986	Template:Sortname Template:Small	Linebacker	New York Giants	<ref name="LT3">Template:Cite news</ref>
1987	Template:Sortname	Defensive end	Philadelphia Eagles	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1988	Template:Sortname Template:Small	Linebacker	Chicago Bears	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1989	Template:Sortname	Defensive tackle	Minnesota Vikings	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1990	Template:Sortname	Defensive end	Buffalo Bills	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1991	Template:Sortname	Linebacker	New Orleans Saints	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1992	Template:Sortname	Defensive tackle	Seattle Seahawks	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1993	Template:Sortname	Cornerback	Pittsburgh Steelers	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1994	Template:Sortname	Cornerback	San Francisco 49ers	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1995	Template:Sortname	Linebacker	Buffalo Bills	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1996	Template:Sortname Template:Small	Defensive end	Buffalo Bills	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1997	Template:Sortname	Defensive tackle	San Francisco 49ers	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1998	Template:Sortname Template:Small	Defensive end	Green Bay Packers	<ref name="White2">Template:Cite news</ref>
1999	Template:Sortname	Defensive tackle	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2000	Template:Sortname	Linebacker	Baltimore Ravens	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2001	Template:Sortname	Defensive end	New York Giants	<ref name=Strahan>Template:Cite news</ref>
2002	Template:Sortname	Linebacker	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2003	Template:Sortname Template:Small	Linebacker	Baltimore Ravens	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2004	Template:Sortname	Safety	Baltimore Ravens	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2005	Template:Sortname	Linebacker	Chicago Bears	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2006	Template:Sortname	Defensive end	Miami Dolphins	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2007	Template:Sortname	Safety	Indianapolis Colts	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2008	Template:Sortname	Linebacker	Pittsburgh Steelers	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2009	Template:Sortname	Cornerback	Green Bay Packers	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2010	Template:Sortname	Safety	Pittsburgh Steelers	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2011	Template:Sortname	Linebacker	Baltimore Ravens	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2012	Template:Sortname	Defensive end	Houston Texans	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2013	Template:Sortname	Linebacker	Carolina Panthers	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2014	Template:Sortname Template:Small	Defensive end	Houston Texans	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2015	Template:Sortname Template:Small	Defensive end	Houston Texans	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2016	Template:Sortname	Defensive end	Oakland Raiders	<ref name=Mack>Template:Cite news</ref>
2017	Template:Sortname	Defensive tackle	Los Angeles Rams	<ref name=Donald>Template:Cite news</ref>
2018	Template:Sortname Template:Small	Defensive tackle	Los Angeles Rams	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2019	Template:Sortname	Cornerback	New England Patriots	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2020	Template:Sortname Template:Small	Defensive tackle	Los Angeles Rams	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2021	Template:Sortname	Linebacker	Pittsburgh Steelers	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2022	Template:Sortname	Defensive end	San Francisco 49ers	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2023	Template:Sortname	Defensive end	Cleveland Browns	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2024	Template:Sortname	Cornerback	Denver Broncos	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Multiple-time winners

List of multiple-time winners

Player	Awards	Position	Team	Seasons
Lawrence Taylor	3	Linebacker	New York Giants	1981, 1982, 1986
J. J. Watt	3	Defensive end	Houston Texans	2012, 2014, 2015
Aaron Donald	3	Defensive tackle	Los Angeles Rams	2017, 2018, 2020
Template:Sortname	2	Defensive tackle	Pittsburgh Steelers	1972, 1974
Mike Singletary	2	Linebacker	Chicago Bears	1985, 1988
Template:Sortname	2	Defensive end	Buffalo Bills	1990, 1996
Template:Sortname	2	Defensive end	Philadelphia Eagles Green Bay Packers	1987, 1998
Template:Sortname	2	Linebacker	Baltimore Ravens	2000, 2003

See also

• AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year

References

General

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Footnotes