Could Hunter win DPOY this season?

By: Jake Rajala

Danielle Hunter has been one of the most underrated defensive ends in the league over the past few seasons. Thankfully, he was recently awarded 35.6 million for an additional year. With that said, I sincerely believe that Hunter’s best production is ahead of him.

Hunter has been named All-Pro in two of his past three seasons. He led the league in tackles for loss in 2023. He has tasted DPOY gold before. In 2019 – he took fifth place in DPOY voting.

Well, could Hunter finally go all the way and win DPOY? Myles Garrett won DPOY in 2023 and Hunter has stacked up well in comparison to him.

The following is Garrett’s production in 2023:

• 14 sacks

• 17 TFLs

• 30 QB hits

• 4 FFs

• 44 pressures

Now I will untwine Hunter’s production in 2023:

• 16.5 sacks

• 23 TFLs

• 22 QB hits

• 4 FFs

• 34 pressures

As it seems, Hunter has more prolific stats. Of course, Garrett dominated with more double teams than most elite pass rushers face.

Hunter doesn’t only carry a cream of the crop resume, but his outlook has an enormous light at the end of the tunnel. He is 30 years old, so he isn’t quite overly old.

Not only has Hunter dominated over the past few seasons, but he has incentives to play his best football yet. This will be his contract year, so he will seek to play his best football yet and snag a potential record breaking 3 or 4 year deal.

There are a few legendary pass rushers in the league right now. There is Trey Hendrickson, Garrett, T.J. Watt, and Micah Parsons. Let it be known that Hunter made AP over some of these faces. If a CB like Patrick Surtain doesn’t play like a future Hall of Famer, it should come down to a pass rusher winning DPOY. Hunter will likely be one of these DPOY choices if he stays healthy.