The reigning Defensive Player of the Year has a new home, but injury is going to take a toll on his chances of repeating.
Garrett won the AP NFL DPOY award unanimously in 2025, receiving all 50 first-place votes after breaking the single-season sack record with 23 sacks. That was the second DPOY win of his career, and he trails only Lawrence Taylor, J.J. Watt and Aaron Donald for the most DPOY awards in NFL history, with each of those names nabbing the award three times.
Both Watt and Donald won three in the span of four years, and while Garrett opened the year favored to do just that, a knee injury has sidelined him for at least the next four weeks, and dropped his odds way down to +4500.
Let’s take a look at the odds to win the 2026 NFL Defensive Player of the Year at FanDuel Sportsbook as of Sept. 18.
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Aidan Hutchinson, DE, Lions: +400 (bet $10 to win $50 total)
What To Know: Hutchinson is finding his way to the opposing quarterback … often. He has three sacks and six QB hits through two weeks. He also has three tackles for loss. Still, the Lions have given up 71 total points so far this season.
Aidan Hutchinson is the new favorite to win DPOY after Myles Garrett’s injury (Getty Images).
Will Anderson Jr., DE, Texans: +430 (bet $10 to win $53 total)
What To Know: Anderson is the star of a vaunted Houston defense, one that was best in the league last year. He has only taken the field once this season, and has half a sack and a QB hit.
T.J. Watt, DE, Steelers: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total)
What To Know: Watt had a monster performance in the Steelers’ season-opening win over the Falcons. He had two sacks, four tackles, three tackles for loss and two QB hits. Wow. He won this award once before, back in 2021.
Maxx Crosby, DE, Raiders: +1900 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
What To Know: What a tumultuous offseason for Crosby, who thought he was a Raven until he wasn’t. In the Raiders’ Week 1 win over Miami, he had 1.5 sacks, three QB hits and a tackle for loss.
Nik Bonitto, LB, Broncos: +1900 (bet $10 to win $200 total)
What To Know: It wasn’t a good Week 1 for Denver, which got blown out by Kansas City. Bonitto had two tackles in the defeat.
