AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year

For similar awards by other publications, see List of NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards.

The AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award is presented annually 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.

AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year

Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II, 2024 recipient
Awarded for	Defensive player of the year in the NFL
Presented by	Associated Press
History
First award	1971
Most wins	Lawrence Taylor J. J. Watt Aaron Donald (3 each)
Most recent	Patrick Surtain II

Lawrence Taylor, J. J. Watt, and Aaron Donald are the only three-time winners of the award.^[1] 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.^[2] In 2008, James Harrison became the only undrafted free agent to win the award.^[3] 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.^[4] J. J. Watt is the only player to win the award unanimously, receiving 50 out of 50 first place votes in 2014.^[5] He was also a near-unanimous winner in 2012 as he earned 49 out of 50 votes.^[5]

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.^[6]

Winners

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

Season	Player	Position	Team	Ref
1971	Alan Page	Defensive tackle	Minnesota Vikings	[7]
1972	Joe Greene	Defensive tackle	Pittsburgh Steelers	[8]
1973	Dick Anderson	Safety	Miami Dolphins	[9]
1974	Joe Greene (2)	Defensive tackle	Pittsburgh Steelers	[10]
1975	Mel Blount	Cornerback	Pittsburgh Steelers	[11]
1976	Jack Lambert	Linebacker	Pittsburgh Steelers	[12]
1977	Harvey Martin	Defensive end	Dallas Cowboys	[13]
1978	Randy Gradishar	Linebacker	Denver Broncos	[14]
1979	Lee Roy Selmon	Defensive end	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	[15]
1980	Lester Hayes	Cornerback	Oakland Raiders	[16]
1981	Lawrence Taylor	Linebacker	New York Giants	[17]
1982	Lawrence Taylor (2)	Linebacker	New York Giants	[18]
1983	Doug Betters	Defensive end	Miami Dolphins	[19]
1984	Kenny Easley	Safety	Seattle Seahawks	[20]
1985	Mike Singletary	Linebacker	Chicago Bears	[21]
1986	Lawrence Taylor (3)	Linebacker	New York Giants	[22]
1987	Reggie White	Defensive end	Philadelphia Eagles	[23]
1988	Mike Singletary (2)	Linebacker	Chicago Bears	[24]
1989	Keith Millard	Defensive tackle	Minnesota Vikings	[25]
1990	Bruce Smith	Defensive end	Buffalo Bills	[26]
1991	Pat Swilling	Linebacker	New Orleans Saints	[27]
1992	Cortez Kennedy	Defensive tackle	Seattle Seahawks	[28]
1993	Rod Woodson	Cornerback	Pittsburgh Steelers	[29]
1994	Deion Sanders	Cornerback	San Francisco 49ers	[30]
1995	Bryce Paup	Linebacker	Buffalo Bills	[31]
1996	Bruce Smith (2)	Defensive end	Buffalo Bills	[32]
1997	Dana Stubblefield	Defensive tackle	San Francisco 49ers	[33]
1998	Reggie White (2)	Defensive end	Green Bay Packers	[4]
1999	Warren Sapp	Defensive tackle	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	[34]
2000	Ray Lewis	Linebacker	Baltimore Ravens	[35]
2001	Michael Strahan	Defensive end	New York Giants	[36]
2002	Derrick Brooks	Linebacker	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	[37]
2003	Ray Lewis (2)	Linebacker	Baltimore Ravens	[38]
2004	Ed Reed	Safety	Baltimore Ravens	[39]
2005	Brian Urlacher	Linebacker	Chicago Bears	[40]
2006	Jason Taylor	Defensive end	Miami Dolphins	[41]
2007	Bob Sanders	Safety	Indianapolis Colts	[42]
2008	James Harrison	Linebacker	Pittsburgh Steelers	[43]
2009	Charles Woodson	Cornerback	Green Bay Packers	[44]
2010	Troy Polamalu	Safety	Pittsburgh Steelers	[45]
2011	Terrell Suggs	Linebacker	Baltimore Ravens	[46]
2012	J. J. Watt	Defensive end	Houston Texans	[47]
2013	Luke Kuechly	Linebacker	Carolina Panthers	[48]
2014	J. J. Watt (2)	Defensive end	Houston Texans	[5]
2015	J. J. Watt (3)	Defensive end	Houston Texans	[49]
2016	Khalil Mack	Defensive end	Oakland Raiders	[50]
2017	Aaron Donald	Defensive tackle	Los Angeles Rams	[51]
2018	Aaron Donald (2)	Defensive tackle	Los Angeles Rams	[52]
2019	Stephon Gilmore	Cornerback	New England Patriots	[53]
2020	Aaron Donald (3)	Defensive tackle	Los Angeles Rams	[54]
2021	T. J. Watt	Linebacker	Pittsburgh Steelers	[55]
2022	Nick Bosa	Defensive end	San Francisco 49ers	[56]
2023	Myles Garrett	Defensive end	Cleveland Browns	[57]
2024	Patrick Surtain II	Cornerback	Denver Broncos	[58]

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
Joe Greene	2	Defensive tackle	Pittsburgh Steelers	1972, 1974
Mike Singletary	2	Linebacker	Chicago Bears	1985, 1988
Bruce Smith	2	Defensive end	Buffalo Bills	1990, 1996
Reggie White	2	Defensive end	Philadelphia Eagles Green Bay Packers	1987, 1998
Ray Lewis	2	Linebacker	Baltimore Ravens	2000, 2003

See also

• AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year