2024-25 NFL DROY: Odds & Lines for the NFL's Best Defensive Rookies

The Positions

Does a particular position win the award?

DROY was a linebacker award. LBs won 26 of the 47 years from 1967-2012.

And many of those winners were more traditional inside linebackers who racked up lots of tackles and not much else. The NFL was much different even a decade ago.

Then in 2013, Defensive Rookie of the Year became more of a pass-rushers award as the NFL began placing more emphasis on pass rushing. But the positions start to get a little murky since those pass-rushers are sometimes listed as DEs and sometimes as LBs or EDGE.

Six of the last eight winners have posted at least seven sacks, which were their primary statistical contribution.

Cornerbacks and safeties rarely win. They have just three wins since 1999 and 10 all-time.

The Voting

How does the voting work?

Who votes: 50 Associated Press members who cover the league get votes. The NFL considers the AP Rookie of the Year award its official honor.

How many votes: Voters pick one player, so there are only 50 total ballots.

When do they vote? End of the regular season.

Any regional voting biases? Not really.

How many players get votes? Not a lot — 2.8 players per year get votes — so it's usually anywhere from 2-4. Micah Parsons was a unanimous winner last season.

Lots of different positions have received votes.

The Narrative

Does a player need some "positive narrative" in their favor to win?

Yes. Because defensive statistics are harder to quantity, having a team narrative really, really helps. The winner's team often improves in basic, raw stats year-over-year.

Take Chase Young in 2020. He had just 7.5 sacks, but Washington went from one of the league's worst defenses to one of the best (finishing second in yards per play and fourth in points allowed). And his team made the playoffs.

The narrative: Bad team uses No. 2 pick on elite pass-rusher to bolster defense, defense makes huge statistical gains from year prior, team makes playoffs.

In recent years, it hasn't just been Young. Look at how these defenses have improved in points allowed per game from the year before the rookie arrived.

It just so happens that defensive performance is less predictable year over year, so you have defenses making big statistical jumps much more easily than offenses. The rookie may have helped a little, but that player is often just in the right situation at the right time.

Micah Parsons' stats were so good last year he didn't need a narrative, but he had one. The Cowboys' usually-leaky defense went from 28th in points allowed in 2020 to seventh in 2021.

The Stats

What kinds of stats do voters care about?

Sacks; sometimes tackles or interceptions. Defensive stats are strange, because sacks and interceptions have an obvious benefit to your defense, but there aren't a lot of them.

And there are lots of tackles, but are they always evidence of something good? Is a tackle after a 12-yard gain good? Or was the defender just there?

When Young won in 2020, he had just 44 total tackles and 7.5 sacks. The other three players to get votes all had 100+ tackles.

You have to play, but missing a few games won't kill you. Most players played at least 15 games, but a handful played 12-13 and still won.

Grading data, like PFF, seems to matter more now. Because defensive performance is harder to quantify, voters seem to be relying on metrics like PFF nowadays.

Young for example had the fifth-highest grade of all defensive ends in his rookie season.

When Marshon Lattimore won in 2017 — the rare defensive back to win it — he had the highest rookie grade ever halfway through the season.

The Team

Does the winner have to play for a good team?

ROY winners can play for bad teams. Seven of the last 12 winners have played for 8-8 or sub-.500 teams.

Again, it's more about the defense improving.

That opens up the player pool.

Past NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Winners

Texans' defensive end Will Anderson is the most recipient of the DROY, rewarding his outstanding play as a rookie on the defensive side of the ball. He follows a long line of excellent defensive players who have won the prestigious award. Check out some of these past winners.

Data via SportsOddsHistory