Buffalo Bills: Who are fans voting as this year’s defensive MVP?
By Ryan Brennan
BuffaLowDown took to Facebook to see who the fans are voting as this year’s Buffalo Bills’ defensive MVP so far this season. The results are…
No, it’s not Rob Ryan.
The Buffalo Bills‘ defense — much like the offense — has seen their fair share of ups and downs this season. The front seven has done their part on a consistent basis, while the secondary has failed to meet expectations this year.
With the Bills’ 28-21 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, BuffaLowDown took to social media in order to find out who the fans are voting to be the Bills’ defensive MVP through 11 games this season. After several days of accumulating votes, we have the results.
The decision came down to four different players on the Bills’ defense, none of which were members of the secondary: Jerry Hughes, Zach Brown, Kyle Williams and Lorenzo Alexander. They were all well-deserving of the award after 11 games and have easily been the some of the most reliable guys on this team.
Much like the offense, the defense has sustained a large number of injuries. Luckily, most of the injuries to the defense occurred before the regular season started — giving the backups time to adjust to the starting position. In fact, two of those backups (free agent pick ups this summer too) were nominees for our defensive MVP voting.
Nice job, Whaley.
With the offense, the Buffalo Bills have had difficulty replacing their injured players — with the exception of Mike Gillislee, who has been the perfect replacement for LeSean McCoy. On defense, the next man up has always stepped up and it’s part of what makes Rob Ryan’s defense so fun to watch.
Back to the vote.
Our voting for the defensive MVP had a much better turnout than the offensive one and featured a total of 110 votes — more than double of the offense. And this one was an even bigger landslide victory. Let’s start with the Fourth Place winner:
4th Place
Jerry Hughes – Linebacker
Jerry Hughes found himself listed as an “honorable mention” for the league’s MVP race early this season. He came out hot and has proven that offenses need to keep an eye on him and make sure their gameplan includes containing him.
That’s always important for any defense — making the offense gameplan around you, not the other way around.
Jerry Hughes has been a very reliable part of this defense for the past three years. He hasn’t missed a game since joining the Buffalo Bills and has continued that streak this season.
Part of what started the MVP talk early this season was his play through the first four games. He recorded 4 sacks, 16 tackles and one pass defended during that stint and was constantly making important plays for the Bills.
Since then, he has struggled to bring that “wow” factor, but has still made some important plays from time to time. In the next seven games, he would only record one sack and 19 tackles, but did force a fumble vs. the Rams and blocked a punt vs. the Seahawks.
Jerry Hughes has slowed down a bit, but the attention he demands is a big reason why Zach Brown, Lorenzo Alexander and others continue to flourish with this team. He deserves a lot of credit for what he’s done this season, which has become the expectation year-in-and-year-out.
Hughes placed fourth in this list with just 7 votes, but there’s no doubt he’s a leader on this Buffalo Bills‘ defense.
Let’s move on to the third place finisher.