This could be the year that Buffalo Bills linebacker Tremaine Edmunds wins Defensive Player of the Year.
Every year the Associated Press hands out the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award to the top defensive player. The Buffalo Bills have had players win the award three times in their franchise history with Bruce Smith winning it twice, in 1990 and 1996, and Bryce Paup winning it once in 1995.
Entering this season, Tremaine Edmunds has a great opportunity to join this group and be the third player to win the award with the Buffalo Bills. The team drafted Edmunds in 2018 and he stepped in as the team’s starting middle linebacker, a job he has been in the past two seasons.
This is pretty remarkable considering the fact that he is only 22 years of age and has become a piovtal part of a Buffalo Bills defense that has ranked near the top of the league.
Recently the linebacker position has not been able to win the award with cornerback Stephon Gilmore winning last year ending a streak of defensive linemen winning DPOY. From 2014 to 2018, defensive end J.J. Watt and defensive tackle Aaron Donald each won it twice with Khalil Mack winning it once between these two players.
However, the last linebacker to win the award was Luke Kuechly in 2013 with the Carolina Panthers, while playing in Sean McDermott‘s defense. This is one of three reasons Tremaine Edmunds is set to win the award this coming season.