5 Buffalo Bills who could be league award candidates in 2022

Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year: Greg Rousseau

The expected answer here is probably Von Miller, who at one time was an elite pass rusher but never won the award in his career. However, at this stage of his career it would make sense for the Buffalo Bills to focus on managing his workload to keep him as fresh as possible over the course of a regular season and hopefully a long playoff run.

Another player that certainly is talented enough to be in the discussion is cornerback Tre’Davious White but this year it seems unlikely as he works his way back from an ACL injury and may not be fully recovered at the start of the season.

This essentially left two players that would make sense as candidates with linebacker Matt Milano and defensive end Greg Rousseau. Since 2014, no linebacker has won the award outside of last year’s winner T.J. Watt.

Ultimately, this is why I went with Greg Rousseau who is coming off a promising rookie season and has the potential to make a big jump in his second season. He is apart of a very talented defensive line with the previously mentioned Von Miller and Ed Oliver. These two players should command plenty of attention over the course of the year and this could create more winnable matchups for Rousseau.

The last time the Buffalo Bills had a player win Defensive Player of the Year was in 1996 by Bruce Smith. It wouldn’t be surprising if another defensive end were to win the award this season.