The Associated Press announced their finalists for the 2024 AP Awards, and DE Myles Garrett will once again represent the Browns.
Garrett was named a finalist for AP Defensive Player of the Year. This is the second consecutive nomination for Garrett for the award, as he was named the 2023 AP Defensive Player of the Year. There are five finalists in each category, and the winner of each award will be announced at NFL Honors presented by Invisalign on Feb. 6 at Saenger Theatre in New Orleans.
"His metrics have been better or the same as last year when he won Player of the Year," defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said on Jan 1. "He still found a way to be successful, still has a high win percentage, still has the pressure, still has a really good pressure rate and sacks. I've been really proud of his effort this year."
Garrett has earned a number of accolades for his 2024 season – one in which he broke franchise and NFL records. He finished the season with the second-most sacks in the NFL with 14. He became the first player in NFL history to reach 14 or more sacks in four consecutive seasons. Garrett's 102.5 career sacks are also the most by a Brown all time.
He broke records in consecutive weeks during the 2024 season, as Garrett surpassed 100 career sacks in Week 16 and became the 45th player to do so in NFL history since 1982. Garrett also is the first player since 1982 to have 100 career sacks prior to his 29th birthday. Garrett turned 29 on Dec. 29.
Alongside his 14 sacks, he totaled 28 quarterback hits, had a league-high 22 tackles for loss and 84 quarterback pressures – the third-most in the league. He added one pass defensed, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
Over the course of the 2024 season, Garrett regularly faced double teams as opposing offenses tried to contain Garrett, seeing a career-high of 30 percent of pass rush attempts. His presence on the edge and effectiveness in the pass rush had teams trying to take Garrett out of the game.
"(If you) look at the pressure numbers and the times that he's getting double teamed and slides are going his way, that's the piece to me that I think is so impressive and remarkable is he's doing all this with getting all of the attention from the other team," head coach Kevin Stefanski said on Jan. 2. "It's like a degree of difficulty that he's able to lead the league in sacks and tackles for loss with all that attention. It should be impossible. So, that just speaks to the caliber he's playing at."
