Every NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award winner

1967 was a big year for the Detroit Lions. They had both the Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year. While Mel Farr’s career didn’t pan out, Barney became a Hall of Fame cornerback. He was incredible from the beginning, leading the NFL with 10 interceptions, three of which he returned for a touchdown. The Defensive Player of the Year award didn’t debut until 1971. Otherwise, Barney could have easily pulled double duty.

The Atlanta Falcons were still a young franchise, and like many expansion squads struggled early. That gave them the chance to take Humphrey third overall in 1968. The defensive end proved to be a worthy pick. He tallied 11.5 ex post facto sacks (sacks were not official until 1982, the year after Humphrey retired) and took home some hardware for the Falcons, a nice step for the franchise. The pass rusher made six Pro Bowls with the Falcons and became a Hall of Famer.

These first three Defensive Rookie of the Year awards showed some foresight. Greene is the third Hall of Famer out of three. Also, with all due respect to Barney and Humphrey, “Mean Joe” takes things to the next level. The Steelers icon would become a two-time Defensive Player of the Year winner and made the NFL’s 100th anniversary team.

Well, Taylor is in the College Football Hall of Fame. That’s something! A cornerback for the 49ers, Taylor had three picks and two fumble recoveries in his rookie campaign. We do wonder if his prowess returning punts and kicks played into his winning of this defensive award. Taylor made one Pro Bowl in his career, which was solid if unremarkable. His Wikipedia page is heavily dedicated to his Burger King franchise ownership, so we assume Taylor updated that himself. Hey, good for him.

The first linebacker on this list, Robertson was unusually fast for a middle linebacker of his era. As a rookie for the Los Angeles Rams, Robertson had four sacks and four interceptions (tackles were not tracked in 1971). He was a first-team All-Pro twice with the Rams before ending his career with the Bills. Robertson had a classic “Hall of Very Good” career.

Buchanon was selected high by the Green Bay Packers and thrust into the starting lineup at cornerback. He contributed with four interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Buchanon was a solid player throughout his time with the Pack, though his last season with the team, 1978, was his best. That year he had nine picks and was a first-team All-Pro. He then spent four years with the Chargers to end his NFL career, which was probably nice for a guy who grew up in Oceanside and went to college at San Diego State.

Given that he played defensive tackle in an era before things like run stuff and tackles were recorded, we may not know the full scope of Chambers’ contributions in 1973 for the Chicago Bears. However, he has been credited with nine sacks, which is quite impressive from the interior, and also helped him make the Pro Bowl as a rookie. Chambers would make two more Pro Bowls and once had 14 sacks in a season. He was named one of the 100 greatest Bears players of all time, notable for a guy who only spent five years with the franchise, and seven years total in the NFL.

Two members of the famed “Steel Curtain” defense are now accounted for. Following in the footsteps of Greene, Lambert won Defensive Rookie of the Year for the Steelers. Unlike his teammate, Lambert was a linebacker as opposed to a pass rusher. Lambert was the middle linebacker for four title teams, and the Hall of Fame called him perhaps the best ever at his position, which is saying something. Again, with tackles not counted, all we have are two picks and two sacks, but by all accounts Lambert was a terror for opposing offenses.

They called Brazile “Dr. Doom,” which is a great starting point for a linebacker. Brazile was drafted at the ideal time for his career, with Bum Phillips taking over the Houston Oilers. Phillips introduced the 3-4 defense to the team, and some have called Brazile the first pass-rushing outside linebacker. “Dr. Doom” tallied seven sacks and recovered five fumbles as a rookie in 1975. He didn’t make the Pro Bowl, but then made it in each of the next seven seasons. Brazile is in the Hall of Fame.

Haynes may have been a cornerback, but he had blazing speed (which made him a danger whenever he had an interception) and was also an elite returner for a few years. In fact, as a rookie he returned the first two punts for a touchdown in the history of the New England Patriots. Haynes also had eight picks for good measure. In each of his first five seasons he was a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro. Then, he moved to the Raiders and had two first-team All-Pro campaigns. In one of them he turned six interceptions into 220 return yards. He is yet another Hall of Famer on this list. Way to go, voters!

Oddly, Duhe is only the second defensive end on this list. Then again, we’ve been talking ‘60s and ‘70s football. The pass rush wasn’t quite as big a part of the game. Duhe is also not a Hall of Famer, and only made one Pro Bowl. That being said, he had seven unofficial sacks as a rookie for the Dolphins and played eight years in the league, so Duhe was no flash in the pan.

The Lions became the second team with two players to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. Depending on how much credence you give to unofficial sack stats, “Bubba” Baker’s rookie campaign is one of the best of all time. He has been credited — again, after the fact, to be fair — with 23 sacks. The current NFL record, as you may know, is 22.5. Baker is the “unofficial” sack champ. A “Hall of Very Good”-type player, Baker was vocally not a fan of football, saying he just wanted to make enough money that his son could be a doctor and not have to play the “dumb game” that he did. After retiring, Baker opened a successful restaurant in the Cleveland area called Bubba’s Q.

You may remember Haslett from his time as head coach of the New Orleans Saints (or coaching the Seattle Sea Dragons in the 2023 XFL season). Before that, though, he was a Defensive Rookie of the Year award-winning linebacker. As an inside linebacker in 1979, we don’t have a great picture of his production with the Buffalo Bills. What we do know is that Haslett earned no other awards as an NFL player. He did win Coach of the Year once, though.

Okay, all these years later, this feels gimmicky. Curry and Richardson were co-winners of this award in 1980. They were also both linebackers. They also both played for the Atlanta Falcons. Yes, teammates at the same position were both awarded Defensive Rookie of the Year. Neither would win anything else of note, with Richardson’s career lasting to 1985 and Curry’s until 1987.

Perhaps the greatest defensive player ever, Taylor’s rookie season was also his first of three campaigns ending with the Defensive Player of the Year award. In one of those years, he became only the second defensive player to win MVP, and the other one was an odd win for Alan Page. Taylor’s rookie year with the Giants was the last season where sacks were not an official stat, but he has been credited with 9.5 sacks, and he also racked up five forced fumbles. Nobody forced fumbles like L.T.

A pass-rushing outside linebacker, Banks was a rookie for the Cleveland Browns and tallied 5.5 sacks in 1982. That may not sound like a lot, but this was the strike-shortened season; Banks did this in only nine games. He was great in 1983, and first-team All-Pro, and ended up playing in 138 NFL games in his career, even though he notably sat out the entire 1988 season in a contract dispute.

No, not the NBA player. There was also a linebacker with that name in the 1980s. His career was less remarkable than the hooper. As a rookie with the Baltimore Colts he had 11 sacks and an interception, but that was his peak. He also played for the Colts the next year, their first in Indianapolis, but quickly fell off. Maxwell had two sacks over the remaining four seasons in his career.

You may remember Maas from his time as a commentator on FOX, but before that, he had a solid NFL career. A defensive tackle, he had five sacks for Kansas City. He made a couple Pro Bowls in the middle of the ‘80s, but the big man maybe just justified being picked fifth overall in 1984 with his production in K.C.

This is the second player in a row who was drafted fifth overall. Bickett was an outside linebacker who tallied tackles like a linebacker (tackles were tracked by 1985) but also got after the quarterback a bit. He had six sacks for the Colts as part of 141 tackles. Bickett had longevity, lasting until 1996, which meant he got a chance to play for the fledgling Carolina Panthers.

If you didn’t start watching the NFL until the new millennium, you may not know O’Neal. In his time, though, he was a great pass rusher. He started with 12.5 sacks for the Chargers in 1986. Then, he missed his second season with a knee injury. However, O’Neal would endure. He got back on the field in 1988, and from 1989 through 1995 he made it to six Pro Bowls. In fact, his 132.5 sacks is in the top 15 all time (only counting official sacks).

An old-school style inside linebacker, and College Football Hall of Famer, Conlan notched 114 tackles during the strike-shortened 1987 season, which was 12 games. He was also second-team All-Pro as a rookie for the Bills, one of three times he would do that. Conlan also played for three of the four Bills Super Bowl teams, but missed the last one because he moved over to the Rams, where he played three more seasons.

It took until 1988 for a player listed as a safety to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. McMillan was a ball hawk for the Jets, notching eight interceptions as a rookie. That proved perhaps a bit fluky, as he finished his career with 22 interceptions total, with his career effectively over by 1993.

A great career with a sad conclusion, Thomas was one of the best rushers of the 1990s, even if his career began in 1989. The dude was an absolute force for the Chiefs to the very end. He started with 10 sacks and three forced fumbles as a rookie before having one of the best seasons for any defensive player in 1990: 20 sacks and six forced fumbles. Thomas was 33 and still an active NFL player when the car he was driving crashed during a snowstorm. According to reports he was speeding, and Thomas was definitely not wearing a seatbelt at the time. He died due to his injuries and was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Carrier set expectations quite high as a rookie. The safety had 10 interceptions for the Bears, which led the NFL. He finished his career with 32 interceptions. Now, Carrier would make two more Pro Bowls on top of his rookie season, but clearly he wasn’t a future star, but rather a future solid defensive back for many years.

Well, the last two seasons of Croel’s professional future career were spent with the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe and the Los Angeles Xtreme of the original XFL, which probably says it all. However, his rookie season did make it seem like the fourth-overall pick by the Denver Broncos would pan out. Croel had 10 sacks as a rookie. We don’t have the numbers on this, but sometimes a pass rusher turns a disproportionate number of quarterback pressures into sacks, and that proves unsustainable. Croel finished his career with 24 sacks across seven seasons.

There were negative moments in Carter’s career, sure. The cornerback was ejected from a 1995 Thanksgiving Day game for kicking Michael Irvin of the Cowboys. He missed the entire 2000 season for his fourth substance abuse violation. Then again, the 1992 Defensive Rookie of the Year was still around in 2000, and in fact wouldn’t retire until 2005. That says quite a bit. He had seven interceptions as a rookie for the Chiefs, returning one for a touchdown, and would make four Pro Bowls in his career.

It’s fortunate Stubblefield falls into the “Hall of Very Good” category, because he’s not the kind of person you want in the Hall of Fame. Stubblefield was Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1993 and Defensive Player of the Year in 1997, both with the 49ers. He’s also serving a 15-year prison sentence.

Bowens only played nine games in college, but the Dolphins made him a first-round pick anyway. It paid off for the franchise. More of a run-stuffing defensive tackle, he doesn’t have showy numbers. The Dolphins kept him around for a full decade, though, and he made two Pro Bowls. That’ll do when the stats don’t.

Douglas is best remembered for his time with the Eagles. That’s when he had all three of his Pro Bowl appearances, plus his one appearance each on the first and second All-Pro teams. However, he actually spent his rookie season, and his first three seasons, with the Jets. Even though he won Defensive Rookie of the Year, the Jets dealt him for a second and a fifth-round pick. Douglas does radio these days. In Philly, naturally.

Rice was a prolific pass-rushing defensive end who began his career for the Cardinals. In 1996, he racked up 12.5 sacks as a rookie. It was his first of eight seasons with double-digit sacks, and he once led the NFL with six forced fumbles. Rice also won a Super Bowl on that iconic 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense. Well, he wasn’t going to win a Super Bowl in Arizona, right?

Eventually, the Ravens would build a formidable defense, and Boulware would be a secondary piece of that, but they were bad enough in 1996 that they got to take the pass rusher fourth overall in 1997. He racked up 11.5 sacks to win this hardware. Never one of the league’s best pass rushers, he was consistently a good one and made four Pro Bowls.

Famously, Charles Woodson won the Heisman over Peyton Manning. From that point on, even if one was a defensive back and one a quarterback, they were tied together. Fortunately for both of them, they both panned out. Sure, Woodson isn’t to the secondary what Manning is to quarterbacking, but Woodson would make the Hall of Fame. He began his career with four-straight Pro Bowls for the Raiders, and yet arguably he had his best years with the Packers. In Green Bay he led the NFL in interceptions twice and won Defensive Player of the Year.

An elite athlete, Kearse was nicknamed “The Freak” for a reason, the defensive end set the bar high as a rookie for the Titans. He tallied 14.5 sacks and eight forced fumbles, finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year. Kearse would rack up double-digit sacks in each of the next two seasons, but then broke his foot in his fourth season and seemed to never quite be the same. What seemed like a Hall of Fame career ended up being more of a good career, though if you were around for those first few campaigns, you will always remember Kearse.

The first Defensive Rookie of the Year of the new millennium, Urlacher is now a Bears legend. Chicago is a city that loves a tackling machine of a middle linebacker, and Urlacher was certainly that. As a rookie, he did a bit of everything, tallying 123 tackles, eight sacks, two interceptions, and five passes defensed. Later, he would set a franchise record for tackles in a season (and career) and win Defensive Player of the Year. Not in the same season, mind you! No wonder he followed the likes of Mike Singletary into the Hall of Fame.

Like the Bears, the Steelers have an affinity for linebackers. Bell was an inside linebacker in their 3-4 defense, but was astute at blitzing. As a rookie, Bell tallied nine sacks and made the Pro Bowl. It would be his only Pro Bowl, though, and Bell would become swiftly forgotten. Even Pittsburgh let him go after four seasons.

Well, when your career spans from 2002 through 2018, and you are one of the best pass rushers of all time, you get to be on the NFL’s 2000s and 2010s All-Decade teams. He’s not in the Hall of Fame yet, though that day is coming, and it began with 12 sacks and five forced fumbles in only 12 games as a rookie for the Panthers. Those were 12 of the 159.5 he would tally in his career. That is fourth most of all time.

Ray Lewis. Ed Reed. Terrell Suggs. These are the three faces of the iconic Baltimore Ravens defense. Only one of them won Defensive Rookie of the Year, though. Coming off the bench as a rookie as a pass-rushing specialist, Suggs had 12 sacks, forced six fumbles, and recovered four fumbles in 2003. Later he would win Defensive Player of the Year and, like Peppers, is headed to the Hall of Fame soon enough.

Vilma, a middle linebacker, joined the Jets as a rookie and immediately began to patrol the middle of the field. He had 108 tackles, but added three interceptions and five passes defensed. Vilma had a good career, which started in New York and ended in New Orleans. He played well with the Saints, but became embroiled in Bountygate, which effectively ended his playing career. Vilma now works in television as an analyst.

The triumphs and failures of “Lights Out” Shawne Merriman. He was one of the faces of the NFL in the 2000s, for better or worse. The dynamic athlete tallied 10 sacks as a rookie for the Chargers. He made three Pro Bowls in his first three seasons and had his iconic sack celebration. Then, there were injuries, PED suspensions, and legal issues. Really, in the end, Merriman had three great seasons and then was more of a famous face.

The Texans threw Ryans into the mix at inside linebacker and he went to work. As a rookie he led the NFL in solo tackles and had 3.5 sacks and five passes defensed. The next year he would be first-team All-Pro, and would end up with a good playing career. Now, it’s time to see what his coaching career is like. Ryans has his first gig as an NFL head coach. Fittingly, it’s with the Texans.

The time of the offball linebacker, even the middle linebacker, is in the past for the NFL. Willis, though, was there to play middle linebacker for the 49ers and be elite at it. He was first-team All-Pro as a rookie when he led the NFL with tackles. In each of the seven full NFL seasons he played, Willis made the Pro Bowl. He missed time with injury in 2014 and then decided to retire.

Bill Belichick drafted Mayo No. 10 overall to play inside linebacker in his Patriots defense, and that’s saying something. It paid off, what with the Defensive Rookie of the Year award. He would go on to make a couple Pro Bowls and played in over 100 games with the Patriots before retiring. Belichick then added Mayo to his coaching staff. Yeah, clearly he really likes his defensive mind.

For a brief time, Cushing was next to Ryans in the middle of the Texans’ linebacking corps. In his first season, Cushing had four sacks and four interceptions, which earned him this award. It also, as we have said before, earned him his only Pro Bowl nod. Cushing had one more really good year, but did play his entire career with the Texans franchise before retiring in 2017.

Some believed Suh, as a defensive tackle, should have won the Heisman. Many of them also believed Suh should have been the first-overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. Instead, he went second overall to the Lions. While Suh’s career would be littered with penalties and polarizing hits, he also proved to be a great player, if not a game changer. He had 10 sacks and 13 tackles for loss, at defensive tackle, as a rookie. Suh was first-team All-Pro in three of his five seasons in Detroit. Then, he went all journeyman in search of money and rings. To be fair, he did get a ring with Tampa Bay.

Drafted in 2011, Miller hit the ground well enough to make the All-Decade Team for the 2010s. He notched 11.5 sacks as a rookie before adding 18.5 more in his sophomore campaign. The franchise leader in sacks for the Broncos, Miller was then dealt to the Rams where he paid off by helping them win a Super Bowl. Injuries have muddled his later career, but Miller seems intent to keep going to pad his likely Hall of Fame resume.

Miller is a pass-rushing outside linebacker. Kuechly is perhaps the last of the venerated middle linebackers. A Panthers legend, Kuechly led the NFL in tackles as a rookie. He would then win Defensive Player of the Year in his sophomore season. Still going strong, as some modern stars do Kuechly decided to retire after his eighth season, but he put together a great career regardless.

Drafted by the Jets and slotted in at defensive end, but more of a 3-4 defensive end, as a rookie he only had 3.5 sacks, but tallied 78 tackles and 12 tackles for loss. In his second season he bumped up to eight sacks and made the Pro Bowl. The Jets tried him at outside linebacker, which didn’t work, and then he bounced around from Seattle to Minnesota to Cleveland and played defensive tackle. He was versatile, sure, but not particularly good.

Donald was a star in college, and racked up awards, but there was some concern about his size at defensive tackle. Yeah, that didn’t end up being a problem. Instead, Donald would prove to be the best pass-rushing defensive tackle ever. He had nine sacks for the Rams as a rookie, the start of things to come. Donald is now one of three players with three Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Peters has always been an all-or-nothing player. The man loves to pick off a pass, but his quest for interceptions has led to him giving up big plays time and time again. When it works, though, you get a season like his rookie campaign. Peters led the NFL in interceptions and passes defensed for the Chiefs. He would also get suspended in 2017 for an altercation with a coach and get dealt to the Rams. Peter has made four All-Pro teams and played for four teams. That’s the Peters experience.

Drafted third overall by the Chargers in their final season in San Diego, Bosa would notch 10.5 sacks. The defensive end did that in only 12 games, which speaks to his skill, but also the drawback to Bosa’s career. He’s made Pro Bowls when healthy, but also has two seasons where he hasn’t played even half of the games.

It can be hard to be a rookie cornerback in the NFL, especially these days. Don’t tell that to Lattimore. He was Defensive Rookie of the Year and a Pro Bowler. A big part of that was his five interceptions, one of which he turned into a touchdown, and 18 passes defensed. Lattimore has never had that many interceptions since, but he’s made three more Pro Bowls, in part because teams learned not to throw at Lattimore if they could avoid it.

Known as Darius Leonard as a rookie, Leonard is the rare offball linebacker to make a splash in the NFL. Hey, it happens sometimes. Starting for the Colts in 2018, it helped that Leonard led the NFL with 111 solo tackles. He added seven sacks and eight passes defensed. Leonard was not just Defensive Rookie of the Year, but also first-team All-Pro.

John Bosa had good genes, apparently. While John’s NFL career was unremarkable (three seasons, seven sacks), both of his sons have won Defensive Rookie of the Year. A problematic fave for many 49ers fans, the dude can flat out get after the passer. He had nine sacks and 16 tackles for loss as a rookie. After losing his 2020 season to injury, Bosa was great in 2021 and 2022, and even won Defensive Player of the Year in 2022 with 18.5 sacks.

Young is early in his career. We don’t know where it is going. And yet, it has always been so rich with incident. As a rookie with Washington, and a second-overall pick, Young had 7.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. He got off to a slow start to 2021, and then got hurt. Since then, he’s mostly been hurt, but also seemingly frustrated Washington with his level of commitment, such as it is. In fact, Washington declined the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, unheard of for a second-overall pick who isn’t an outright flop. The Commanders dealt him to the 49ers midway during the 2023 NFL season.

Parsons is a linebacker, but so much more. He’s something of a Swiss Army knife for the Cowboys. That’s clear from his rookie campaign. Sometimes, he was patrolling the middle of the field, helping him tally 84 tackles. Other times, he was getting after the quarterback, racking up 13.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. In each of his first two seasons, Parsons was a first-team All-Pro. It seems like there are more appearances to come.

When you step into the NFL and are arguably a top-five cornerback already, you pretty much have to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. That’s “Sauce” Gardner in a nutshell. He only had two picks as a rookie, but he led the NFL with 20 passes defensed. That’s when opponents deigned to throw against the Jets cornerback, which was avoided as much as possible. Gardner was a first-team All-Pro as a rookie, a true rarity for his position. The future is bright for Sauce.

The Texans made a big swing in the 2023 NFL Draft. They had the second pick, which they spent on quarterback C.J. Stroud. Then, they made a big trade to get the third pick as well. Reportedly, this was at the behest of incoming head coach DeMeco Ryans. Yes, the guy who won this award for the Texans back in the day. Ryans, they say, wanted Anderson, the Alabama pass rusher. Anderson missed a couple games, but he picked up seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. Oh, and Stroud won Offensive Rookie of the Year. So far, so good on those picks.