Why Was Darius Leonard Not a DPOY Candidate?

Did the small market of Indianapolis hurt Leonard’s DPOY candidacy? Money has control over everything, that’s a fact we all know. The NFL as a business would prefer that the biggest markets would garner the most success. This would lead to the largest amount of interest and the greatest income flow towards the NFL.

Fred Warner is a generational talent and an all around badass. He instills fear in defenses around the league and is on every coaches game plan. Warner was always in the discussion of DPOY and other defensive awards in 2021. He had a slight edge opposed to Darius Leonard in tackles. Warner accumulated 79 solo and 58 assisted, while Leonard had 75 and 47 respectively. These stats come from Pro Football Reference. 15 more total tackles for Warner, that is a fair difference.

The next set of stats also favors Fred Warner. Both Darius Leonard and Warner had three quarterback hits. Warner led the way with seven tackles for loss, while Leonard had four. Leonard was unable to record a sack during the 2021 season, the first time in his career. Warner was only able to accumulate a half of a sack during the season. With a slight bit of extra pressure to the QB, Warner also wins this stage of comparison. 

With such a slight difference in these two players it seems that Indianapolis’ small market size may have an effect of the publicity of their star players.

How Important Are Takeaways in the NFL?

The last section of stats has the largest difference between the two incredible professionals. In the DPOY race, it seems, these stats have been pushed to the side and forgotten about. As I stated earlier, Darius Leonard led the entire league in takeaways. Fred Warner had one. One single forced fumble. A tackle happens every possession unless points are scored or someone goes out-of-bounds. Takeaways are rare and when they happen they shift the momentum of the game entirely. Leonard has shown that at any moment he can ruin an offensive drive with a single punch. I’m sure teams were game planning extra ball security across the middle of the field because of him. With all of this Leonard still had little to zero recognition last season.

The focus of the DPOY race last year centered around T.J. Watt breaking the season sack record. It also focused on Aaron Donald on the Super Bowl Champions, the LA Rams. The media wanted QB pressure and that was not part of Leonard’s games last season.

There is hope for Leonard and Colts fans. PFF has ranked the Colts linebacker core second in the NFL, behind the San Francisco 49er’s of course. But maybe this is the start of another great DPOY race that Leonard can be a part of.