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Sunday Debate: Oakland Raiders’ Khalil Mack Will Be Defensive Player of the Year

By Mark Morales-Smith

Dec 24, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack (52) celebrates after a safety against the San Diego Chargers during an NFL football game at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Chargers 23-20 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 24, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack (52) celebrates after a safety against the San Diego Chargers during an NFL football game at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Chargers 23-20 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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In our most installment of our Sunday Debate, Mark Morales-Smith and Brendan Pignataro debate who will be the 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. In this article, Mark will argue for Oakland Raiders edge rusher Khalil Mack and against the Denver Broncos’ Von Miller.

In this week’s Sunday Debate Brendan and I will be focusing on the defensive side of the ball. We will be casting our vote for Defensive Player of the Year. Usually J.J. Watt would be the obvious choice, however, after recent back surgery and potentially missing the first month of the season we have chosen to go in a different direction.

Related Story: Sunday Debate: Von Miller NFL Defensive Player of the Year for 2016

Brendan has gone with Super Bowl MVP and poor choice Von Miller, while I correctly opted for rising young Oakland Raiders star Khalil Mack. He’s an absolute beast and is well on his way to pulling away as the second-best edge rusher in the NFL behind only Watt. He was a steal as the fifth-overall pick in 2014 and 2015 was his coming out party with 77 tackles, 15 sacks and two forced fumbles. As he rookie he recorded 75 tackles, four sacks and one forced fumble.

The team continues to surround Mack with more and more talent, which only helps his quest for DPOY. Defenses will not be able to key in on him. The defensive line alone has three other potential stars with Mario Edwards, Jihad Ward and Shilique Calhoun. Couple that with high-end talent on the back end giving the pass-rushers time to get to the quarterback, I envision an even bigger season from Mack this year.

A more productive year would be impressive when you consider he was first-team All Pro for two separate positions. He made the prestigious team both as a defensive end and outside linebacker. That seems a bit silly and unnecessary to me, nonetheless, it’s still impressive. To have a historic year at the age of 24 in just your second professional season is incredible.

Miller on the other hand lacks the versatility and quite frankly the talent of Mack. Yes, he is a big name right now after his playoff run and inking a new massive contract. Still, the production just isn’t on par with Mack. Miller managed just 35 tackles all of last season in all 16 games and his career high is less than 68 in 2012. That doesn’t compare to Mack’s 77. His lowest total was 75. Miller has also only reached 15 sacks once in his five-year career and that was all the way back in 2012 too. Mack averages more defended passes as well and has the same amount of forced fumbles over the past two seasons as Miller. Don’t forget, he was a rookie in 2014.

The 2014 NFL Draft gave us Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald. These two lineman have bright futures and will be two of the three best lineman over the next decade. Miller just isn’t on that level. This is an article I definitely look forward to revisiting at the year’s end. There will be a definitive winner of this article and it will definitively be me.

must read: Oakland Raiders: Top 15 Players 25 and Under

This was another easy victory for the great one. This debate wasn’t exactly a nail biter. I claimed victory in a blowout fashion. I hope you enjoyed the article and be sure to check out Brendan’s article as well. Hey, at least he was second best this week.

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