Ranking the 30 best Defensive Player of the Year winning seasons

Ranking the 30 best Defensive Player of the Year winning seasons: 29. 2013 Luke Kuechly

Luke Kuechly’s career seemed to come and go in a flash, but his surprise retirement makes us look back at his dominance. In 2013, Kuechly was coming off a very impressive rookie season. The Carolina Panthers knew they had a star on their hands, but his sophomore season was his very best.

This was a wide-open field of candidates in 2013, but Kuechly absolutely deserved the honor. Coming off a Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2012, getting the top prize for defenders the next year was quite the honor.

Kuechley combined for 156 tackles that season. Those stats don’t tell the story of Kuechley’s impact on the gridiron. He was all over the place. He had 24 tackles in a game against the New Orleans Saints. He was incredibly consistent, winning the Defensive Player of the Week award three times over the season. Every week, the Panthers knew the middle of the defense was covered.

Kuechley’s play was a huge reason the Panthers were able to end their streak of missing the playoffs. They missed the postseason from 2009 to 2012, so it was nice to see a young player leading them back to when games mattered most. Kuechley became only the second player to follow up his Rookie of the Year award with a Defensive Player of the Year award. Lawrence Taylor is the other.