Ranking the 30 best Defensive Player of the Year winning seasons

Ranking the 30 best Defensive Player of the Year winning seasons: 23. 2006 Jason Taylor

Jason Taylor, Champ Bailey, and Brian Urlacher had three of the great seasons on the defensive side of the ball in 2006. They weren’t the normal defensive players getting all the headlines (although Urlacher won the award the year before). What makes Taylor’s win even more impressive is he did it on the 6-10 Miami Dolphins.

That shows that Taylor was doing it almost all by himself. Taylor was lining up all over the front seven as the Dolphins needed him. The Dolphins need someone on the edge? Put Taylor at linebacker. Do they need someone to put their hand in the dirt? Let’s try Taylor at defensive tackle. Of course, he made his money playing defensive end.

The big reason he won the award this season was his ability to make plays. He had two interceptions, and he took them both for touchdown. He hurried the quarterback 14 times and sacked the quarterback 13.5 times.

Despite the Dolphins record, the team ranked in the top five in total defense. Bill Belichick even said that Taylor “ruins a lot of games offensively for teams.” That says a lot when the best coach of this generation notices that the game is changing due to one defensive player.

Taylor’s career as a whole is now underrated. He was a real game breaker at his peak, and he lasted a long time at his position. Going back to look at some of his sacks is impressive. He really did impact a game from all over the field.