2025-26 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Odds & Picks
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Eric Kelly
- September 1, 2025
One of the toughest individual awards to win has to be the defensive player of the year. It’s easy to see whose scoring but who is putting in all the hard work defensively and not getting the same glory as the offensive players?
Well it goes without saying pass rushers have won 8 of the previous 10 DPOY awards with all eight winners having had at least 11 sacks throughout the season.
The Green Bay Packers linebacker Micah Parsons comes into this season as the new hot favorite at +500, whilst last year’s winner Patrick Surtain is 12th in the betting at +4000.
NFL DPOY Best Bets
These best bets for the 2025/26 season spotlight defensive stars who can dominate games and make their case for the league’s toughest individual honor. We’ve also tracked down the best available odds at the top sportsbooks for each pick.
- Micah Parsons (+500)
- Myles Garrett (+850)
- T.J. Watt (+950)
2026 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Odds
| Player | Odds |
|---|---|
| Micah Parsons | (+500) |
| Aidan Hutchinson | (+750) |
| Myles Garrett | (+850) |
| T.J. Watt | (+950) |
| Willie Anderson Jr. | (+1300) |
| Maxx Crosby | (+1300) |
| Nick Bosa | (+1500) |
| Jared Verse | (+1500) |
| Jalen Carter | (+2000) |
| Trey Hendrickson | (+2200) |
NFL DPOY: Players to Watch
Micah Parsons (+500) at BetOnline
Having finally left the Dallas Cowboys for the Green Bay Packers, we like Parsons’ chances of winning the award this season given his previous troubles with the Cowboys, it would have been hard to place a bet on his picking up the award with his former employees. Parsons wanted out, and he got out.
Prior to his trade he was +750, but his odds dropped when he was traded. With a new lease of life, we like Parsons to go about his business with last year’s 6th-best-ranked defence in the Packers.
Parsons has had 52.5 sacks in 63 games played throughout his NFL career to date. He has also been a two time all pro and has finished inside the top three for the DPOY award in three of his first four NFL seasons.
Myles Garrett (+850) at BetOnline
We can’t talk about the DPOY with mentioning Myles Garrett. The 29-year-old veteran has been in the league since 2017, registering 102.5 sacks in 117 NFL career appearances, including 10+ sacks in each of his previous seven seasons.
Garrett is a former winner of the award having won it 2023 with 14 sacks and four forced fumbles. Last year, Garrett finished 3rd in the vote for DPOY and was ranked as the 3rd-best defenceman in the league.
There’s no doubt in our mind that by the end of the season, Garrett will be in the conversation, and at +850 NFL defensive player of the year odds we are jumping on the Garrett train.
T.J. Watt (+950) at BetOnline
Three of the top five in the Defensive Player of the Year betting market have won the award previously, including T.J. Watt who was the winner in 2021. Five years later, we believe he could be worth a small bet at his current odds of +950.
Watt had 11.5 sacks last season and 19 the year before, having registered a record equalling 22 sacks in his award-winning year of 2021. TJ Watt is always going to be in the conversation for defensive player of the year, and coming in as the 4th favorite this year, he has every chance to pick up the award yet again.
Watt has 7 interceptions and 121 sacks throughout his 8 year career in the NFL.
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The odds can move quickly with these type of markets, especially when the season kicks off and players get into the run of the mill, and we can see who starts to perform and who is looking weaker than their odds suggest.
It’s important to get the best odds with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review), who have some of the best odds in the market, along with other top-rated sportsbooks.
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
