CLEVELAND, Ohio — Myles Garrett talked a big, T-Rex-sized game in the runup to the NFL draft in 2017, and he’s been checking off the boxes one-by-one.
One of the many lofty goals he spoke into existence during a pre-draft interview that year was the desire to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
He took care of that last season, winning the coveted award in his seventh season.
Heading into Monday night’s game in Denver, he needs just 1 1/5 sacks to reach 100 — and if achieves it that night, he’ll be the third-fastest in the NFL to do so, in 112 games. Reggie White is first at 96 games, and T.J. Watt is second in 109, having reached the milestone in October with a takedown of Dak Prescott. DeMarcus Ware is currently third at 113.
“I think I still took too long,” Garrett said. “In my eyes, when I look at it, it’d have been tough to catch Mr. White, but I think hopefully this next however many number will come quicker than the first hundred. So we’ll go out there and we’ll do what I do and try to take it up a notch.”
Garrett joined another elite list last Thursday night with his three-sack outburst against the Steelers for a total of 10, becoming the seventh player in NFL history to record at least 10 sacks in seven consecutive seasons. Five are in the Hall of Fame, and the sixth, Minnesota’s Jared Allen, has been a finalist four times and is a semifinalist again this year.
Lawrence Taylor* 1984-90
Reggie White* 1985-93
Bruce Smith* 1992-98
John Randle* 1992-99
DeMarcus Ware* 2006-12
Jared Allen 2007-13
Does Garrett, who’s 10 sacks this season are tied for third in the NFL with Denver’s Nik Bonnito, belong in the conversation with Taylor, White, Smith and the rest?
“Well, yes. I mean there’s really no other way to put it,” defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said. “Yes, he does. I think the biggest part of it is he’s still … he’s just starting to hit his prime. He still has a lot left in front of him. The sky is the limit as far as he goes. And when it’s all said and done, maybe he’s not comparing himself to — or you’re not comparing him to those guys — maybe you’re comparing other people to him. That should probably be a goal for him.”
Schwartz attributes Garrett’s pair of hat tricks over his last three outings — which followed a four-game sackless streak — to health. He was battling foot and Achilles pain early on, and could barely walk to the podium for his post-game interview at times.
“(He) really didn’t look like himself,” Schwartz said. “He just continues to do stuff. His production is so high, even though he’s a marked man, even though every game plan starts with, ‘Don’t let 95 wreck the game,’ and he still finds a way to wreck games.”
Garrett also drew high praise on Saturday from Schwartz’ old Browns boss Bill Belichick, who coached Lawrence Taylor with the Giants. On Inside the NFL, co-host Ryan Clark asked Belichick what makes Garrett so difficult to block.
“In one word, everything,” Belichick said. “Myles Garrett is a problem on every play … it doesn’t matter who’s playing against Myles Garrett, you’ve got to account for this player.”
He noted that explosive power is the most important trait for a pass rusher, “and that’s what Garrett has.” He cited the Hail Mary at the end of the Browns’ 24-19 victory over the Steelers, in which they committed three blockers to him. It opened up a lane for Jordan Hicks, who pressured Wilson on the incompletion and drilled him after the throw.
“This guy is a game-wrecker,” Belichick said. “No matter who plays him, you’ve got to gameplan and figure out how you’re going to slow him down and keep him from wrecking the game.”
After that upset, one in which Garrett had called out Watt for disrespecting his DPOY award, he planted his flag as the best edge rusher in the land.
“I wanted to make it known that I’m the guy, I’m the No. 1 edge defender,” he said. “That was a statement I was intending to make and I think I made it.”
Why is that so important to him?
“Because part of my journey of being the best player that I can be is I feel and I think I can be the best player that there is currently,” he said. “So I have to live up to those expectations I have for myself. That’s really all it is. That’s just on the road to be the player that I want be.”
But defending his title isn’t front of mind at the moment. The primary goal is forging ahead toward the playoffs — even at 3-8 — until someone tells him they’re out.
“If that blessing (of another Defensive Player of the Year award) is out there for me, hopefully I get it along the way, but what we really want to do is win,” he said. “That’s what we get remembered for.”
His dad, Lawrence, pointed out after the game the Hall of Fame company Garrett is keeping, and Garrett acknowledged the significance in the moment.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Guys I looked up to when I started my journey into this game. So, I mean, it’s absolutely amazing to be amongst those guys, not just looking up at them but looking side to side and standing amongst them. So I want to continue to find myself on those lists and hopefully stand alone at the end of the day. But the time for reflection is when the season’s done.”
By the time he woke up the next morning, it was ‘how can we get onto the next one? We’ve got another game to win, another prime-time game and we’ve got to put on a good performance. That’s what my mind’s on and how are we going to find our way into the playoffs.”
On Monday night, Garrett will find some motivation in the fact that the Broncos are leading the NFL with 44 sacks, and that Bonitto is neck-and-neck with him. It’s not a mega-Watt snub, but it will do.
“Nik Bonitto looks pretty good,” he said. “So I think as far as them doing well as a team and him continuing to go on this tear that he’s on, he continues to improve on his odds. So they’re doing well as a unit, but they also have standouts who make plays for them. And we want to be able to say we’re the best unit on the field.”
Garrett’s new defensive line coach Jacques Cesaire, said before the season that he expects “a lot more” out of Garrett this season, and Garrett vowed to be more dominant and disruptive this year.
He’s done just that, and just might have another NFL Defensive Player of the Year award to show for it, maybe even a coveted sack title, on his journey to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And one of these days, maybe he’ll even get the Super Bowl he really wants more than anything.
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