Time to vote on our next 2024 POD Award: Detroit Lions 2024 Defensive Player of the Year.
For the first half of the season, the Detroit Lions defense was like something we haven’t seen in at least a decade. By many statistics they were either first or second-best in the NFL, and when paired with the most explosive offense, it seemed Detroit was unstoppable.
Unfortunately, injuries ravaged the Lions defense, and it collapsed in a spectacular way. Still, there were plenty of notable performances on that side of the ball all year long. So let’s celebrate them with our next 2024 Pride of Detroit award: Detroit Lions Defensive Player of the Year.
Below are our staff’s picks, but your vote at the bottom of the article will decide the winner.
Previous awards:
- Breakout Player of the Year
- Special Teams Player of the Year
- Rookie of the Year
- Coach of the Year
- Game of the Year
2024 Detroit Lions Defensive Player of the Year
Brandon Knapp: Kerby Joseph
If Aidan Hutchinson played the full season, the award would be his, but Kerby deserves it after the season he had. He led the NFL in interceptions with nine, and he didn’t just get easy interceptions or plays that didn’t matter, a lot of his interceptions were in clutch situations when the team needed a stop or a turnover. Joseph had some help with Brian Branch and the defensive line early on in the season, but when people were dropping left and right, he didn’t bat an eye and continued to play at a high level.
Meko Scott: Kerby Joseph
So cards on the table, I was a little on the fence about Kerby Joseph going into the season. I wasn’t all that thrilled with his play in the 2023-2024 season, but he quickly put that to bed this year. Kerby was absolutely phenomenal in nearly every aspect of the game. He showed great improvement in understanding his assignments, tackling, and most importantly creating turnovers. He’s easily gone from a middle of the pack safety to possibly the best free safety in the game.
John Whiticar: Aidan Hutchinson
It feels weird to give this award to a player who played in just five games, but that’s how absurd those five games were for Hutchinson. He was leading the league in pressures into November—he got hurt in mid-October! He played five games, and his 45 pressures were still second on the team for the entire season. He still led the team in sacks. The Lions weren’t robbed of a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. We were robbed of a historic season.
Jeremy Reisman: Kerby Joseph
It’s easy to get distracted and impressed by the interceptions, but part of what made Joseph so much of a game changer is that he took away the deep part of the field completely. Despite facing literally the most deep passing attempts in the league, the Lions defense still only gave up four deep passing TDs (t-eighth best), and only had a +0.12 EPA allowed per attempt (11th). Teams kept testing Detroit, and Joseph kept making them pay. (He also produced the highest run defense grade—83.6—and tackling grade—86.9—of his career.
Hamza Baccouche: Carlton Davis III
He came in and excelled in the CB1 role from day one. He was also stellar in run support, playing close to the line of scrimmage and helping mask the loss of several linebackers. His value became even more evident when the Lions lost him to a broken jaw. Davis has made a very clear case for why the Lions should bring him back.
Max Gerber: Kerby Joseph
The league-leader in interceptions was once again the most clutch player for Detroit’s defense. Joseph’s late-game heroics helped Detroit ice games against Seattle and San Francisco this season. The third-year safety finished the year with 83 tackles and only allowed one touchdown while in coverage. It’s still insane that he was snubbed from the Pro Bowl despite leading in fan voting.
Erik Schlitt: Brian Branch
Branch moved from nickel to safety in the offseason and elevated his game to another level. Already considered one of the best nickel players in the NFL, the move to safety opened his game even further and he was able to make impact play after impact play. The crazy thing about Branch’s situation is that you could see that he was still learning how far he could push things and doesn’t look near his developmental ceiling. That should be a scary thought for opposing offenses.
Ty Schalter: Alex Anzalone
Before the season started, I thought Aidan Hutchinson would win the AP league-wide version of this award. Before Carlton Davis got hurt, I would have named him. I could make a case for a handful of others. But no matter how many injuries piled up, everything was fine until Anzalone went down—and when just he came back, the defense put up an all-timer of a performance in the Week 18 game above.
Al Karsten: Kerby Joseph
The third-year pro had a career year, earning First Team All-Pro honors and finishing sixth in the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year voting , all while leading the league in interceptions. Alongside his partner in crime, Brian Branch, Joseph and the secondary were the backbone of the Lions defense throughout the season.
On the year, Joseph recorded 83 combined tackles, a tackle for loss, nine interceptions, 12 passes defensed, and a game-changing pick-six against the Packers in Week 9. He also led the NFL with a 25.4 passer rating allowed and a -55.3 coverage EPA, the best mark by any player over the last five seasons. Joseph consistently showed up when it mattered most, becoming the reliable playmaker the Lions defense desperately needed.
Morgan Cannon: Kerby Joseph
Who cares about a Pro Bowl nod when you have nine interceptions and are named First Team All-Pro? Joseph made a ton of huge plays in some really big moments for the Lions in 2024. Beyond that, he also improved his game in other areas to the point where he has quickly become one of the better safeties in the entire league.
Ryan Mathews: Kerby Joseph
Kerby’s season in 2024 established him as one of the premier safeties in the NFL. His play—and availability—on Detroit’s backend helped provide stability, and his nine interceptions were something that helped prop up the team as a whole.