Pair of Chargers hold top-10 odds to win Defensive Player of the Year

No surprises here: The Chargers are one of just two teams who have a pair of teammates with top-10 odds to win this year’s Defensive Player of the Year honor. Those players are none other the ferocious Joey Bosa and do-it-all safety Derwin James.

Year-in and year-out, Joey Bosa remains one of the NFL’s best and most-complete defenders. Whether it’s being highly-graded by the folks at Pro Football Focus or simply being discussed by various pundits around the league, everyone understands just how impactful of a player Bosa can be.

This season, Bosa has accumulated 19 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, and a pair of tackles for loss. Despite the slow start to the season, Bosa is still getting plenty of love when it comes to his odds to win the award. At +3000, that leaves him in eighth. If you go three spots up, you’ll find James who sits with the fifth-best odds to win the honor at +2500. The only players with better odds than James are Myles Garrett (+350), Trevon Diggs (+500), T.J. Watt (+600), and Aaron Donald (+800).

Through six games, James leads the team with 50 total tackles, 14 more than Kyzir White’s 36. He’s also logged a single interception, two tackles for loss, two pass deflections, and notched 1.5 sacks. He’s been logging snaps at numerous positions across the defense and Brandon Staley has already come out and state that his production could be better if they asked him to stay in one spot. However, he’s much more valuable to the team when he’s able to rotate to four or five.

How are we feeling about the odds for both James and Bosa? Are they deserving of being in the top 10 or are they right where they should be? Let me know what you all think.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.