ESPN Names Darrelle Revis Best Defender, Overlooking Charles Woodson
The New Orleans Saints benefitted from a Super Bowl win to catapult them to the top of the Best Team of the Year Rankings, compiled in this week’s ESPN the Magazine issue. The publication clearly doesn’t tip its hand completely to awards, though, handing New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis the distinction of Best Defender.
I guess Charles Woodson’s Defensive Player of the Year, for which he beat Revis with twice as many votes, doesn’t mean much.
As soon as the 33-year-old corner for the Packers was crowned Defensive Player of the Year by The Associated Press at the end of the 2009 season, many — mostly from the Big Apple — cried foul. Jets head coach Rex Ryan was at the front of the whine line, expressing his displeasure after Woodson was given the award.
"I wasn't going to comment on it," Ryan told reporters. "But I would like to congratulate the people that voted for Darrelle Revis. These guys obviously really know the game. And you've got to look at all the numbers, not just a number about this, or this stat or that stat.
"For me, this is the best year a corner has ever had, the most impact a corner has ever had in the National Football League.,” he added. “That's my opinion. But apparently that wasn't the opinion of everybody who voted."
Revis took on the opposition’s best wideout and shut them down every week. The third-year pro registered 54 tackles, six interceptions (one for a touchdown) and an impressive 31 passes defensed. But Woodson topped him in every category except the latter, recording 74 tackles, nine interceptions (three for touchdowns), four forced fumbles, two sacks and 18 passes defensed. And while Woodson did not solely line up on the best receiver and pester him for four quarters, the former Heisman winner did much more.
Woodson was the glue that held together Dom Capers’ first-year, 3-4 system, leading the unit to the best turnover margin in the NFL. Woodson also played nearly every position in the book, lining up in the slot to take on speedier slot receivers, playing the edge, dropping back to safety, crowding the line as a blitzer and manning the second level to stop the run. For what it’s worth, he also returned punts.
There’s little else Woodson could have done, and though Rex Ryan and Jets fans didn’t agree, he was the correct choice for Defensive Player of the Year. Somehow, that doesn’t translate to the “best defender in all of sports” title that ESPN bestowed upon Revis.
We can’t put Revis and Woodson one-on-one and watch to see who is actually the better man. We can’t challenge them to a corner skills competition and use that legitimately determine who is the better defender. But we can — and should — look at who was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 2009.
The name of the award says it all.
