The NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award is the highest possible individual honor for a defensive player to achieve, aside from winning Most Valuable Player — which rarely has happened in recent history. Even more rare is a player winning the DPOY in consecutive seasons. That has happened only three times ever.
Looking ahead to the upcoming 2025 season, there a number of potential candidates to win DPOY and upseat the incumbent winner, CB Patrick Surtain of the Denver Broncos.
According to Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski, Baltimore Ravens’ safety Kyle Hamilton might be able to do just that. In his list of “elite defenders” ready to emerge as possible DPOY winners, Hamilton earned a spot amongst four others.
“An interesting possibility is a defensive back dethroning another defensive back for the honor, considering only eight have ever won the award since it debuted for the 1969 season,” Sobleski wrote. “[Hamilton] isn’t a typical safety, though. He’s a . . . tone-setter, capable of being highly effective in the box, covering the slot or playing the deep third.”
As Sobleski notes, Surtain winning DPOY in 2024 was just the eighth time ever that a defensive back has taken home the award. So, the odds of it happening again, yet alone in back-to-back seasons, aren’t necessarily high. However, to Sobleski’s next point, Hamilton is a unique talent capable of pulling off unique feats.
Hamilton’s second-year breakout in 2023 came with him playing primarily strong safety and nickel. He thrived around the line of scrimmage and in short coverage areas, where he wreaked havoc and blew up plays regularly. Last season, however, Hamilton was forced to transition into a different role and still performed at a high level nonetheless.
With the Ravens’ defense struggling mightily through the first half of the season, Hamilton transitioned into playing deeper in the backend, taking a heavy dose of free safety snaps alongside new starter Ar’Darius Washington. He maintained his elite performance and showcased a complete all-around skill set.
Sobleski believes that Hamilton will be set up nicely for continued success in 2025, but back in more of a strong safety role, after the Ravens made a key addition in the secondary.
“The Ravens made sure they found the perfect complementary piece to keep Hamilton where he should be, with this year’s first-round selection of Georgia’s Malaki Starks,” Sobleski says. “With Starks holding up his end of the bargain, Hamilton can resume being the best safety in the game on one of the NFL’s top squads.”
On paper, Starks is an ideal fit next to Hamilton and profiles as a seamless insertion into the team’s secondary. He can take on a deep coverage role and free up Hamilton to roam and occupy more space closer to the line of scrimmage once again.
Hamilton has established himself as one of the league’s premier safeties through three career seasons. On the heels of consecutive All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods, he’s earned a strong national reputation as well. For what it’s worth, he did garner some DPOY attention last season, tying for ninth place in the voting.
For him to take a leap into true DPOY consideration, Hamilton will need to maintain his elite level of play and spearhead a top-ranked Ravens’ defense. On top of that, he’ll likely need to be on the delivering end of a few notable game-changing plays and/or memorable moments. Creating more turnovers and scoring a touchdown or two, for example, would be ideal methods for him to build up a DPOY resume.
Joining Hamilton on Sobleski’s short list is two edge rushers (Aidan Hutchinson, Micah Parsons) and two defensive lineman (Dexter Lawrence, Jalen Carter). You can view the full article here.