Six sacks, nine quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and eight tackles for loss weren’t enough to earn Jalen Carter AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Texans rookie Will Anderson edged Carter for the honor with 151 points to 122 for Carter.
First-place votes among a panel of 50 national media members are worth five points, 2nd-place votes were worth three points and 3rd-place votes one point. Anderson got 16 1st-place votes, 21 2nd-place votes and eight 3rd-place votes. Carter got 14, 14 and 10.
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Twelve voters omitted Carter entirely. Only five omitted Anderson. Rams interior lineman Kobie Turner also got 14 1st-place votes and finished with 95 total points. Seahawks corner Devon Witherspoon got four 1st-place votes and 57 total points. Nobody else received more than six points.
Anderson had 7.0 sacks, 22 quarterback hits and 10 tackles for loss. Turner led all rookies with 9.0 sacks and added 16 QB hits and nine tackles for loss.
Among rookie interior linemen, Carter was second to Turner in sacks and quarterback hits and tied with Turner for the most tackles for loss. Carter was the only rookie tackle to force two turnovers.
Carter’s final Pro Football Focus grade of 87.4 was 5th-highest of 116 defensive tackles who played at least 300 snaps. Turner’s 83.2 grade was 10th-highest. Anderson’s 81.6 grade ranked 21st among 110 edge rushers with at least 300 snaps.
Philadelphia Eagles
Carter was also outstanding vs. the run. His Pro Football Focus run defense grade was highest among all rookie defensive linemen.
The Eagles have never had a Defensive Rookie of the Year since the Associated Press began the honor in 1967.
They’ve also never had an AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, although tight end Charle Young was named Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1973 by Newspaper Enterprise Association, Pro Football Writers of America, United Press International and The Sporting News, and tight end Keith Jackson received the honor in 1988 from UPI and Sporting News.
Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, the Eagles’ defensive coordinator during the 2017 Super Bowl season, was named AP Assistant Coach of the Year by a wide margin over Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, now the Seahawks’ head coach.
In Schwartz’s first year in Cleveland, the Browns allowed the fewest yards in the NFL for the first time since 1954.
Schwartz, the Eagles’ DC for all five years under Doug Pederson, finished with a 160-94 margin over Macdonald. Schwartz got 25 out of 50 1st-place votes and was mentioned on all 50 ballots. Macdonald received 11 1st-place votes and was mentioned on 28 ballots.
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson [65], Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik [53], Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken [46], Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo [16], Rams defensive coordinator and new Falcons head coach Raheem Morris [6], Cowboys defensive coordinator and new Commanders head coach Dan Quinn [4], Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores [3], Buccaneers offensive coordinator and new Panthers head coach Dave Canales [2] and 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks [1] also received votes.
Former Eagles Joe Flacco from Audubon won the Comeback Player of the Year Award with 151 points to 140 for Bills safety Damar Hamlin. Flacco spent part of 2021 with the Eagles but never played before getting traded to the Jets.
Former Eagles linebacker DeMeco Ryans of the Texans lost out on Coach of the Year to Kevin Stefanski of the Browns. Both received 165 points, but Stefanski got the nod on the tiebreaker - 21 to 20 1st-place votes.
Former Eagles assistant coaches John Harbaugh (26), Shane Steichen (4), Todd Bowles (1) and Sean McDermott (1) also received votes.
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