Khalil Mack Wins Sporting News Defensive Player of the Year

Oakland Raiders edge rusher Khalil Mack was named the Defensive Player of the Year by Sporting News.

The accolades keep on coming for Khalil Mack — this time around, the Oakland Raiders edge rusher was named the Defensive Player of the Year by Sporting News.

This is the second major outlet that has named Mack the defensive player of the year, with Pro Football Writers of America doing the same on January 18.

While these two honors are notable, the real award is the one handed out by the Associated Press. Mack had a strong showing in 2015, but still didn’t manage to crack the top four of the AP voting. His case to win the award this year around is quite strong, and we’ll have to wait until after the Super Bowl to see if he wins it.

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In his third season in the NFL, Mack record 11 sacks on the season, which accounted for 44 percent of the team’s entire total. Mack tied for the second highest mark in forced fumbles, with 5. He was also his usual dominant self against the run.

The year started out slowly for Mack, however, as he didn’t log a sack in his first three games. But he then went on a rampage, picking up a sack in eight straight games, and 10 total over that stretch.

Khalil also recorded all five of his forced fumbles in a seven-game stretch, starting in Week 4. He also picked up his first career interception (and subsequent touchdown) in Week 6. Safe to say it was a good quite for the run for Mack.

The primary competition for the award figures to be Von Miller, with Vic Beasley and Aaron Donald also being strong candidates.

We’ll find out after the Super Bowl if Mack wins the hardware.