Blake Cashman continues to make a push for the Defensive Player of the Year award

In today's NFL, quarterbacks and quarterback-related stats are kings. If you aren't a great quarterback or someone who impacts the quarterback stats directly, you're likely going to be overlooked. That's why passing touchdowns and sacks are often the defining stats on if you're the Most Valuable Player of the Defensive Player of the Year. It's a copycat league and rarely anyone thinks for themselves. So we know Blake Cashman isn't going to win the DPOY, but we argue that he should.

Or at least should be in the running for it. Cashman came over to the Houston Texans from the New York Jets in 2022 and instantly started making an impact on the team's defense. He's arguably the best overall coverage guy, regardless of position on the team, and his tackling has been greatly needed.

He continues to lead the team in tackles (84) is the highest-rated player on PFF for all of the Texans' defensive players (89.9) and has a sizeable margin over Will Anderson Jr. and Derek Stingley Jr. In fact, only Nico Collins (87.7) is anywhere close to his grade. He's the third-highest-graded linebacker by PFF, while also remaining an elite player in practically every category.

If he had more than two sacks, he'd be the leading candidate for DPOY. Just look at what Zack Rosenblatt on Twitter discovered about Cashman this season and

And he isn't just stat padding in select games to raise his overall grade on PFF either, Cashman is consistently this good. He's only had one game receive a grade of 68 or lower. Myles Garrett has had two. Garrett, one of the leaders for the DPOY, is routinely an average run-stopper, and a non-factor in coverage. He really only affects the game when he rushes the quarterback.

Cashman is great everywhere this season, and still passable as a pass rusher. It's the inverse of Garrett. And while Garrett was the one player we're comparing him to, it'd be fair that Cashman routinely does more than any other DPOY candidate as well.

Cashman likely won't win the award because he doesn't do glamor stats like Garrett and T.J. Watt, but he really should if you're looking at just what one player had done for a team's defense.