Shaq Barrett making a case for DPOTY through the first four games

In his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, linebacker Shaq Barrett is making a strong case as an early candidate for defensive player of the year through the team’s first four games of the season.

Barrett is off to a magical start with his new team. With a sack in Sunday’s game, Barrett has now recorded a sack in every game giving him a total of nine sacks this season, tying him for the most sacks through a team’s first four games in league history.

Since the sack became a statistic in 1982, only three other players ever have collected nine sacks in a team’s first four games.

Here are the current sack leaders in the league:

1. Shaq Barrett, Buccaneers – 9.0 sacks
2. Miles Garrett, Browns – 6.0 sacks
3. Mario Addison, Panthers – 5.5 sacks
4. Clay Matthews, Rams – 5.0 sacks
4. Whitney Mercilus, Texans – 5.0 sacks

In addition to registering a sack, Barrett also collected his first career interception, marking only the 20th time in Buccaneers history a player recorded both sack and interception in the same game.

Barrett also record a forced fumble when he strip-sacked Rams quarterback Goff late in the fourth quarter, giving him three forced fumbles on the season. Barrett is tied for third in that category with Arizona’s Chandler Jones and one behind Houston’s Whitney Mercilus and Chicago’s Khalil Mack.

My take: The stats don’t lie, Barrett is having a tremendous first season for the Buccaneers and has taken the league by storm. A season so good, Barrett has thrown himself into the conversation for defensive player of the year through the first four games.

Tampa Bay has a reputation for developing good linebackers, most recently Lavonte David and Kwon Alexander, so I’m not overly surprised the Bucs took a chance on Barrett and potentially found a diamond in the rough talent.

That being said, it is only Week 4 and there is certainly a looong way to go this season before any awards are handed out. Anything can happen, but you definitely can’t ignore the historical start Barrett is having.

Photo Credit: Mark J. Terrill – AP