A New England Patriots cornerback has won a prestigious honor. Stephon Gilmore has won the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Gilmore becomes the first cornerback to win the award since the 2009 season. Charles Woodson won the award that year.
Gilmore had a stellar season. He recorded six interceptions on the year, which was tops in the National Football League. He returned two of those for touchdowns, and defended 20 passes overall. For comparison sake, he recorded a total of four interceptions in 2017 and 2018 combined.
He was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for October after recording two interceptions and eight pass deflections.
In addition, Gilmore was a First-Team All-Pro. He was on the field for 95% of New England’s snaps in 2019. That number is down just slightly from the 97% he recorded in 2018.
His best game statistically came against Cincinnati. He recorded two interceptions in a 34-13 win.
Ever since being signed by the New England Patriots in March 2017, he has become a crucial member of the secondary. Heading into the 2020 season, it will be interesting to see how he can follow up these past two years. He could definitely go down as one of the best free agent signings of the Bill Belichick era.
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