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In the land of pass rushers and shutdown cornerbacks, the importance of the inside linebacker position has been forgotten. Over the last decade, the NFL “Defensive Player of the Year” award has gone to a pass rusher six times. Of those ten awards, only one true inside linebacker in Luke Kuechly has won that honor. In my opinion, that should change this season. Bobby Wagner has clearly made his case as the NFL’s best defensive player.

Bobby Wagner leads the NFL in solo tackles. He has ONE missed tackle. His 98.7 tackle% is also the best in the NFL. Zach Brown, who is 2nd in solo tackles, has missed 14 tackles. Nobody in the top 10 in tackles has fewer than 7 missed tackles, except Wagner. #DPOY — Field Gulls (@FieldGulls) December 14, 2017

In this video breakdown, I analyzed what makes Wagner so good in the Seattle Seahawks’ defense. Surrounded by guys like Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, K.J. Wright, and Kam Chancellor has made everyone forget who I believe is the heart and soul of this squad. Honestly, it was of no surprise to me that Blake Bortles and the Jacksonville Jaguars scored there touchdowns almost immediately after Wagner was injured.

What do you think? Should he win this prestigious honor? If not him, who else do you think will win it?