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Aaron Schatz
Cleveland Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett is currently tied for the NFL lead with 10 sacks after five last Sunday against Drake Maye and the New England Patriots. Despite Garrett’s huge performance, the Browns lost 32-13 and fell to 2-6 on the season.
Garrett has played for bad or mediocre teams for most of his career, going back to when Cleveland selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2017 draft. In his rookie season, the Browns went 0-16. After a few seasons of floating at around .500, things have gotten bad again over the past two years, as the Browns are 5-20 since the start of the 2024 season. But the poor surroundings don’t stop Garrett from consistently being a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Last season, he was first-team All-Pro and third in the DPOY voting.
But Garrett is far from the only great player to be on a bad team. Who else has suffered despite playing at a high level? I think of these players as the Cortez Kennedy All-Stars. Kennedy was a Hall of Fame defensive tackle who played his entire career for the Seattle Seahawks (1990-2000). In 1992, he won the DPOY award and even got Most Valuable Player votes despite playing on a team that finished 2-14 with the worst pass offense ever measured by my DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) ratings.
There have been numerous examples of this happening throughout NFL history, so I narrowed it down by position and limited it to the 25 seasons since 2000. Below, I’ve picked the best seasons by players who were on teams that won four games or fewer.
Jump to:
QB | RB | WR/TE | OT
DL | LB | CB
Garrett’s current teammate hasn’t played well since he came to Cleveland in 2022, but his play was impressive before he left Houston. In 2020, Watson led the league with 8.9 yards per attempt and 4,823 total passing yards for a 4-12 Texans team. Watson was fifth in the league in total passing value that season based on my advanced DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacement) metric.
It’s hard to have a QB season this good for a team this bad because the signal-caller has so much control over how well the offense plays. But Watson is not the only quarterback this has happened to since 2000. Matthew Stafford of the 2012 Lions, Matt Ryan of the 2013 Falcons and Philip Rivers of the 2015 Chargers also ranked in the top eight of my DYAR stats for 4-12 teams.
Running backs tend to rack up stats when they’re running out the clock in the fourth quarter for winning teams. But Tomlinson carried the ball 313 times for 1,645 yards with 13 touchdowns, even though the 2003 Chargers only won four games.
He led the league with 2,370 scrimmage yards and added 100 catches for 725 receiving yards with another four touchdowns. Tomlinson finished second in the Offensive Player of the Year voting behind Ravens running back Jamal Lewis, who had a 2,000-yard season that year.
The Lions’ defense collapsed coming off a 2011 playoff appearance, and Detroit dropped to 4-12 in 2012. But Johnson still gave fans something to cheer for amid the misery, setting the NFL record of 1,964 receiving yards.
Johnson had only five touchdowns with all those yards, in part because defensive problems meant the offense often started in bad field position far away from the end zone. In all, Johnson led the league in receiving yards, targets (204) and receptions (122); he averaged 122.8 yards per game.
In his final season in Kansas City, the 32-year-old Gonzalez caught 96 passes for 1,058 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was chosen as a first-team All-Pro for the first time in six seasons and led all tight ends in DYAR. In fact, Gonzalez is one of three players since 2000 who led the league in tight end DYAR on a team that went 4-12 or worse. The others were George Kittle of the 2018 49ers and Billy Miller of the 2002 Texans.
Which Thomas season puts him on this list? Feel free to pick from a number of possibilities, as he played in Cleveland from 2007 to 2017. Thomas was chosen as a first-team All-Pro six times, and Cleveland’s record in those six seasons was a combined 28-68. He is the only offensive lineman since 2000 to make the All-Pro first team despite playing for a team that had four wins or fewer.
But he wasn’t even the only good player on those Browns offensive lines! Center Alex Mack was a frequent Pro Bowler playing alongside Thomas in the second half of his career.
Garrett starred last season for a Browns defense that struggled everywhere else. He had 14 sacks and 47 tackles, and he led the league with 22 tackles for loss for last season’s 3-14 Browns team. He finished 2024 ranked third in the DPOY voting one season after winning the award.
What about Garrett’s 2025 season? Although we are only nine weeks in, things don’t seem quite as bad for Cleveland compared to last year. The Browns’ defense finished 2024 ranked 25th in DVOA, and now it is ranked sixth. Cleveland’s upcoming schedule includes sack-prone offenses such as the Jets (31 sacks) and the Titans (34 sacks), so it’s possible that Garrett could top his career high of 16 sacks this season. That would make him a very strong DPOY candidate once again. He currently has the second-best odds per ESPN Bet.
2:26
Eisen wonders what Garrett is thinking after Hutchinson’s extension
Rich Eisen wonders what Myles Garrett’s thought process is after seeing Aidan Hutchinson’s big extension with the Browns well out of playoff contention.
Much like Garrett in 2024, Allen starred for a defense that struggled everywhere else. The Vikings were only 23rd in defensive DVOA in 2011, even as Allen compiled 22 sacks to come within a half-sack of the all-time NFL record.
Although the Vikings were only 3-13, Allen was second in the DPOY voting behind Terrell Suggs of the Ravens. This was the second time Allen was named first-team All-Pro for a team with four wins or fewer, as he also made it with the 4-12 Chiefs in 2007.
The Rams finished 4-12 in their first season after moving back to Los Angeles, but don’t blame Donald, who was as great as always. Although he had only eight sacks, he led the NFL with 31 quarterback hits and led all interior linemen with 44 pressures. He received three votes to finish fourth in the balloting for DPOY that season.
David has played for much better Buccaneers teams, including the 2020 squad that won the Super Bowl. However, 2013 — when the team finished 4-12 — was the only time he was a first-team All-Pro.
David had five interceptions, seven sacks and 13 quarterback hits. I keep track of a stat called defeats, which combines turnovers, tackles for loss and plays to prevent a conversion on third or fourth down. David had 52 of them in 2013, the second-highest total since at least 1989, behind only J.J. Watt’s 2012 season in Houston.
Since 2000, no defensive back has been chosen as a first-team All-Pro for a team that went 4-12 or worse. However, Law had a very good season for a bad Jets team after leaving the Super Bowl champion Patriots in free agency.
Law had a career-high 10 interceptions, including a pick-six. He also had 62 tackles and 18 passes defensed, and he made the Pro Bowl. The Jets often used him on the opponent’s No. 2 receiver, and New York ranked second in DVOA against WR2s that season.