Former Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett, one of the most feared pass-rushers in the NFL and all but a shoo-in for this year's NFL defensive player of the year award— despite playing for a dreadful Cleveland Browns team— is one sack away from breaking a longstanding single-season sack record held by Michael Strahan.
That record of 22.5 sacks in a single season— however dubious it was— was tied by TJ Watt a couple of years back, but no one has yet broken it. In the sixteenth game of a seventeen-game season, however, Garrett is only a half-sack away from a tie.
Against Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Garrett will have a chance to put his name in the record books. This would solidify Garrett not only as one of the best Aggie players ever to make it to the league, but one of the best players of all time.
Myles Garrett gets a chance to carve his name in the record books today against Pittsburgh
It goes without saying that this would be a defining achievement for Garrett, and with a good couple of games today and next week, he could all but put that record out of reach for anyone else. The Texas A&M legend has been the best pass-rusher in the league for some time now, but dwelling on a bad Cleveland team has somewhat dimmed the shine he would have otherwise gotten.
He requested a trade earlier this year to get out of Cleveland, but ended up signing a long-term deal with the Browns— a well-deserved high mark for him. He's showing why that was a positive investment for the Browns front office by the fact that he's even in this current discussion.
They need to build a better team around him, of course, but Garrett is a guy that can captain a defense to a championship level if given the chance. Today is hopefully one of several future milestones in Garrett's career as he looks to break a longstanding record.