Vote: Who Has Been the Patriots’ Defensive MVP This Season?

With all the excitement on the offensive side of the ball this season, it’s been easy to overlook the Patriots’ defense.

Led by a young corps of talented athletes, the Pats’ defense may rank in the lower tier of most defensive categories, but they’re doing whatever it takes to get wins.

Linebacker Jerod Mayo leads the team — and league — with 147 total tackles, almost more than twice the amound of Patrick Chung, who comes in second on the team with 73 total tackles. The third-year backer out of Tennessee has posted double-digit tackles in all but four games this season

Vince Wilfork may not post the gaudy stats that Mayo does, but the cog in the middle of the Pats’ defensive line has been a force in the trenches. Wilfork does the small things that go virtually unnoticed to the untrained eye and has been a reliable veteran, once again, in 2010 on the field and off.

Rookie Devin McCourty, arguably the biggest steal from the entire 2010 NFL draft, has gone beyond expectations thus far in his first year out of Rutgers. He has 64 total tackles to go with a team-high six picks.

Who has been the Patriots defensive MVP this season?online survey