Happy Birthday, Jamel Dean!
Dean turned 29 on Wednesday and the NFL gave him a gift that will look good on his trophy shelf. For his efforts in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 30-19 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Dean has been named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week in Week Six.
Dean spearheaded a Buccaneers defense that held the 49ers' powerful offense to one touchdown while recording six sacks and two interceptions. He recorded the first sack of his career on the last play of the first quarter, in the process causing a fumble by quarterback Mac Jones. In the fourth quarter, with the home team protecting a one-score lead, Dean intercepted a pass deep in Bucs territory to end San Francisco's final scoring threat and set up a field goal drive.
Dean's final stat line against the 49ers included four tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit, an interception and a pass defensed. The seventh-year cornerback is the first player in the NFC this season to record an interception, a sack and a forced fumble in a single game.
Dean put together his award-winning performance against San Francisco after missing the Buccaneers' previous game with a hip injury. That outing continued a strong season for Dean, who has allowed a passer rating of 20.6 when targeted, the best mark among all NFL defenders who have been targeted at least 15 times. Quarterbacks targeting Dean have completed just 42.1% of their passes this season, the third-lowest rate against any NFL defender.
This is the first NFC Defensive Player of the Week award for Dean. He is the second Buccaneer to win a Player of the Week award in 2025 following wide receiver Kameron Johnson, who took the honors in the special teams category in Week One. Dean is the first Buccaneer to win a Defensive Player of the Week award since outside linebacker Yaya Diaby in Week 17 of last season, and the first Tampa Bay cornerback to be so honored since Pro Football Hall of Famer Rondé Barber in Week One of the 2012 season.
