SI's Peter King names Von Miller his defensive player of the week

Following another game where he completely hounded the opposing quarterback, Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller was tabbed as Sports Illustrated writer Peter King's defensive player of the week in his Monday column.

The 23-year-old linebacker took the league by storm in 2011 during his first NFL season, but has somehow been even more effective at getting to the quarterback in his second year. His 11.5-sack total from his rookie campaign is still quite impressive, and yet the 6'3, 237-pound budding superstar already has 10 sacks to his credit through nine games in 2012. His relentless effort level against a dual-threat option like Cam Newton was clearly enough to warrant player of the week honors in King's eyes:

The more I see of Miller, the more I think he's the most dangerous linebacker in football. His crushing sack of Cam Newton had to have rattled the quarterback's teeth. On another rope-down of Newton, the QB made the foolish error of trying to complete a pass while falling, and the result was a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown by cornerback Tony Carter. Miller forced a fumble too, on a day with many strong defensive performances.

With the way Miller has been able to maintain his high level of play throughout the season, it's safe to say that the Broncos star is already on a short list for the NFL's coveted Defensive Player of the Year Award. The Broncos will need to continue winning football games in order for him to stay in contention, but that may not be too difficult a task if he continues to wreak havoc on unsuspecting quarterbacks.