GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Oh, cool. They drafted J.J.’s younger brother.
That was my thought back in 2017 upon hearing the Steelers had selected T.J. Watt in the first round of the NFL Draft. I hadn’t known much about him. Upon checking, he’d had a fine senior year at Wisconsin, but he’d also been converted from tight end to linebacker there, and he’d endured a series of injuries.
Some scouting services tagged him with a second-round grade, and Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin took him 30th overall, so it was reasonable to suggest they’d reached, right?
And then, T.J. showed up on the South Side the next day, carrying a chip on his shoulder that more than compensated for the size difference between him and J.J. Facing a roomful of us from the podium, he spoke this: “I’m not satisfied just to be here. I’m chasing greatness.”
Well, guess what?
He’s caught it.
He took off right away as a rookie, elevated further as a sophomore, and it’s hardly anyone’s reach to rate him right now as the league’s very best defensive player in 2019:
• 41 total tackles
• 12.5 sacks
• 28 quarterback hits
• 12 tackles for a loss
• 2 interceptions
• 6 passes defended
• 5 forced fumbles
• 3 fumble recoveries
“That’s DPOY right there,” Bud Dupree told me here, motioning toward his bookend partner’s stall. “D-P-O-Y.”
That's it: Defensive Player of the Year.
Watt's the NFL's first player with at least 10 sacks and at least two picks since Terrell Suggs in 2011.
No one else right now is close to this. The Buccaneers' Shaquil Barrett has 15 sacks, the Cardinals' Chandler Jones 14, and each has six forced fumbles, but neither has the other figures. On picks alone, Minkah Fitzpatrick's tied for the league lead with five, Joe Haden's right behind with four, and suffice it to say both of those gentlemen would enthusiastically concede Watt's the premier performer on their own defense.
Aaron Donald?
He's got 11 sacks, a league-leading 21 tackles for loss and the richly deserved MVP pedigree. But the fact is he's being engulfed by double-, even triple-teams, as we witnessed here ourselves at Heinz Field when Mike Tomlin carved up a gimmick O-line structure to neutralize him. Drawing extra attention comes with its own value, but it tends not to lead to awards.
Watt's winning in the subjective world of player grading, too, ranking No. 1 among Pro Football Focus' edge rushers, ahead of the Jaguars' Calais Campbell, the Seahawks' Jadeveon Clowney and, um, J.J.
And on top of all of Watt’s statistics, there’s the golden intangible of being the best player on a team having a storybook season. That earns respect, but also recognition.
Not that he cares. I mean at all.
"I'm here to win games," he told me. "I'll do whatever's needed to help make that happen."
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