Steelers All-Pro T.J. Watt ranked outside PFF's top 10 players entering 2023 season
New expectations have arrived for the Pittsburgh Steelers' offense, but the defensive side of the ball is still where the stars are at. Cam Heyward and Minkah Fitapztrick are two of the best NFL players in the NFL, as shown by their listing in Pro Football Focus' top 50 players entering the 2023 season. But […]
New expectations have arrived for the Pittsburgh Steelers' offense, but the defensive side of the ball is still where the stars are at.
Cam Heyward and Minkah Fitapztrick are two of the best NFL players in the NFL, as shown by their listing in Pro Football Focus' top 50 players entering the 2023 season. But they weren't alone.
The leader of the defense, T.J. Watt, also made the list as the highest-ranked Steelers player at 13th overall. And it just doesn't feel high enough.
The reasoning for Watt's ranking is clear. He missed a good chunk of the season with a torn pec and only played in 10 games, which limited his overall production. But does that mean there are now three other edge rushers who are better than him?
Myles Garrett, Nick Bosa, and Micah Parsons all ended up ahead of Watt in PFF's newest rankings. Not by coincidence, Bosa and Parsons were first-team All-Pros the year Watt ended up missing seven games.
PFF is right about one thing though. Using 2022 against Watt too much will get you into trouble.
"Injuries limited T.J. Watt to 10 games in 2022, so it's easy for people to overlook him, especially as multiple other elite edge rushers dominated during the full season. But that would be a big mistake. Watt had earned three consecutive 90.0-plus pass-rushing grades before injury took him down, and he has a massive 23 forced fumbles in his six-year career." – PFF on Watt's 13th overall ranking
Watt is still 28 years old and is fully healthy after finishing last season strong. He registered four sacks and five tackles for loss in Pittsburgh's final five games. The former Defensive Player of the Year hasn't yet lost a step, and now has a chance to do something that hasn't been possible in some time: Make a rise up the rankings.
After ascending to the top of his position, Watt was doing a fine job of holding that distinction simply by staying healthy. Now that he's got a handful of edge rushers ahead of him, he has something new to chase.
That's a scary thought for opposing offensive tackles.
NFL analyst quantifies T.J. Watt’s insane value in Steelers’ defense
The numbers are quite staggering.
Featured image via © Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
