Is Steelers’ T.J. Watt building resume for NFL defensive player of the year?

Chris Adamski
Monday, Dec. 2, 2019 9:14 a.m. | Monday, Dec. 2, 2019 9:14 a.m.

Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt stands on the field during the second half of last week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Another game, another sack for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt. They’ve been accumulating at a rate that’s marveled some teammates enough so that they are starting a campaign.

“He’ll probably win defensive player of the year,” fellow outside linebacker Bud Dupree said.

Sportsbettingdime.com tracks AP NFL defensive player of the year odds, and it had Watt as the leading contender heading into NFL Week 13.

Watt’s first-quarter sack of Baker Mayfield was critical in limiting the Cleveland Browns to a field goal on the opening possession of Sunday’s game, a 20-13 Steelers victory. The sack gave Watt 12½ for the season; through 12 games, that’s already in the top 10 for a single season in Steelers history.

It also leads the AFC and is fourth in the NFL. Among Watt’s other superlatives as the game ended were a league-best 27 quarterback hits and five forced fumbles (tied).

“T.J.’s a great player,” Dupree said. “It’s been great seeing him grow.”

Outside linebacker T.J. Watt is the leading vote-getter among all Steelers players, collecting 118,517 votes.https://t.co/4oo2Jr9cGj

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) November 27, 2019

Watt has at least a half sack in nine consecutive games. That’s the longest active streak in the NFL and longest for the Steelers since LaMarr Woodley had a 10-game sack streak that spanned the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Heading into Sunday’s game, Pro Football Focus had Watt as their highest-rated pass rusher among defensive edge players in the NFL.

Watt was named to the AFC Pro Bowl team after his second NFL season in 2018.

Seven times a Steelers player has won AP defensive player of the year, most recently in 2010 when safety Troy Polamalu claimed the award. Linebacker James Harrison won it two years earlier.

Watt’s brother, J.J., of the Houston Texans won it three times in a four-year span (2012, 2014-15). Penn Hills and Pitt alumnus Aaron Donald has won the past two awards.

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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.