Not quite ‘from another planet,’ but Steelers’ T.J. Watt having award-worthy season
Situated off of Interstate 94 less than a half hour west of Milwaukee on the route to Madison, Pewaukee, Wisc., is like a lot of other towns in the upper Midwest. Mostly in that its 14,000-plus inhabitants are, well, human, and that each of them (presumably) was born on Earth.
Then again, can we be so sure? After all, how many towns of that size can boast three to four NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards?
Perhaps that’s what compelled Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin this past week to call for a look into the verification of his star defender’s birth certificate.
“T.J.,” Tomlin said, referring to linebacker Trent Jordan Watt, “is visiting from another planet, to be quite honest with you.
“He has freakishly unique talent coupled with freakishly unique work habits and mindset, and it produces what you guys witness every week, which in my opinion, is defensive-player-of-the-year quality.”
Even though he will sit out Sunday’s 1 p.m. regular-season finale at the Cleveland Browns, as expected, T.J. Watt has made as strong a case as anyone to embark in pursuit of older brother J.J. in collecting NFL Defensive Player of the Year trophies. J.J., the Houston Texans’ veteran lineman, maintains his lead both as Pewaukee’s most famous native son and in DPOY awards with a record-tying three.
“Yes, I’ve seen all three of them,” T.J. Watt said with a playful eyeroll that can only be refined over decades of a good-natured sibling rivalry. “Every time I FaceTime they are in the background, so I have seen them plenty of times. Every time I visit him I go into his office, and I see all three of them sitting there.”
T.J. Watt could add a fourth such trophy to the haul of former Pewaukee H.S. Pirates and of the Watt family. He leads the NFL in sacks (15), tackles for loss (23) and quarterback hits (41), joining his brother and former Penn Hills and Pitt star Aaron Donald as the only NFL players of the past 15 years to hit those milestones. A DPOY was awarded each time it’s happened so far in that span.
Watt has had 13 or more sacks in each of the past three seasons; only one NFL player (Reggie White, twice) has had a longer season streak of at least that many sacks. He has an NFL-most 10 forced fumbles the past two seasons, and no one has forced more fumbles (17) since he entered the league in 2017.
“He’s just got a knack for getting to the quarterback,” Steelers inside linebacker Avery Williamson said, “and he’s got a knack for getting the ball out as well.
“He’s definitely a phenomenal player, man, and … he’s having a phenomenal season.”
A consistent one, too.
Watt had at least one QB hit in every game this season. He has contributed to a sack in 11 of his 15 games. In 14 of the 15, he’s had at least four quarterback “pressures,” according to Pro Football Focus. Per ESPN, no player has a better pass-rush “win rate” in 2020.
RT to bless your followers’ timelines with this @_TJWatt sack reel ?#DPOY | @NFLResearch | #PITvsCLE: Sunday at 1 pm on CBS pic.twitter.com/7BYsC6TSNr
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 31, 2020
“He’s very good what he does, and he’s very consistent with what he does,” Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said. “It’s real hard to lead the league in those categories that he does, and he does it consistently. He did it the whole year this year.”
As Tomlin alluded to with his “other planet” remark, Watt’s gifts are threefold: physical god-given talent, an innate competitiveness and a seemingly unparalleled work ethic.
The talent is reflected in having the fastest “get off” time in the NFL, as calculated by the league’s official advanced statistical service. It means no one has a quicker first step to the quarterback.
Part of that, though, is film study and maniacal preparation: NFL Next Gen Stats also reports no player lines up closer to the line of scrimmage. Watt’s “hyper-focus and attention to detail” (in Tomlin’s words) result in a knowledge of opposing quarterback’s cadences. That helps, too.
“The biggest thing he does that helps himself is he studies the game, and he understands the game,” Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. “He talks to his brother quite a bit in terms of what’s going on in the league. He watches a lot of film. He is going to try and study his opponent as best he can and try to use what he knows in the game when the lights come on.”
But Watt doesn’t even need “the lights on” to light the competitive fire inside of him. Fitzpatrick talks about their pre-practice games of off-handed football toss (Watt is a righty who throws left-handed and Fitzpatrick a lefty who throws with his right hand) in which each aims for the crossbar.
“We are always competing,” Fitzpatrick said, “and I think that translates to the games and on the field. The man in front of him, he’s just trying to beat and break down every single rep, just because of his competitive nature and who he is.”
Watt has earned his teammates’ respect, shown by his consecutive team MVP awards (as voted by players) and his election as a team captain in 2020.
They showed it again this past week by opening campaigning for Watt to become the seventh Steelers player to win defensive player of the year. He would join Joe Greene (twice), Mel Blount, Jack Lambert, James Harrison and Troy Polamalu.
“T.J. is a guy that we can rely on to be a playmaker for us week in and week out,” said Watt’s fellow defensive co-captain Cameron Heyward. “He’s the ultimate competitor, and we’re very lucky to have him. I don’t take that lightly. He really provides a lot for us, and he is very deserving of this (DPOY) award.”
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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.
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