Steelers' T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick named 1st-team All-Pro for 2nd year in a row

The NFL’s third-ranked defense had two players repeat as first-team All-Pros in balloting released Friday by the Associated Press.

Outside linebacker T.J. Watt and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick represent the Pittsburgh Steelers on the first team. Defensive tackle Cameron Heyward was named to the second team.

Watt and Fitzpatrick earned first-team honors in 2019. Heyward was a first-team pick in the 2017 and ’19 seasons.

Watt collected 47 of 50 votes as an edge rusher.

“It’s a great honor,” Watt said. “It’s just a lot of hard work that went into it. I know Minkah and Cam put a lot of work in, too. All that stuff is team awards. None of that is possible without those guys in the locker room.”

Fitzpatrick tied for second with 18 votes at safety, trailing only Kansas City’s Tyrann Mathieu, who had 19.

Heyward had the fourth-most votes as an interior linemen behind Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams, DeForest Buckner of Indianapolis and Chris Jones of Kansas City. Donald was a unanimous pick. Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt got one vote.

David DeCastro finished third in voting at right guard behind Washington’s Brandon Scherff and Cleveland’s Wyatt Teller. Maurkice Pouncey had the fifth-most votes at center. Ray-Ray McCloud got three votes as a punt returner.

Watt led the NFL with 15 sacks, 23 tackles for loss and 41 quarterback hits this year, making him a frontrunner to win defensive player of the year honors.

Fitzpatrick led the Steelers with 74 tackles and had 11 pass breakups and four interceptions. He was one of two NFL players this season with at least four interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Heyward finished the season with 54 tackles, four sacks, seven tackles for loss, 18 quarterback hits, three pass breakups and an interception.