PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – There are debates between players in the Steelers division, let alone the other teams throughout the NFL, about the best defensive player in the game. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said emphatically TJ Watt is the standard.
“I mean, let's be honest, like T.J. is the best defensive player on the planet right now,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “He proves that week in and week out with the plays that he delivers us,”
Watt is the 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the year and you could argue for at least one more award. The 29-year-old leads the NFL in sacks with Minnesota’s Danielle Hunter at 13.5. He led the Steelers in solo tackles against the Bengals last Sunday as an outside linebacker. In 98 career games-187 quarterback hits, 100 tackles for loss and 91 sacks. He’s played less than 100 games and has as many sacks as Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen and a half sack from tying Raiders all-timer Howie Long on the NFL all-time list.
With all of the close games this year Watt has played the second highest percentage of snaps in his career at 86%. He’s had at least a half a sack in five straight games and nine of the team’s 11 this season. Sunday was the 29th game in Watt’s career that he had more than one sack in a game.
“I get a bird's eye view of it,” Tomlin said. “I see the lengths that people go through to minimize his impact on the game. I know the type of games that we've been in, close ball games, and you know, how that at times minimizes a guy that plays his positions ability to impact the game. None of those things slow down the train that we all know is coming.”
Tomlin added it’s not just for what he does for the defense, but what the defensive captain does for the football team. Even if young players aren’t in his position room or even on defense, the Steelers coach believes they watch how he goes about his business. What he does to maximize his talent level. How he prepares, not just for a game, but for a season. Then they see all the work turn into an elite level of production.
There are other great defensive players in the league-Browns’ Myles Garrett, Hunter, Dallas linebacker and Penn Stater Micah Parsons, Chargers Khalil Mack, Raiders Maxx Crosby, Josh Allen of the Jags and Pitt great and Rams DT Aaron Donald may be the best defensive player ever.
Tomlin’s good with who he has. He said the tough part for him is to make sure the coaches put Watt ‘in position where his talent, his will and his preparedness shows’.
An enviable task.