This might be the most yinzer column I've written to date. But I've got to get this off my chest.
I know the NFL offseason is full of throwing opinions and lists and rankings and stats out there for the football hungry masses to consume while we all count down the days until kickoff to the 2022-23 regular season (we're under 90 days, by the way).
But one thing I continue to see far too often is the grouping together…as if they are in the same conversation…between Defensive Player of the Year TJ Watt and Cleveland's Myles Garrett. To me, the comparison between these two is a mismatch across the board. Garrett gets lumped into the same discussions and categories when reviewing the most impactful edge rushers and just overall defensive players in the game.
I just don't get it. Here's why.
PURE STATS
Garrett and Watt both came into the league in 2017. Maybe that's part of the reason they're always linked. Myles Garrett has accumulated more sacks in a season than TJ Watt exactly one (1) time. In 2018, Garrett had 13.5 sacks while Watt had even 13. Half a sack better.
Since then, Watt has had at least 3 more sacks that Garrett in each season including 6.5 more than him last year when Watt tied the single-season sack record with 22.5. Tackles? Watt has had more in every single season, sometimes by a double-digit margin. Tackles for loss? Watt has had more in even season but 2018 when they tied with 12. QB hits? Watt has had more than Garrett the past three seasons, in fact, he more than doubled Garrett's numbers in 2020 while only playing one more game than him.
PURE DOMINANCE
Watt posted 16 multi-sack games in his career, which means he's had at least 2 sacks in 21% of his regular season games. He's also racked up 44 games in which he's had multiple QB hits, good for 57% of his regular season games. To his credit, Myles Garrett has 11 multi-sack games, good for 16% of his games and has had multiple hits on the QB in 51% of his games.
The numbers Garrett has posted here are about as close as it gets when comparing the two, but Watt's are still clearly superior.
IMPACT PLAYS
I'm just going to go back to this season. In an October night at Heinz Field in which the Steelers were taken to overtime by the Geno Smith-led Seattle Seahawks, Watt came through with a strip sack that set the Steelers up in great field position for Chris Boswell to hit a game-winning field goal.
In Week 13 at home against Baltimore, Watt strip-sacked Lamar Jackson with just over a minute left as the Ravens were trying to drive down the field trailing 20-13. The Ravens later scored on that drive and went for a 2-point conversion instead of tying the game at 20. The two-point play was disrupted by Watt who came off the edge and forced a quick throw from Lamar Jackson that glanced off the fingertips of Mark Andrews.
Those are moments in which your best defensive player makes the plays necessary to win games.
To top this part of the discussion off, I saw something very interesting the other day from Alex Kozora of Steelers Depot. TJ Watt led the list of 4th quarter and overtime sacks in 2021 with 8. I asked Alex where Myles Garrett landed on that list. Garrett posted just 3.5 of his 16 sacks in the 4th quarter or overtime.
I think that matters. Sure, you can accumulate stats but are stepping up when your team needs you most? Or are you just racking up empty sacks and tackles? Not only do you want your best players to step up in more important times in games but you'd want them to be at their best when the games are more important, right?
Last year, Garrett had 6 sacks through the first 4 games. As the season wore on, his numbers continued to drop. Games 5-8 he had 4.5. Games 9-12 he had 3.5. Games 13+ he had a rousing 2. On the other hand, TJ Watt's numbers remained steady all year, capped off by 6.5 sacks in Games 13+.
Look, Myles Garrett is a really good player. This is not meant to tear him down. But I see this notion that he's on the same level at TJ Watt and he's just not.
He looks like the Terminator.
Myles Garrett 🤯#Browns x #NFL pic.twitter.com/Q4dILlH1qJ
— BROWNS OR DIE 💀 (@BrownsorDie) June 7, 2022
He can jump high.
He's a physical freak. But he's not on the same level as TJ Watt. The only person in this discussion as far as being a disruptor along the defensive line is Aaron Donald. It's not Myles Garrett.
