PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – One of the more prestigious football awards in the nation did NOT go to TJ Watt. It’s the group that covers the NFL on a daily basis that thinks Myles Garrett is better than Watt.
The Pro Football Writers Association members voted Garrett over Watt for 2023 Defensive Player of the Year. The first time ever, the awards started in 1992, a Browns player was honored as a player of the year. Here are the categories where Watt had better stats than Garrett
· Sacks-Watt had 5 more
· Tackles for Loss-Watt had 2 more
· Tackles-Watt had 26 more
· Solo Tackles-Watt had 15 more
· QB hits-Watt had 6 more
· Passes Defended-Watt had 5 more
· Interceptions-Watt had one
· Takeaways-Watt had 3 more
The Pro Football Writers noted Garrett is the only active player with 10 or more sacks in each of the last six seasons. Watt missed seven games last season and didn’t reach double figures, although Watt led the NFL in sacks in each of the last three seasons where he played at least 15 games.
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is the Most Valuable Player and 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey is the Offensive Player of the Year.
Previous Steelers/locals PFWA winners
MVP-1984-Dan Marino, 1989-Joe Montana
Defensive Player of the Year-2006-Jason Taylor, 2007-Bob Sanders, 2008-James Harrison, 2018-Aaron Donald, 2020-Aaron Donald, 2021-TJ Watt