For TJ Watt, OTAs are old hat. Been there, done that, let’s get it over with so I can sack the quarterback this fall. He’s now the grizzled veteran and using the time to, of course, practice but also evaluate the guys around him. Speaking with Steelers.com’s Missi Matthews, he made one keen observation about second-year lineman Kendrick Green.
“I think everybody out here looks great,” Watt told Matthews via the team’s YouTube channel. “I think KG, Kendrick Green’s one of those guys. He definitely put on weight. He looks more built up.”
Size, or lack thereof, was one of Green’s concerns coming out of Illinois. At his 2021 Pro Day, he weighed in at 6017, 305 pounds with 32 1/4 inch arms, below average marks across the board. It’s not clear what weight he might be playing at now and the mere act of gaining weight isn’t always the important part. Adding healthy weight or muscle is the key but in Watt’s estimation, it sounds like he’s done all of those things.
After a tough rookie season, Green has plenty to improve on. Dealing and handling power rushers and rushes is one critical component. Some of that can be helped by getting stronger. Some of that will need to be done through technique in his pass sets. Under new offensive line coach Pat Meyer, expect Green – and the rest of this line – to take short, aggressive sets with the goal of winning early. Green will need to have strength and anchor to win those matchups, especially at guard, where he’ll be working covered up (a pass rusher lining up over him) more often than he did at center, where he was often chipping and giving help. Green is expected to play more guard this year with Mason Cole likely the team’s starting center.
According to our charting last year, Green gave up 3.5 sacks, a high number for a center. He was also penalized six times, second-most on the team only behind Chukwuma Okorafor.
As Watt later pointed out to Matthews, the NFL is a 24/7 job. It’s not like back in the day when players worked a second job during the offseason. Players are compensated well for their work and for a guy like Green, he needed to hit the ground running this year. As opposed to getting run over, an all too common occurrence in Year One.
