In February when Alex Highsmith was a guest on Ben Roethlisberger’s Footbahlin’ podcast, he explained why he and T.J. Watt don’t switch sides as pass rushers. Highsmith said it boiled down to each of them being more comfortable on the sides they currently play, Watt on the left and Highsmith on the right.
Watt was a guest on the podcast for the most recent episode, and he broke down just how much more comfortable he is playing on the left side.
“It feels like I’m writing with my left hand,” Watt said about playing on the right side. “The bend isn’t the same, just so much muscle memory on the left side, I just feel it feels so natural on the left. It just comes to me, where on the right it’s like I’m working against my body.”
Watt said sometimes he’ll experiment from the right side, but then he feels like “he’s wasting one rush on the left.”
He told a story that before the draft, he did an event for the NFL Network where he met with a bunch of pass rushers, and former NFL head coach Steve Mariucci argued that rushing from the right side was better than the left side, which is the blind side for a right-handed quarterback. On the front side, Watt said, the quarterback can see you coming and the ball is exposed.
“The left side, I don’t have to wait for him. I don’t have to wait for you to throw, the timing all has to be perfect,” Watt said. “You don’t have to hit that ball hard for it to come out. There’s just so many more opportunities. A lot of the quick game, you rise up and throw it out there, I feel like I can see your eyes more.”
At this point in his career, Watt said it’s not worth playing from the right side.
“I feel like I can see the game more from the left side and I don’t wanna waste that opportunity on the right side,” he said. “I’d rather put all my eggs in one basket.”
Similar to how it can be tough for an offensive lineman to transition to left tackle from right tackle or vice versa, it can be hard for a pass rusher to move sides, as well. It doesn’t seem as if it would be that big of a change, but pass rushers have certain moves that may only work on one side and the muscle memory component is so important when you only have a few seconds to get into the backfield and get to the quarterback.
It was pretty eye-opening listening to Watt hear just how different it is for him from one side to another. He played a little bit on the right side during his rookie season, but since then he’s pretty much primarily played on the left side, going up against the opposing right tackle. The perspective that he doesn’t have to wait for the quarterback to come to him because he can see the quarterback and see the ball better makes a lot of sense. It also explains Watt’s penchant for forcing fumbles.
Being able to read the quarterback is also important, and it’s something that Watt’s gotten really good at over the last few years. He picked Joe Burrow off twice, with one interception in each matchup against the Bengals in 2022, and he has six career interceptions. Being able to be an asset not only as a pass rusher but in coverage with deflected passes (Watt had five in 10 games in 2022, 37 for his career) and interceptions is key, and it’s something Watt does as well as any pass rusher in football.
So, we won’t see T.J. Watt line up against a left tackle and attack the blind side of most quarterbacks in 2023 or beyond. But he’s been just fine working on the right side, and I would expect that to continue for years to come.
