Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt was selected as the No. 27 best player in the NFL in 2023 during NFL+’s countdown of the Top 100 players in the league.
“You need to build your game plan around T.J. Watt,” Indianapolis Colts RB Jonathan Taylor said in the video announcing Watt. “If you don’t do that, you’ve already lost.”
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth said the team game planned against Watt in training camp last year, and he still blew the offense up.
Watt’s placement on the list is well-deserved, given that the team went 1-6 without him and 8-2 with him last season. While he missed seven games with a torn pectoral, Watt still accumulated 39 tackles, 5.5 sacks and two interceptions last year. Coming off the heels of an AP Defensive Player of the Year award and three straight top-three finishes, Watt could’ve done a lot more if he was fully healthy for the whole season.
He’s a game-wrecker and one of the best defensive players in the year. In last year’s Top 100, Watt came in at No. 6, and because the list weighs in performance from the season before, his fall was steep. But Watt is better than the 27th-best player in football. Teams have to plan for him, and even if his individual numbers aren’t there, his mere presence makes the defense better. He’s a lot closer to the top-10 player he was listed at last season then down at No. 27.
These lists are pretty meaningless, but it could be some fuel to the fire for Watt to see him drop so harshly after an injury-plagued season. When he was healthy, he was still an incredibly productive player, but besides the pec he was pretty much banged up all season. Fully healthy heading into 2023, Watt could once again be a 15-plus sack player and someone who helps lead the Steelers’ defense to another top-of-the-league finish in sack totals.
Watt is the second Steeler to be named this season, along with DL Cameron Heyward, who came in at No. 45. It would be a surprise if safety Minkah Fitzpatrick also wasn’t included on the list in the coming days, but those would be the only three Steelers I’d expect to see crack the Top 100.
