Trade secrets are a thing—but they might be a bit of a thing in the past when it comes to the NFL. At least within position groups, players today have no problems sharing their accumulated wisdom with others. Many positions even have their own “summits” during the offseason in which they talk shop and trade techniques.
Even the great ones partake—and for Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt, he doesn’t mind indulging when approached about it. He joked yesterday about rookie edge Nick Herbig taking all of his pass-rush moves. He shared more tips with Brian Baldinger on Inside Training Camp Live on the NFL Network.
“It’s alright”, he said. “If you can duplicate it, that means you’re a damn good player”.
And Watt is certainly a damn good player. Through six NFL seasons, he has recorded 77.5 sacks with 333 tackles, 88 tackles for loss, 162 quarterback hits. 23 forced fumbles, six interceptions, and 37 passes defensed. He has been named a Pro Bowler in each of the past five seasons and is a three-time first-team All-Pro, along with the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year, tying the league sack record that season with 22.5.
So just because he shows you how he wins doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to replicate that and have a similar level of success. Far from it. Watt is not only a great student and technician, he is also a superior athlete. He is a combination of everything you want in a superstar defender.
Herbig has a ton of quality traits and seems to have a great demeanor. He’s having some real tangible success early in training camp. But the odds of him ever being a Watt-like superstar are low. Players like that just don’t come along very often.
Not that others won’t benefit from what he has to offer. Alex Highsmith certainly has. By rights Watt’s battery partner should have made the Pro Bowl in 2022, indeed over him, after Watt missed a big chunk of the season due to injury and was accordingly rather limited in his production.
Watt is not the super vocal, attentive instructor. He’ll wait until you come to him, but once you do, he’ll tell you everything he knows. He’s an open book, and he’s done that for every pass rusher who has come through the door since he’s established himself in Pittsburgh.
Of note is the “ghost rush” move that he’s been helping the rookie Herbig with. The latter, a fellow Wisconsin alumnus, told reporters yesterday that it’s a move he has been trying to work on for years, but it wasn’t until recently when he was able to have Watt walk him through it that he has been really able to start adding it to his own arsenal as a viable option.
Once your teacher tells you what you need to know, though, it’s up to you to apply it. And as we’ve seen by the roster turnover at outside linebacker in Pittsburgh, just being told by an All-Pro what he does isn’t going to make you like him. So listen up all you want. Only the damn good players will be able to really benefit from it.
