Expectations are high entering the 2023 season for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and rightfully so.
GM Omar Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl did a remarkable job reshaping the roster on the fly, adding a number of experienced veteran players on both sides of the football to plug a handful of holes via free agency before then nailing the 2023 NFL Draft, adding some good pieces overall to the roster.
Then, training camp and the preseason happened with the Steelers looking rather good on both sides of the football, creating a ton of buzz for the Steelers leading up to the start of the 2023 season.
That buzz carried over into ESPN’s NFL executives awards voting Tuesday morning, compiled by ESPN NFL Insider Jeremy Fowler.
In the executives picks for awards, the Steelers were heavily represented, starting with star outside linebacker T.J. Watt reclaiming his throne as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, being named the co-Defensive Player of the Year with Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett by league executives.
According to Fowler’s piece, the executives who picked Watt to win the DPOY award in 2023 “see a storm coming” after he missed seven games in 2022 with a partially torn pectoral muscle. Watt has averaged more than 17 sacks per season since 2020 and won the DPOY award in 2021 after tying the NFL’s single-season sacks record with 22.5.
“There’s been a lot of hype around Nick Bosa and Micah Parsons and others and T.J. is going to remember that,” an AFC scout told Fowler. “I’m all-in on him having a huge year.”
If healthy in 2023, Watt should have a huge year again. The Steelers did well to add pieces to the defense to take some of the load off of Watt, and that includes the long-term extension that Alex Highsmith received in the summer, keeping him in Pittsburgh long-term.
Add the depth in Markus Golden and Nick Herbig behind Watt and Highsmith and Watt should be able to play less snaps earlier in games, allowing him to stay fresh for late-game pushes. That could help him stay healthy late into the season, too, playing at an elite level once again.
He’s on the cusp of breaking the Steelers’ all-time sacks record and is just a few sacks away from putting himself in elite company overall with names like Reggie White and his brother, J.J., when it comes to sack artists in NFL history. He’s very motivated and undoubtedly has heard all the talk about other pass rushers in the league.
Quarterbacks beware.
Along with Watt, head coach Mike Tomlin was voted as the NFL Coach of the Year by league executives. Were Tomlin to win the award at the end of the season, it would mark the first time in his 17-year career that he would receive the award, which is rather telling.
All that success in his career and never a sniff at the Coach of the Year award.
“You know, as a baseline, Tomlin’s teams are always going to be pretty good, and if the quarterback can deliver, they have a chance to be really good,” an NFC exec told Fowler.
No matter what, Tomlin is going to find a way to lead the Steelers to at least a .500 record. He’s famously never had a losing season in his 17-year career to date and has racked up 163 career wins as head coach of the Black and Gold.
Now, ahead of the 2023 season this feels like the strongest team he’s had since maybe the mid-2010s. The depth is great, players are hungry for success and there’s a lot of confidence in a second-year quarterback that certainly looks the part of a franchise quarterback.
If things go the way many expect them to in 2023 for the Steelers, Tomlin should be a shoo-in for the Coach of the Year award.
