Throughout the last two or three seasons, there has been an ongoing debate about which pass rusher is the best in the league. Most of those conversations have centered on T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns. Both players are great and will likely go down as two of the all-time greats when all is said and done. The prevailing narrative this season has favored Garrett. Even though both teams have the same record, Watt and the Steelers’ defense have taken a back seat to the offensive struggles in the national media cycle. Thus Garrett seems to have captured an edge in the “best defensive player in football” conversation.
J.J. Watt joined the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday afternoon for his weekly appearance and discussed this topic.
“I think it’s because that’s the level of dominance that he has created,” J.J. Watt said of his brother’s lack of support from the media for the Defensive Player of the Year award. “He’s literally set the NFL sack record. Like he has the NFL sack record with [Michael] Strahan. So his normal year is anybody else’s most dominant year of their entire career. So that’s when you’re at a level where you know, you’re judged on a different standard…that’s a compliment, that’s a sign of respect. But I encourage people to not forget, it’s like I said earlier with Pat Mahomes, don’t get bored with greatness. Don’t get bored watching somebody do something spectacular, doing something that’s incredible.”
J.J. Watt spoke last week on a similar topic, talking about how his brother will have a span of three games where he only gets three sacks and people question what is going on. The reality is that Watt is tied for the league lead in sacks with 13.5. More than just the sacks, Watt has amassed 31 solo tackles, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, one interception, one touchdown, 12 tackles for loss, and 25 quarterback hits. When stacked up against Garrett, Watt’s numbers are roughly the same, if not slightly better. Garrett has 24 solo tackles, 13 sacks, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, 12 tackles for loss, and 23 QB hits.
J.J. Watt went on to compare his brother to another sport’s great.
“Same with LeBron over all these years. Like don’t get complacent with the fact that we get, we’re fortunate enough to watch these guys play at such a high level,” he said. “And with T.J., people can tell me I’m biased all I want because he is my brother, but the reality is just put up the numbers. Just look at what he’s accomplishing and what he’s doing.”
If T.J. Watt can finish the season as strong as he started, he has a shot at breaking the sack record that he already holds. He also has a very good chance at being a repeat winner of the Defensive Player of the Year award, something only a handful of players have ever accomplished.
