Though he was injured for a majority of the first half of the season, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle and team captain Cameron Heyward has had the best seat in the house to watch the weekly dominance from star outside linebacker T.J. Watt.
Watt has himself firmly in the Defensive Player of the Year discussion — again — wrecking opposing offenses weekly.
That led to Heyward, appearing on Good Morning Football Thursday morning, handing his “Halfsies” award at the midway point of the season for best Defensive Performance of the Year to Watt.
“Well first, let me set myself up. When I say this, these are my midseason awards. They are biased because I’m a Pittsburgh Steeler and going with that, my best performance by a defensive player, who do you think it’s going to be? It’s T.J. Watt,” Heyward said on Good Morning Football Thursday. “You know, he’s a guy that it couldn’t come down just one game. Every single game he’s had a sack or had a big play.
“…And with T.J., if you block him one-on-one, he’s getting a sack.”
The numbers back that up. Watt is double teamed on 15% of his pass rushes, which doesn’t include the number of chips he sees from running backs and tight ends. Despite being double teamed 15% of the time, Watt has a 21% pass-rush win rate from ESPN and has racked up 39 total pressures on the season and 9.5 sacks, numbers that are at or near the top of the league.
He’s a major force.
Watt is also the fourth-highest graded EDGE defender in football from Pro Football Focus at 91.2 overall and continues to change games defensively. At this point, it would be downright insane if teams didn’t throw extra blockers at him, though it’s pick-your-poison with the Steelers with Alex Highsmith opposite him.
Not only is Watt racking up sacks, he’s also taking the football away. He had a key interception to spark a comeback against the Los Angeles Rams on the road, had a fumble return for touchdown in Week Two to beat the Cleveland Browns and had late fumble recovery — both off strip sacks from Highsmith — in the Week Five matchup with the Ravens to help put that game away.
He’s a monster.
As for another “Halfsies” award Heyward handed out, instead of being biased and giving Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett the best performance in a thriller, considering all of his late-game heroics he’s had this season, Heyward went with Houston rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, a fellow Ohio State product, for his performance in the comeback win over Tampa Bay in Week Nine, throwing for 470 yards and five touchdowns, setting an NFL rookie record.
