Only 28 players in NFL history have ever recorded 10 or more sacks in six seasons. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt is not one of them, but he just reached his fifth season in 2023 and could join that fraternity next year. The only likely impediment for him would be health.
Yet there is one group it would be quite a challenge for him to make his way into now, for precisely that reason. His injury in 2022 prevented him from reaching double-digit sacks, breaking up a streak of four consecutive seasons with 10-plus sacks.
The Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett became just the seventh player in NFL history with six consecutive seasons of 10 or more sacks. He joins a list featuring Reggie White, John Randle, DeMarcus Ware, Jared Allen, Bruce Smith, and Lawrence Taylor.
But for Watt to get on that list, he’s just started over. He would need to record five more seasons in a row, after this one, of 10 or more sacks due to his injury-plagued season breaking up that streak. Consistency is a pedigree of excellence, but of course there is nothing one can do about health.
Notably, Bruce Smith fell short of 10 sacks in 1991, ending a five-year streak, but then began a seven-year streak in 1992, so it’s certainly possible. Smith was 29 in 1992, as is Watt this year. Reggie White holds the record for the longest streak at nine seasons from 1985 to 1993.
Yet few will actually care about this streak when it comes to debating the relative merits of the two 2017 first-round draft picks, who have spent their entire careers as divisional rivals. Well, Browns fans might care. Steelers fans rightly will not.
It is worth noting that Garrett’s streak includes one season in which he only played in 10 games, and that was of course the year in which he assaulted Steelers QB Mason Rudolph. And the only reason he missed any time is because he was serving a suspension. But one cannot take away the fact that he recorded 10 sacks that season in just 10 games.
Watt also played in 10 games last season but finished with just 5.5 sacks. Of course, the stark difference is that Watt was playing through a significant injury. He didn’t even make it all the way through the season opener and then missed the next seven games before returning, clearly worse for wear.
Yet he’s shown no signs of that this year, already at 10.5 sacks through nine games played—yet even there we must acknowledge that he is trailing Garrett, whose two sacks on Sunday give him 11 for the year. He is tied with the Minnesota Vikings’ Danielle Hunter, who has not yet had a bye week, for the NFL lead.
The two, Watt and Garrett, will be in Cleveland together Sunday as the Browns host the Steelers for the second time this season. Pittsburgh got the better of the first matchup with Watt scoring the game-winning touchdown off a fumble recovery.
More important than individual statistics or arguments for posterity is the fact that both are 6-3 and just a half-game behind the Baltimore Ravens for the lead in the AFC North. The Ravens play Cincinnati on Thursday, so if they lose, Sunday’s meeting could be a battle for the driver’s seat in the division.
With all that being said, Garrett deserves credit for his rare feat. As much as Steelers fans might be hesitant to acknowledge it, he is one of the great players of his generation and is on a Hall of Fame trajectory.
