Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: OLB T.J. Watt
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The medical staff cleared T.J. Watt from the concussion protocol, and he was able to be a full participant in Wednesday’s practice, putting him in line to play on Saturday. With fellow OLB Alex Highsmith still in the protocol, his presumed availability is huge for the Steelers.
To nobody’s surprise, veteran OLB T.J. Watt is having yet another MVP-caliber season. He has 14 sacks, 27 QB hits, 52 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries (one returned for a touchdown), one interception, and seven passes defensed. He has the second-most sacks in a player’s first 100 games in NFL history behind only Reggie White.
Yet he is coming off a low-productivity game against the New England Patriots last Thursday in which he suffered a blow to the head very early that was likely the cause of the concussion he was diagnosed with days later.
While he was reportedly attended to for several minutes by the appropriate in-game staff at the time, and even had his helmet switched to include a tinted visor, the matter clearly became more serious. It’s very likely that he was dealing with some effects of a concussion even though he was not diagnosed with having one at the time.
Fortunately, he was able to exit the concussion protocol six days following the mechanism of injury. He was able to participate in practice fully on Wednesday and should have no difficulty suiting up when the Steelers travel to play the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday.
His availability will be all the more important if fellow OLB Alex Highsmith is not as fortunate. He did exit last Thursday’s game with what at the time was classed as a neck injury and was later placed in the concussion protocol.
Thus far, he has returned to practice on a limited basis, and he has not had a setback. That is generally a strong indication that he should be clearing the protocol within a day or two. Having both of them on the field and playing a close to full strength will be vital down the home stretch if this team retains any postseason ambitions whatsoever.
