While the end of T.J. Watt’s season ended on a low note, a Grade 2 MCL sprain, his overall season was another for the record books. Literally.
With Week 18 nearly wrapped up, Watt ends the 2023 season once again leading the NFL with 19 sacks. With him officially in first place, he becomes the first player in official NFL history to lead the league in sacks on three separate occasions. He led NFL with 15 sacks in 2020, 22.5 of them in 2021 (tying the official sack record), and his 19 this season.
It should be noted that the great Deacon Jones led the league in sacks five times (1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, and 1969) but that was before sacks became an official stat in 1982. In official league history, Watt becomes the first, breaking a tie with numerous players, including J.J. Watt, Reggie White, Michael Strahan, among others who all did it twice throughout their careers.
Watt entered the final week of the regular season tied with Cincinnati’s Trey Hendrickson with 17 sacks. Before exiting Saturday’s game against Baltimore with his knee injury, he picked up two sacks on QB Tyler Huntley, the Steelers sacking him four times in the win.
He’s just one of four players in official history to have multiple seasons with at least 19 sacks, joining J.J. Watt, DeMarcus Ware, and Mark Gastineau.
Hendrickson picked up a half-sack in his finale while the Jacksonville Jaguars Josh Allen and Los Angeles Chargers’ Khalil Mack, who entered the game with 16.5 and 16 sacks respectively, each finished with one.
Here’s your 2023 leaderboard. The Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins have yet to play but neither have a player close to the top spot, especially with EDGE Bradley Chubb out for the season.
2023 NFL Sack Leaderboard
1. T.J. Watt – 19.0
2. Trey Hendrickson – 17.5
2. Josh Allen – 17.5
4. Khalil Mack – 17.0
5. Danielle Hunter – 16.5
Myles Garrett, held out of today’s finale, didn’t even crack the top five with his 14 sacks on the season.
Watt also finished the year with a league-high 36 QB hits, one more than the San Francisco 49ers’ Nick Bosa. His season stats were excellent across the board, filling up the box score on a weekly basis.
Through seven seasons, Watt is already up to 96.5 sacks. In official history, that’s third all-time, only trailing Reggie White (110) and DeMarcus Ware (99.5) through their first seven years. Watt’s made six Pro Bowls in his seven years, only missing out his rookie campaign, only the fourth Steeler to achieve that mark (RB Franco Harris, DT Joe Greene, and C Maurkice Pouncey are the only others). The Steelers’ all-time sack leader, Watt already has a first-ballot Hall of Fame resume before the age of 30 and has years to add to his numbers.
The only thing that’s slowed him down are injuries that have become more frequent in recent years. After staying healthy for his first five years, he missed seven full games in 2022 due to a pectoral injury but also battled through knee, groin, and rib problems. He made it through most of 2023 healthy, starting all 17 games, before injuring his knee in a freak collision with NT Montravius Adams.
Avoiding a serious injury that would impact his offseason, Watt will be healthy to start 2024. And he’ll be the favorite to lead the league in sacks for a fourth time.
