There has been an ongoing debate for years now about who is the better pass rusher, T.J. Watt or Myles Garrett. It is hard to avoid with two of the best playing within the AFC North. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns are rivals, which fuels the fires of the debate, taking it to another level. There are a lot of parallels to their careers as both were selected in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, Garrett with the first overall pick and Watt with the 30th.
Both players have been on historic paces with their sack production over the course of their first 100 games played and beyond, but the argument that seems to arise every year is who should receive the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. Between the two of them, Watt is the only one to win the award in the past with his record-tying sack performance in 2021.
PFF’s Steve Palazzolo appeared on 93.7 The Fan’s The PM Team W/ Poni and Mueller on Thursday afternoon and was asked if he would apologize to Watt if he ended up winning DPOY over Garrett this season.
“Sure, of course,” Palazzolo joked. “It’s not gonna happen.”
Up until 2022, the 50-member associated press panel of voters each got one vote toward DPOY. In 2022 they changed to a system where each voter ranks their top three in order in a 5-3-1 point system. The year Watt won, he received 42 votes and won in a landslide. Watt has received votes every year since 2019 except for his injury-shortened 2022 season. Garrett received his first votes during the 2022 season with 17 points, which suggests very few people, if any, had him as their top choice. That was good enough for a fifth-place finish.
The debate rages on this season with both players having excellent seasons. Here are their 2023 stats with one regular-season game remaining:
T.J. Watt: 60 combined tackles, 42 solo tackles, 17 sacks, 34 QB hits, 16 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, eight passes defensed, one interception, and one touchdown.
Myles Garrett: 42 combined tackles, 33 solo tackles, 14 sacks, 30 QB hits, 17 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, and three passes defensed.
Of course, impact goes beyond just the statistics and comparing the two players isn’t apples to apples. Garrett is a defensive end in a 4-3 system while Watt is an outside linebacker in a 3-4 system. PFF has given Garrett a 93.6 overall defensive grade this season and credited him with 86 total pressures. Watt has a 91.5 overall grade and 82 total pressures.
In baseball, there is a WAR metric that assigns a “wins over replacement” value to every player that takes all of their stats and advanced metrics into account. Palazzolo was asked if PFF has a similar metric.
“We have a WAR metric too that also has Myles Garrett ahead, by the way,” Palazzolo said.
He also said that PFF’s Sam Monson is one of the 50 voters and that PFF “advises” some of the other voters. I think it is clear who Monson’s vote will be going to. The truth is, both players are generational talents. Watt leads in almost all statistical categories and has the most sacks in the league while Garrett is the best player on arguably the best defense in football. There are also other players to consider around the league like Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys. The award will be given at the NFL Honors event on Feb. 8, just a few days before the Super Bowl.
