Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt lost to Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett for the official 2023 Defensive Player of the Award, announced Thursday night at NFL Honors. Despite Watt’s statistical dominance of Garrett in sacks, Garrett took home his first DPOY trophy, denying Watt of winning his second.
Watt narrowly lost the award, falling to Garrett by just 25 total points. Garrett received 23 first place votes to Watt’s 19. Dallas Cowboys LB Micah Parsons received seven. Here is the full voting results, courtesy of Rob Maaddi.
The final results were similar to our Thursday morning predictions, though the battle between Garrett and Watt was tight for the top spot. Garrett’s 23 first-place votes are the fewest by the DPOY winner since CB Stephon Gilmore won with 21 in the 2019 voting.
Though disappointing to Steelers’ fans, this had been the expected result since the regular season ended. A favorite of PFF and analytics, Garrett had been the frontrunner over the last month. The All-Pro teams, also voted on by the Associated Press, confirmed Garrett’s lead. Watt and Garrett made 1st-Team All-Pro but Garrett had more first place votes and ballots than Watt, indicating he would beat him out for Defensive Player of the Year.
Before the ceremony began, Watt’s social media activity indicated he wouldn’t win tonight. An hour before the event, Watt posted this photo to his Instagram page, showing him playing “hooky” elsewhere in Las Vegas.
He later sent out this tweet, writing “nothing I’m not used to,” referring to his arguably snubs in 2019 and 2020, finishing third and second, respectively.
Garrett finished 2023 with 14 sacks, two shy of trying his career-high. He also registered 30 QB hits, 17 tackles for a loss, and four forced fumbles. While his impact goes beyond the box score, a player offenses game plan around, Garrett went quiet his last seven games of the season. Over that span, he recorded just seven QB hits, six tackles for a loss, one sack, and zero forced fumbles.
Comparatively, Watt was far more productive. Over his last seven games, he notched 13 QB hits, eight tackles for a loss, 7.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. Watt finished the year with a league-leading 19 sacks, making him the first player in official league history to lead the league in sacks three separate times.
| Category (Final Seven Games) | T.J. Watt | Myles Garrett |
|---|---|---|
| QB Hits | 13 | 7 |
| TFLs | 8 | 6 |
| Sacks | 7.5 | 1 |
| Forced Fumbles | 2 | 0 |
The official ballot should be released shortly, indicating how many votes each finalist received and what place Watt finished in. He and Garrett were one of five finalists for DPOY, joining Las Vegas Raiders DE Maxx Crosby, Dallas Cowboys LB Micah Parsons, and Dallas Cowboys CB DaRon Bland.
Before tonight’s award, we knew the voting of long-time columnist Peter King, who voted for Garrett to win the award with Parsons second and Watt third. King cited the eye test and analytics as the reason for putting Garrett No. 1 while knocking Watt for his lower pressure rate. Pro Football Focus lauded Garrett for his pass rush win rate, beating blocks even if it didn’t always translate into pressures or sacks.
Garrett went viral for several plays this season whether it was drawing a delay of game against Tennessee after the Titans assigned two tight ends to follow him, his pre-snap “basketball” crossover, or his leaping field goal block, Garrett earned more attention than Watt, who has consistently been among the league’s most productive pass rushers.
Had Watt taken home the award, he would’ve been just one of nine players in NFL history to win Defensive Player of the Year multiple times. He would’ve joined his big brother J.J. Watt, who won it three times in 2012, 2014, and 2015. In Steelers’ history, DT Joe Greene remains the only player to win DPOY twice.
