Will Myles Garrett and “The Narrative” win out over T.J. Watt and production for the only DPOY Award that actually counts?
Tonight is the NFL Honors event. We will know by the end of the day whether Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt is a two-time DPOY Award winner, or if he’s just a runner-up yet again, this time to Myles Garrett.
Watt won the award the last time he played a full season. He has finished in the running in the top three spots two other times. It’s already a foregone conclusion that he will finish first or second in the voting. The only question is whether he gets the most votes, or if the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett takes that honor.
The indications throughout the season have revealed a favoritism toward Garrett, who had exactly one sack after Thanksgiving. Perhaps he ate too much stuffing. As early as October, the league’s own Twitter account promoted the notion of Garrett as DPOY, which they never did for Watt.
He just recorded two sacks, two forced fumbles, and nine tackles against the Indianapolis Colts. The defense gave up 38 points and two fourth-quarter leads but the offense scored 39. He also blocked a 60-yard field goal attempt. The defense recovered one of his two strip-sacks for a touchdown. But he was largely absent in the fourth quarter and was flagged for being offside twice.
He only forced one more fumble and recorded 6.5 more sacks after that game with a whopping 20 tackles in 10 games.
And yet the NFLPA didn’t even include Watt on their All-Pro team after he led the league in seemingly everything. He became the first player in NFL history to lead the league in sacks in three different years. His 19 sacks in 2023 marked the fourth-highest recorded by any active player excluding himself.
The NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award is awarded by the same pool of 50 journalists who determined the All-Pro team. Garrett and Watt both earned first-team honors, but Garrett received more votes than Watt. It’s not a good sign.
The Steelers’ 2023 season has been put out of its misery, ending as so many have before in recent years: a disappointing, blowout playoff loss. The only change-up lately is when they miss the playoffs altogether. But with the Buffalo Bills stamping them out in the Wildcard Round, they have another long offseason ahead.
The biggest question hanging over the team is the quarterback question. Is Kenny Pickett the guy? Will he get another season’s reprieve without a serious challenge? How will the team address the depth chart? Do they re-sign Mason Rudolph, one of few significant unrestricted free agents?
The Steelers are swirling with more questions this offseason than usual, frankly, though the major free agent list is less substantial than usual. It’s just a matter of…what happens next? Where do they go from here? How do they find the way forward?
