It’s been nearly two months since Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett was awarded the 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, but the sting and the anger regarding the voting and the presentation of the award to Garrett over teammate T.J. Watt still eats at Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward.
Appearing on the Rich Eisen Show Wednesday, Heyward — who won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award at the same NFL Honors ceremony — stated that Watt was flat-out robbed, especially as a complete player defensively.
“…I think he was robbed of the Defensive Player of the Year,” Heyward said, according to video via the Eisen Show. “I know Aaron Donald said [Watt] was robbed a couple years ago. But man, that dude is a complete player. He’s the best defensive player in our league right now.”
The stats certainly back that up and have shown that for quite some time.
Last season, Watt was a tour de force for the Steelers, racking up 19.0 sacks, leading the NFL for the third time in his career and becoming just the fourth player in NFL history with two 19-plus-sack seasons.
The sack numbers were really impressive but was even more eye-opening was the consistency. Watt had at least at least one sack in 13 of 17 games on the year. It wasn’t just his play rushing the passer, either. He was outstanding overall. Watt added an interception after dropping into coverage against the Los Angeles Rams, and scored a defensive touchdown on a fumble return helping the Steelers win a game early in the season against the Cleveland Browns.
But, he was overlooked for Garrett, who didn’t have a single statistic better than him, had one sack down the stretch, no-showed in the Wild Card loss to the Houston Texans, and only had a better pass rush win rate and Pro Football Focus grade than Watt.
Watt, after the honor went to Garrett, asked for more clarity on the award and what voters want to see. He was very clearly upset with not winning the award again, marking the second time he was snubbed, much like Donald said this offseason.
The good news is though, Watt is going to use the snub to fuel him.
For Heyward, Watt’s “serial-killer” approach is what makes him so great at football.
“The thing that sticks out with T.J., he’s got a serial-killer approach and he doesn’t say a lot, but he lets his play do the talking,” Heyward said. “You see the energy on Sundays, but everything is so calculated. Everything is about no wasted steps and no wasted movements. I just think his technique is flawless, and he is always trying to get better.
“What can I do extra? What are we looking at? I love when he brings his little knowledge bombs in where he is talking about, ‘Hey, I’ve got a key of how much time is on the clock,’ and when he looks at the clock, he knows he can jump the count. And so, having that type of guy who takes that everything into consideration when he is on the field, man, he is a complete player.”
Watt truly is a complete player. He does all the little things well, defends the run with good technique and positioning and has shown the ability to drop into space and make heady plays on the football. He generates quite a bit of attention due to his pass-rushing prowess, and rightfully. It has him on a Hall of Fame path, but he doesn’t get enough credit for what he does outside of being an elite pass rusher.
Heyward sees it though and sheds light on it, which is important.
Hopefully being snubbed for the DPOY for the second time in his career is the fuel needed for another monster season from the Steelers’ star pass rusher.
