T.J. Watt is still the straw that stirs the drink for the Pittsburgh Steelers, making their team infinitely better when he’s on the field. However, while he led the league in sacks last year, he failed to capture a second Defensive Player of the Year award. Instead, Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns won, infuriating Steelers fans even more. Former offensive lineman Justin Pugh agrees that Garrett is the better overall player, but does believe Watt is superior in some areas.
Pugh played guard in the NFL from 2013 to 2023, starting over 100 games for both the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals. Speaking on his podcast, NetWorth with Justin Pugh, he was asked who he believes is the better defensive leader in the AFC North between Garrett and Watt.
“Like leaders in the locker room, Myles Garrett’s a pretty strange cat,” Pugh said. “He’s into all sorts of weird stuff. I don’t know how much he loves football, but I think he was put on Earth to be a defensive end. On the field playing football, dominating, Myles Garrett all day long, but leader? The Steelers have some leaders on that d-line. I might take Watt over him in leadership.”
It’s unclear what Pugh means when he says that Garrett’s into weird stuff, but it looks like he has no such concerns over Watt’s love of the game. For what it’s worth, Garret has been named a team captain three times with the Browns, so maybe that says something in favor of his leadership. However, Pugh spent time in the NFL, so maybe he knows more personal details about Garrett that make him say that.
This is another example of Garret being picked over Watt, a battle that will surely continue throughout this season. Although Watt had Garrett beat in basically every major statistical category, Garrett still won the award for best defensive player last year, apparently based on some advanced stats. We’ll see if that trend continues this season, and with the AFC North on Hard Knocks late in the year, that race should be even more compelling to watch.
Garrett also recently came out and said that he does study Watt’s game to get better, so it seems he has respect for his counterpart. When told about this, Watt took it as a compliment, and stated that he watches Garrett’s tape to improve as well. Whether Watt is a better leader or not is probably more subjective than anything, but with the AFC North as competitive as it’s ever been this year, maybe it will be the team with the best leaders that comes out on top.
