When it comes to ranking the best defenders in football, typically, the discussion comes down to Cleveland’s Myles Garrett and Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt.
More often than not, at least lately, from the national media perspective, it’s common to rank Garrett over Watt.
Former NFL running back and NFL Network analyst Maurice Jones-Drew has had enough. In his latest piece for NFL.com ranking his top 10 players in the NFL today, Jones-Drew ranked Watt over Garrett and used something very common and understandable to justify his decision.
Statistics.
“No, T.J. Watt didn’t win his second career Defensive Player of the Year award last season — but he should have. In 2023, Watt racked up an NFL-high 19 sacks, becoming the only player since 1982 (when sacks were first tracked) to pace the league in that category in three different seasons, per NFL Research,” Jones-Drew writes regarding Watt. “He also had the most QB hits (36), marking the fifth time since 2018 that the leader in sacks and QB hits was the same player (including when Watt did it in 2020 and 2021).
“Watt beats out Garrett in my ranking because he was simply better on the field…”
Jones-Drew then went on to list Watt’s and Garrett’s statistics in 2023, showing Watt had the clear edge where it matters most: on the field.
In 2023, T.J. Watt had 19 sacks — leading the league for the third time in his career, 36 QB hits, 68 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, one INT, and eight passes defensed. He made NFL history becoming the first player to lead the league in sacks three separate times since the statistic became an official one in 1982, and he recorded his second 19+ sack season, becoming the fourth player to do so in NFL history.
Not to mention, Watt broke the Steelers’ franchise record for sacks in a career and moved past his older brother, J.J., for most sacks in a player’s first 100 career games, putting him just behind Reggie White.
Yet, despite all of that, Garrett won the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award. Garrett had 14 sacks, 30 QB hits, 42 tackles, 17 TFL, four forced fumbles, zero INTs, and three passes defensed in 2023. He recorded just one sack in the final eight weeks of the season, including the playoffs. He was non-existent in Cleveland’s playoff loss to Houston, too, in blowout fashion.
The statistical differences and the disrespect towards T.J. Watt have Jones-Drew fed up, which has him believing a huge season is on the cusp for Watt – again.
“Make it make sense! There are plenty of storylines to follow in Pittsburgh this offseason, but don’t sleep on the 29-year-old Watt,” Jones-Drew added. “The six-time Pro Bowler is closing in on 100 career sacks (he’s at 96.5 right now), which should be a fun subplot on Hard Knocks: In Season with the AFC North.”
It doesn’t make any sense how or why Garrett won the DPOY over Watt last season, but it happened. Watt was frustrated in the moment, skipped out on the NFL Honors ceremony, and later asked voters for clarification on the award’s criteria since it could affect his Hall of Fame candidacy.
But now, he’s simply focused on the 2024 season ahead, which has a lot of promise for the Steelers thanks to some major offseason additions, including quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields and inside linebacker Patrick Queen.
The Steelers appear better on paper overall, and it helps that they have one of the best players in all of football, especially on the defensive side of the football.
