There’s always the important “Welcome to the NFL, Rookie” moment in the early stages of a player’s career.
That moment for Los Angeles Chargers’ rookie right tackle Joe Alt might come in Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road.
Alt will have to deal with 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award winner and future Hall of Famer T.J. Watt inside Acrisure Stadium, which promises to be a loud, raucous environment for the Steelers’ home opener on the North Shore.
For Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who is quite familiar with Watt, he had a simple message for his rookie right tackle ahead of the matchup with Watt.
Merry Christmas!
Speaking with reporters Thursday ahead of the Week 3 matchup against the Steelers, Roman spoke highly of Alt, stating he believes he could reach the heights of a player Roman once coached in Baltimore Ravens Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden.
“Yeah, I think the potential is limitless. You know, I was with Jonathan Ogden many years ago, and he has a chance to touch that stratosphere. That’s a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of knowledge, a lot of experience away. Right now he is battling every day to get everything down, learn, empirical data is the best data,” Roman said of Alt, according to video via the Chargers’ YouTube page. “And his ability to learn from experience has been great so far. Like, his ability to file things away, move on to the next thing is very big. And then as far as [Maxx] Crosby Week 1, now you got T.J. Watt.
“I mean, ‘Hey, Merry Christmas,’ you know? I mean, come on. So, yeah, Watt’s a great player.”
That’s quite the difficult start to an NFL career for an offensive tackle. But, to Alt’s credit, he’s handled things well.
Alt didn’t allow a single pressure to Crosby in eight pass-rush snaps in Week 1. He allowed one sack and one pressure in Week 2 against the Carolina Panthers but still earned an elite-level 87.2 overall grade from Pro Football Focus.
Watt is a different animal, though.
On the season, Watt is the third-highest graded pass rusher in football, per PFF, grading out at a 93.0 overall, including a 91.6 pass rush grade with six pressures and two sacks. Watt has found himself dealing with right tackles Kaleb McGary and Mike McGlinchey in the first two weeks, so while he will be Alt’s biggest test to date in the NFL, the rookie tackle might be the best tackle Watt’s faced this season, for what it’s worth.
Going against new, unfamiliar offensive linemen can be tricky because there are no tendencies to go off of, and there’s limited film overall. So, that could give Alt the upper hand, at least early in the game.
But make no mistake about it: Watt is the elite of the elite and will be a handful for Alt. He could make some game-changing plays late in the battle of unbeatens, potentially tilting the game in the Steelers’ favor in the process as part of the best defense in the NFL.
