The Pittsburgh Steelers have a history of unbelievable defenders, but none of them have gotten more sacks with the franchise than T.J. Watt. Since Watt was drafted in 2017, he’s done nothing but get better. He’s a premiere game-wrecker that’s been snubbed for awards a time or two. For those reasons, former New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty believes Watt has joined elite company.
McCourty was with the Patriots from 2010 to 2022, being a cornerstone of multiple championship defenses. Appearing recently on Annie Agar’s podcast, The Offensive Line, McCourty spoke about why Watt would be his choice for Defensive Player of the Year this season.
“T.J. Watt is kind of turning into LeBron James on defense,” McCourty said. “There’s this certain level of expectation that is greatness, but we look at it like ‘That’s just T.J. Watt. That’s what he does.’ When you take a step back, that’s not normal. T.J. Watt is starting to climb into that [level with] Aaron Donald, his brother J.J. Watt, where they just have a certain level of dominance every single year.”
That’s massive praise from McCourty. James is arguably the greatest basketball player to ever live, and even in his 21st season, he was still one of the best in the world. Watt is only entering his eighth season, so he doesn’t have the same longevity as James, but he’s almost as dominant.
James, like Watt, has a history of arguably being snubbed for major awards. He famously was overlooked for the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year award. Even though they play different sports and are very different people, James and Watt do have funny things like that in common.
McCourty saying that Watt is entering the same company as his brother, J.J., and Donald is incredible too. Those two are some of the best defenders of all time, and at their peaks, they had an argument for the best defensive player ever. Receiving that kind of comparison from a former All-Pro defender speaks to how respected Watt is.
If Watt can stay healthy, he should continue to reset expectations for himself like James. Hopefully he can have the same type of extended dominance that James has had as well. James also struggled in the postseason early in his career, so maybe Watt can break his poor playoff luck like the NBA superstar did. Just as long as he doesn’t leave the team that drafted him to do it like James did.
