If Colin Cowherd was building an NFL roster, he’d take Myles Garrett before choosing T.J. Watt. Outlining the five best non-quarterbacks to start a franchise with, Cowherd gave a narrow edge to Garrett over Watt.
“T.J. Watt would be number four,” Cowherd said on his FOX Sports The Herd show.” He gets banged up a lot, but the Steelers in 12 games without TJ Watt are 1-11. That is insane. He does get banged up, so I bring him a notch below Myles Garrett or a Chris Jones.”
Cowherd’s list put Kansas City Chiefs DT Chris Jones at No. 1. San Francisco 49ers OT Trent Williams came in second with Garrett third, Watt fourth, and Las Vegas Raiders DE Maxx Crosby in fifth place. For a man who rails against any team who even thinks about improving their defense, it’s interesting four of the five names on Cowherd’s list are defensive players.
Watt does make his top five so Cowherd isn’t being overtly disrespectful here. But he’s still choosing Garrett over Watt. It’s true Watt has had his share of recent injuries. His 2022 season was essentially wiped out by a partially torn pec and other more minor injuries he battled through, including knee surgery and a rib issue. Last year, he missed the Steelers’ playoff game due to a sprained MCL. But Watt has been largely healthy the past two seasons, showing he’s not falling into the same scenario as J.J. Watt whose repeated injuries significantly hampered the latter half of his career.
Garrett has played in at least 16 games from 2021 through 2023. He’s yet to miss a game this season but is battling a painful foot injury that’s limited him during practice. It hasn’t hurt his production this year, Garrett picking up a pair of sacks in the Browns’ loss last Sunday to the Las Vegas Raiders, giving him four on the season. Watt is sitting at three after being shut out against the Colts.
Ultimately, there is no wrong answer. As much as Browns fans will say Garrett and Steelers fans will say Watt, they’re two pillar players to build a team around. All that matters is Cleveland and Pittsburgh are happy their franchises have game-changers to build their defense around.
