Player: OLB T.J. Watt
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: While he quickly changed the subject on individual accolades, T.J. Watt hit a milestone yesterday. Even in the morass of poor play, Watt stood out in the game in which he recorded his 100th sack. He finished with a sack and a half among eight total tackles, also notching a forced fumble.
At least upon first blush, T.J. Watt is the only player I can really feel good about describing positively. While even he took a misstep here and there, he was arguably the best player on the field. Of course, he usually is, which is why he is on the path to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
On Sunday night, T.J. Watt reached 100 career sacks faster than anybody short of Reggie White. He is just the third player to do so before turning 30. After the Indianapolis Colts did a great job neutralizing him, he had a greater impact against Dallas.
That includes his first multi-sack game of the season, netting two but splitting one with Nick Herbig. Indeed, Watt split his record sack, fortunately sitting at 99.5 before it. But he reached 101 career sacks before game’s end, just for good measure forcing a fumble.
Really, though, T.J. Watt showed why he is T.J. Watt on all kinds of plays, as on his tackle of CeeDee Lamb on the first play of the game. He stuffed RB Rico Dowdle for no gain on the play before his record sack. His six-yard tackle while covering Jake Ferguson looks a lot better on tape than the box score.
Still, he is the cornerstone of a defense that has allowed two consecutive opponents to score at least 20 points. Watt said after the game he isn’t focused on individual accolades and that he just wants to win. He knows the numbers will follow the wins, but the Steelers couldn’t get off the field at the end of this game.
It didn’t help that the Steelers, already down Alex Highsmith, also lost Herbig and then DeMarvin Leal in-game. By the end, it was just T.J. Watt and Jeremiah Moon, who just came off the Reserve/Injured List. Of course the Cowboys put men on him and limited his impact the rest of the game.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
