Player: OLB T.J. Watt
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: You can write one of these for T.J. Watt nearly every week. He seems to make a play whenever the opposing team isn’t actively planning to stymie him on a particular snap. Equally important, he takes advantage of the mistakes, and the Giants made a big one.
Let us hope we never grow weary of excellence, because that is the day we stop appreciating T.J. Watt. Firmly one of the greatest players of his generation and knocking at the door of all-time status, he turned in another sterling performance Monday night against the New York Giants. And as he so often does, he delivered in the clutch when the Steelers needed it in their 26-18 win.
Throughout most of the game, the Steelers allowed the Giants to hang in there through a series of unforced errors. Russell Wilson supplied the most egregious after fumbling on a scramble. Fortunately, T.J. Watt got the ball back on the next drive, ending a significant threat.
Wilson fumbled on the Steelers’ side of the field, nearly in field goal range. But Jermaine Eluemenor finally got what he bargained for when the Giants inadvertently left T.J. Watt unchipped on a critical down. He beat his man, took down Daniel Jones, and knocked the ball loose.
Not only that, but Watt recovered the ball himself. It seems he is learning something from Nick Herbig. The offense still couldn’t close out the game, though, and the Giants got the ball back. Watt actually wasn’t on the field when the defense finally shut the door for good with a Beanie Bishop Jr. interception.
T.J. Watt finished the game with two sacks, seven total tackles, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. More than just the raw numbers is the impact he made. He returned the ball to the offense when the Steelers needed him to make a play.
Watt has had a number of such key moments throughout his career. Reporters ask every single team that plays the Steelers about how they plan to stop him. That’s how you know you’re dealing with a man who will have a bust in Canton. It’s when you’re exhausted from hearing the same things about him every week but never tired of seeing him play.
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.
