The greatest player to ever play defense in the NFL is arguably former New York Giants OLB Lawrence Taylor. The best defensive player in the NFL right now is arguably Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt. Both players were able to have huge impacts on games and could single-handedly change an outcome.
On the ManningCast broadcast during the Steelers-Giants Monday Night Football Game, Taylor gave his respects to Watt, comparing their styles of play.
“He’s strong,” Taylor said. “I like the way he uses his hands. Just like I used to do. I love the way he uses his hands, get the blocker off him and always in the right position. So, I’m cool with him.”
Like Taylor, Watt is almost unblockable. In Taylor’s 13-year career, he tallied 142 sacks, while through 7.5 years Watt has 103. As Taylor said, one thing that makes Watt so good is his hand usage. Whether that be through his “dip and rip” move where he rips through the tackle’s arm and gets past, or his ability to shed blocks to stop the run, Watt’s hand usage allows him to be effective in both the run and pass game.
Watt is more of an outside/edge rusher than power/bull, meaning his hand usage sometimes is overlooked as he blazes past the tackle to get the quarterback. But Watt is an elite run defender, and you can’t use speed to defend the run. Watt is great at shedding blocks and teams will even intentionally run away from him at times.
Watt also uses his hands to bat down passes. While part of his ability to bat passes down his high football IQ, his hands always seem to find the ball. Watt has a total of 47 pass breakups and seven interceptions in his career. In addition, Watt is great at punching footballs loose with 31 forced fumbles to his name. Most of his forced fumbles have come on strip sacks, but as seen in the game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Watt has become really good at the “Peanut Punch.”
When looking back on NFL history, Watt will likely be in the same conversations as Taylor among the greatest defensive players of all time. With Watt still playing at an extremely high level and showing no signs of slowing down, he may even be able to surpass Taylor on the all-time sack leaderboard.
