In the days since a definitive statement has been made by Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett following his three-sack performance on Thursday Night Football against the Pittsburgh Steelers that he is the league’s best defensive player, the debate regarding Garrett and Steelers OLB T.J. Watt has reignited.
Garrett felt disrespected by Watt no-showing to the NFL Awards ceremony last January after knowing he wouldn’t win the Defensive Player of the Year award he felt he deserved, so ahead of the teams’ Thursday night matchup, Garrett decided to talk about it.
That gave him an extra edge going into the game, leading to his dominant first half in which he generated three sacks and largely wrecked the game. On the other side, Watt was invisible. That performance from Garrett gave him the confidence to state to Amazon during a postgame interview that he’s the EDGE1 in the NFL, and the DPOY goes through him.
Hard to argue with that right now. It’s likely that many players in the NFL would agree with that, too.
But for Indianapolis Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin, what Watt brings to the table is an entirely different element than what Garrett brings, which makes Watt special in his own right.
On the latest episode of his podcast, “The Trenches Show with Zaire Franklin,” the host explained why he is on the side of Watt in the discussion of Watt and Garrett.
“My only thing with Myles [Garrett] is like, I mean Myles is a bull. This is obviously 1A, 1B. But T.J. dropping coverage in hooks and curls, though, that’s different to me, bro,” Franklin said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “Like, to me, that’s just a whole different element to the game. Like, I didn’t really watch T.J. drop back, go curl/flat, pick across the field, touchdown. That’s OD [overdone], bro.
“Like, now I know Myles is doing stuff that is inhumanly possible, only God-given. But T.J. really jumping up, spiking the ball like a volleyball.”
There is no denying that Garrett is a physical freak. In fact, Franklin later called him an alien. That’s not far off. Garrett does some otherworldly things on the football field. But so does T.J. Watt. He might not be that physical freak who can bend every which way and has an insane reach, but Watt has a knack for making plays in big spots, and he does more than just rush the passer or play the run.
He’s shown the ability to drop into coverage, make plays on the football and add that element to his game entirely. Garrett doesn’t have that.
Even when he’s not dropping into coverage, Watt can make a play on the football at the line of scrimmage, as evidenced by his numerous bat downs and his two interceptions at the line in his career.
“I can’t even…like not only do I gotta slide the line, not only do I got a chip, not only do I got a thump I can’t even throw over there because of d-lineman! Yeah, that’s OD,” Franklin added. “So for me, that’s where it kind of evens up a little bit. For me, that’s where it makes it a little bit more razor thin.”
That’s a very fair stance from Franklin. There’s a ton of respect for both EDGE defenders, but what Watt does outside of getting after the passer or playing the run sets him apart from Garrett, as it should. He can do it all defensively for the Steelers, and has made play after play throughout his career.
He did so last season, too. It didn’t result in his second DPOY, which was shocking, but Watt had a massive 2023 season, putting him further along on a Hall of Fame path.
Garrett is the talk of the NFL right now after his comments and winning the Week 12 AFC Defensive Player of the Week Award. But it’s good to see Watt getting respect from one of his AFC peers.
