The Pittsburgh Steelers have well outperformed most reasonable expectations this season with a 10-4 record and a great chance at winning the AFC North. Naturally, that has multiple Steelers players, coaches, and executives in the mix for NFL Honors consideration. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero conducted an anonymous survey of executives from 27 teams, including 17 general managers, and compiled results for each of the major categories. T.J. Watt, Mike Tomlin, and Omar Khan made the list to varying degrees.
The actual panel of voters is 50 media members, so it could end up looking a little different than the opinions of league execs in the end.
T.J. Watt – Defensive Player of the Year: 1st (13.5 votes)
Despite it being a “down year” in comparison to his typical standards, there isn’t really a runaway favorite taking attention away from Watt. After a two-sack performance on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, Watt is one full sack away from being tied for the NFL lead. He has 11.5 with three games remaining in the regular season.
If he is able to play Saturday in Baltimore, Watt has an outside chance of logging the fourth season of his career with 15 or more sacks. It is not certain if he will play against the Ravens due to a low-ankle injury suffered in Week 15.
The area of his game that really stands out this year despite the slightly lower sack total is his tackles for loss and forced fumbles. He is leading the league in both with 18 tackles for loss and six forced fumbles. All while being chipped far more than any other edge rusher in the league.
Following Watt were CB Pat Surtain II (3.5), S Xavier McKinney (3), and DE Myles Garrett (3) with several other players each receiving a vote.
Mike Tomlin – Coach of the Year: 2nd (3 votes)
He has never won the award in his now 18th season as the Steelers’ head coach, but he likes it that way. Tomlin told the media earlier in the year that the award is usually given to coaches who surprise relative to expectations. He would like to think that the Steelers being good is never a surprise. Still, they are well ahead of where most people had them ranked in the offseason. A lot of outlets had the Steelers holding down the bottom of the AFC North and they are in position to win it for the first time since 2020.
Tomlin’s signature decision this year has been to go with Russell Wilson when everybody thought he should stick with Justin Fields while the Steelers were 4-2. That decision has paid off with the Steelers holding 10-4 record and a spot in the playoffs with much more to accomplish.
If you ask this panel of anonymous execs, this will not be the first year that Tomlin wins the award. Minnesota Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell won in a landslide. He received 16.5 votes compared to Tomlin’s three. It’s hard to argue there as the Vikings have surprised the world with sustained success behind QB Sam Darnold.
Behind Tomlin are Lions HC Dan Campbell (2), Chiefs HC Andy Reid (2), Rams HC Sean McVay (1.5) and Bills HC Sean McDermott (1).
Omar Khan – Executive of the Year: T-5th (1 vote)
Along the same lines as Tomlin, Khan’s team has exceeded expectations, so he is getting at least some love for exec of the year. He has been in control of the draft for two drafts now and he’s done a great job adding talent. Zach Frazier, Payton Wilson, Mason McCormick and even UDFA CB Beanie Bishop Jr. all look like great additions. Troy Fautanu, Roman Wilson, and others are injured, or we might be looking at this draft class even more favorably.
He also brought in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields for cheap as a very strong QB duo and then added guys like Patrick Queen, DeShon Elliott, and Donte Jackson to solidify the defense. All of those additions panned out pretty well.
Lions GM Brad Holmes led the way in the survey with six votes. Next was Bills GM Brandon Beane (5), Eagles GM Howie Roseman (4.5) and a few others ahead of Khan.
