The Pittsburgh Steelers put T.J. Watt back on the move yesterday after dabbling in it earlier in the season. For the first time since Week 8 (and the only other time), Watt played multiple snaps on the right side. I don’t have the exact numbers as of this writing, but it was definitely more than one. And it will definitely be more than one moving forward, it sounds like.
“Just something we’re continuing to work on”, T.J. Watt said after the Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday, via the Steelers’ website, in addressing his usage. “I think I told you guys on Friday, we’re gonna continue to try to move around and find those one-on-one matchups throughout the week. We’re dipping our toe in the water, and I’m sure the package will continue to grow. Not even the package but moving around will continue to grow as the year goes on”.
Watt has spent most of his career playing on the left side, though he started on the right initially. Since then, the Steelers have rarely moved him around much, though they have on occasion. In Week 8 against the Giants, he played four snaps on the right. Outside of that, he had only seen one snap here or there.
Just last week, Steelers HC Mike Tomlin seemed to suggest they were less likely to move him around. With Nick Herbig back healthy and Alex Highsmith on the doorstep, he said he was “more inclined” to play Watt and the other players in their “home spots”.
Of course, when Highsmith is healthy, Herbig doesn’t have a “home spot”. They could just use Herbig as a chess piece—including using him with Watt and Highsmith already on the field at times. Or they could change it up and move everybody around so you never know who’s blocking who.
Given that the Steelers decided to move T.J. Watt around more in their 44-38 win over the Bengals, it will be interesting to see what Tomlin has to say about it moving forward. Especially since Watt himself came out and said he expects to move around more.
Watt was coming off one of his worst games in years against the Cleveland Browns, during which he stayed left side. According to Pro Football Focus’ charting, he played four total snaps on the right against the Bengals.
That ties the amount he played on the right side against the Giants earlier this season and is the most he has played on the opposite side in a game since Week 4 of the 2021 season. T.J. Watt had two sacks in that game, and he had two in this game, including a key forced fumble. Neither of those sacks came from the right side, though one came from a stunt inside.
Watt now has 9.5 sacks on the season, on the edge of another double-digit-sack campaign. He is tied for the seventh-most sacks in the NFL and just a sack behind second place. The prime edge rusher on the other side yesterday, Trey Hendrickson, leads with 11.5 sacks but recorded none against the Steelers. No matter what side he rushed from.
