Coming off a season that ended in disappointment and saw him finish with goose eggs in the stats department in back-to-back weeks, Pittsburgh Steelers star outside linebacker and future Hall of Famer T.J. Watt told reporters Monday that he needs to be more open to moving around defensively to maximize his impact.
The 2024 season was a relatively down year for Watt, who had just 11.5 sacks and 53 pressures. However, he did lead the league in forced fumbles with six and remained an impact player against the run even when teams were scheming ways to take him out of the passing game with chips and slides.
While Watt stated he needs to be more open to moving around, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that he doesn’t think there needs to “dramatic changes” regarding Watt moving forward.
Speaking with reporters Tuesday, Tomlin credited Watt for being “ridiculously consistent” and added that Watt’s overall production is not high on his to-do list this offseason.
“I don’t know that a lot of dramatic changes need to be made regarding T.J. Watt, to be quite honest with you. I think his resume and production speaks for itself,” Tomlin said during his end-of-season press conference, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “He’s been ridiculously consistent over his stay here. And even in the midst of the 2024 season that didn’t unfold the way any of us would like, I have a lot of things that have my attention before I get into T.J. Watt-like production as far as my to-do list.”
Getting 11.5 sacks and six forced fumbles from your outside linebacker is nothing to scoff at, but when it comes to Watt and his production over the years, that’s a bit low. The fact that teams were so easily able to scheme up ways to negate him from Week 7 on was rather concerning, too.
Watt dealt with an ankle injury from Week 15 on and just didn’t look like himself. The Steelers certainly didn’t help him out much, either.
When it comes to other great pass rushers like Cleveland’s Myles Garrett, Dallas’ Micah Parsons and Las Vegas’ Maxx Crosby, those teams find ways to move those monsters around and hunt matchups. In Pittsburgh, Watt is largely tethered to the left side of the defense.
Though he moved around at times this year, he played just 14 total snaps lined up at a different position other than LOLB. That made him easier plan for from an offensive standpoint.
While Watt is open to moving around, actions speak louder than words. Tomlin downplayed some changes with Watt, which is understandable, considering his resume and consistency. But there has to be some concerns with the way Watt disappeared at times this season.
We’ll see if there are changes in 2025 for Watt from an alignment standpoint. If not, it could be another down season for Watt in the Black and Gold due to the way offenses can scheme against him.
