The 2024 NFL regular season is almost over. Which means it’s list time. Just as the league released the roster for the upcoming 2025 Pro Bowl Games, NFL historian John Turney released his list of players who best represent the league this season. Dubbed his “All-Madden” team for the late great John Madden, it’s one squad between the two conferences. Basically his All-Pro team. Two Pittsburgh Steelers made the cut in DT Cam Heyward and EDGE T.J. Watt.
Turney has sung Heyward’s praises throughout the season, making his inclusion on his Talk of Fame Two’s website list no surprise.
“You can’t run at him. Teams never could. You can’t run around him. Teams never could. Quarterbacks cannot get away from him. They never could. Offensive coordinators around the league write this note to themselves when they face the Steelers, ‘Cam Heyward is a problem, and we need to get him blocked.’ They never did.”
Earlier today, Heyward was named a Pro Bowl starter, his seventh selection to the event. Only the fifth Steeler to ever make it age-35 or older, it was well-deserved and surprising to many. The injury-riddled year he had in 2023 had no impact on his 2024 other than perhaps creating a chip on Heyward’s shoulder to prove his career wasn’t over. Stout and strong as ever, he remains one of the NFL’s best interior defensive linemen while defying pundits and Father Time. He’ll finish second on the Steelers in sacks this season, entering the finale with eight of them.
Watt’s inclusion was also expected.
“T.J. Watt may be the best of the lot. He always plays hard, he gets great pressure on quarterbacks, and he gets them on the ground. If he doesn’t, it means he’s knocked the ball loose. No one forces more fumbles than T.J. Watt.”
Watt had another strong season, making the Pro Bowl like Heyward. Near the top of the leaderboard in sacks with 11.5, he outright leads the NFL with six forced fumbles. With a habit of making splash plays and maximizing his impact, his 33 forced fumbles are the most in the NFL since being drafted in 2017.
Two obvious and well-deserved names on Turney’s list. No other Steelers made his list though the only player who feels like a snub is K Chris Boswell. Instead, Turney selected the Dallas Cowboys’ big-legged kicker Brandon Aubrey. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top on the official All-Pro list released later this year. Aubrey was first-team last year, giving his name and reputation a figurative leg up on Boswell.
