For the second-straight year, Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt was a finalist for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award. And for a second-straight season, Watt came away from NFL Honors empty-handed.
Watt lost out to Denver Broncos CB Patrick Surtain II for DPOY. The final voting looked like this with Watt finishing fourth overall with 114 points. He received three first-place ballots, a far cry from Surtain’s 26. Watt also finished behind two other AFC North pass rushers in Cincinnati Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson and Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett.
DL Cam Heyward finished 13th with six total points, receiving one second-place and one fifth-place vote.
Per the AP’s complete list, Dave Birkett, Ben Volin, and John McMullen selected Watt at the top of their ballots.
While Watt came up short yet again, he didn’t have nearly as strong an argument to win the award as he did in 2023, runner-up to Myles Garrett. Watt finished the 2024 season with 11.5 sacks and a league-high six forced fumbles but comparatively, it was a down year for him. His sacks were his fewest in a non-injury year since his rookie season and a far cry from the 20-number he had previously been reaching.
Watt finished the season without a sack in his final three regular season games and the Wild Card loss to the Baltimore Ravens. That four-game streak is his longest since being drafted in 2017.
He remains with just one Defensive Player of the Year award, winning it in 2021. Watt remains in search of his second trophy that would put him in exclusive company with NFL legends like Lawrence Taylor, Aaron Donald, big brother J.J. Watt, and others.
Last year, Watt finished second. In 2020, he also finished runner-up behind Donald and in 2019, Watt came in third behind CB Stephon Gilmore and EDGE Chandler Jones.
Only one other Steeler was up for an award at NFL Honors. DL Larry Ogunjobi was the team’s nominee for Walter Payton Man of the Year, replacing DL Cam Heyward who won it last year (players are ineligible to win it twice). That award will be announced later Thursday night. Heyward also received a smattering of votes for Comeback Player of the Year though he wasn’t a finalist. The winner was Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow. Steelers QB Russell Wilson also received a second-place vote.
UPDATE (9:52 PM): Per the Associated Press, Heyward’s second-place vote came from ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky. Wilson’s second-place vote was via The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.
