The Pittsburgh Steelers have often had among the most intimidating players in the NFL. Mean Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, and Mel Blount were all intimidating figures in the 1970s. There’s also been Greg Lloyd and Joey Porter. And how could we forget James Harrison? All of those players struck fear into their opponents. The current Steelers may also have one of the league’s most intimidating figures in OLB T.J. Watt.
Former Cleveland Browns QB Cody Kessler was asked the most intimidating player in the league at the moment on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. It was a no-brainer for him.
“I’m going with, written very largely, T.J. Watt with a double underline,” Kessler said. “He’s a phenomenal player. He does a great job too. Not only getting to the quarterback but getting the ball out. Last year he had six forced fumbles. That is a game changer. That is a nightmare as a quarterback, right? That’s someone that’s very intimidating.
“Quarterbacks often go to sleep on Saturday nights before Sunday and they have nightmares about edge rushers. For me, that’s a guy like T.J. Watt.”
Watt’s production speaks for itself. He is a handful to deal with, and you always have to be aware of where he is. Teams chipped him by far the most in the NFL last season. As of December 10, Pro Football Focus had Watt down for 146 chips compared to Myles Garrett in second place at 90 and Micah Parsons in third at 55. Watt was well over double anybody not named Garrett.
That made him an intimidating presence for offensive linemen, quarterbacks, and the offensive coordinators and head coaches tasked with stopping him.
While his production is key to the intimidation that Kessler spoke of, I actually think his demeanor on the field is an underrated part of this equation. His teammates have spoken at length about Watt when it gets close to game day. Some of them don’t even like to talk to Watt on Saturday if they run into him at the walkthroughs, let alone on game day itself. Watt has been known to give speeches on game day that are almost unintelligible because he is basically blacked out with pure energy.
Just look at this clip of Watt in the tunnel before one of the games, as seen on HBO’s Hard Knocks.
Kessler, being the former Brown that he is, said he would still choose Garrett if they were on a must-have third down, but there is something about Watt’s presence and production that makes him intimidating for anyone going against him.
