Much of the talk surrounding T.J. Watt this offseason outside of his contract situation centered on the Pittsburgh Steelers needing to do a better job of moving the All-Pro around along the defensive front in search of advantageous matchups.
After largely being a stationary target in recent years, making it easier for offenses to scheme against him, Watt stated he was open to moving around more in 2025. The Steelers even experimented with it during training camp.
But two weeks into the season, Watt isn’t moving around much.
Of the 103 snaps Watt has played so far, 99 of them have come on the left side of the defense, either at left outside linebacker or left end man of the line (LEO). Watt also has one snap at slot corner, according to Pro Football Focus, and two snaps in the box.
So, the Steelers just aren’t moving him around more. That’s a problem. But for the Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo, it’s not about moving Watt around. Instead, he wants to see the Steelers drop their outside linebackers into coverage more to give offenses different looks.
Appearing on 93.7 The Fan’s Joe Show with Joe Starkey Friday, Fittipaldo made the case to drop the outside linebackers into coverage more.
“No, T.J. was open to it [moving around]. I think by the end of last season he knew he had to be open to it and I’m not sure what the reasons are that they haven’t done it more. I brought this up earlier in the week. I think they gotta start dropping their outside linebackers more,” Fittipaldo said, according to video via 93.7 The Fan on YouTube. “It’s way too easy for these opposing offensive coordinators to direct a tackle in a tight end or running back over there and just double-team T.J. Watt every play. If you actually drop him once in a while [into] coverage, you could bring blitzers up the middle, you can bring blitzers from the other side and you could actually put pressure on the quarterback and make them think about how they wanna account for outside linebackers.
“It’s just too easy right now when you know Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt are gonna come every single play. It’s just way too easy for them to devote blockers to those guys.”
When it comes to scheming up ways to slow down guys like Watt and Alex Highsmith, it’s relatively easy at this point for opposing offenses to do it, especially with Watt. He’s lined up in the same spot time and time again and is going to be rushing the passer.
Teams can chip him with tight ends or running backs, double-team him with tackles and guards or tackles and tight ends and minimize his ability to truly disrupt games. Of course, that leaves 1-on-1 matchups for Highsmith, Cam Heyward, Keeanu Benton and more along the Steelers’ defensive front.
But they just aren’t winning those matchups consistently.
If the Steelers aren’t going to move Watt around enough and force offenses to adjust, then they need to drop him into space and scheme up blitzes like the Steelers did a long time ago under Dick LeBeau and Keith Butler.
That can confuse offensive linemen and can help generate pressure on quarterbacks, which could lead to mistakes. Watt’s a great athlete and has shown in the past that he can make plays in coverage. Highsmith, too.
Utilize them in that aspect and start scheming things up because the standard stuff just isn’t working at this point.
