A veteran like T.J. Watt has seen it all. Except a left-handed quarterback. That makes Dillon Gabriel a unicorn in Watt’s career. Not that it’s going to change his approach much.
“This would be the first lefty quarterback I’ve ever played in my life,” Watt told reporters Friday afternoon via the team’s YouTube channel. “It’s interesting. We don’t have a scout lefty either, so it’ll be different on game day.”
Left-handed quarterbacks are uncommon. The NFL only has three such starters: the Atlanta Falcons’ Michael Penix Jr., the Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa, and now the Browns’ Gabriel. Watt played the Falcons to open the 2024 season but faced right-handed veteran Kirk Cousins instead. Pittsburgh saw Tagovailoa in 2022, but Watt missed the game with a torn pectoral that sidelined him for half the season.
Ahead of that matchup, Mike Tomlin noted the differences in facing a “counterculture” quarterback.
Notable lefties in NFL history include Mike Vick, Steve Young, and Ken Stabler. In modern Steelers history, Vick is only the notable southpaw. As Watt pointed out, all of the Steelers’ quarterbacks, there’s only two of them who can practice, are right-handed. Running back Kenneth Gainwell was a left-handed high school quarterback but presumably did not receive any scout-team reps this week (this is where useless knowledge like this comes in handy).
“He can bootleg both ways,” Watt said of Gabriel. “We’ve seen it. It’ll be interesting to do. Like I said, I’ve never done it before, but he’s very capable.”
Typically, quarterbacks are more comfortable booting and rolling to their handedness. Right-handers to the right, left-handers to the left. That could mean more bootlegs away from Watt and to Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig’s side.
The key difference is Gabriel’s lack of sight on Watt. Most quarterback blindsides are to their left. For a left-hander, it’s to the right. Watt could have increased odds of a sack or forced fumble if Gabriel can’t see the rush coming. But Gabriel got the ball out with haste last week, on average 2.44 seconds, as the Browns’ offense utilized a quick-passing game to tight ends and running backs to avoid sacks and negative plays. Gabriel was sacked just twice. He’s certainly more mobile than Joe Flacco, too.
Right- or left-handed, Watt’s mission is the same. Track down the quarterback. Make it a “nightmare.” And do it again the next time the Steelers and Browns meet.
