Former Champion Gives Steelers LB Early DPOY Endorsement

The Steelers' star linebacker is already receiving defensive player of the year endorsements

Sep 8, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90) celebrates with linebacker Alex Highsmith (56) after a sack against the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH -- It doesn't take an expert to see that Pittsburgh Steelers' linebacker T.J. Watt is on a mission this season. Despite the eye test and statistics showing he's the best edge rusher in the NFL by a wide margin, Watt's been continuously passed over for individual awards and recognitions the last few seasons.

All the Steelers and Watt care about is winning, so the individual accolades or lack thereof don't bother the star LB. However, his week one performance showed that the two might go hand in hand. Watt was an absolute force in their week one victory over the Atlanta Falcons. He had four total tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery. He also had a game-wrecking strip sack called back due to offsides, but the call was a borderline one that could have gone either way.

Another part of Watt's game that stood out was how effective he was on running plays. Former NFL player and current analyst Chris Long pointed out how much he disrupted the Falcons' rushing attack. Speaking on his Green Light with Chris Long podcast, Long discussed how impressive Watt was.

"Atlanta tried to pound the ball, and they should, running away from Watt," he said, "Who was simultaneously wrecking their game. He was on a razors edge of wrecking the game the entire first half. But they'd run the ball away from him. I mean they ran the ball probably 80% of the time to left and when they did run the ball at Watt, he forced the penalty early in the game...It felt like Pittsburgh was at home."

Watt's performance has Long thinking about DPOY already. While acknowledging how many good defensive players there are in the NFL, Long believes watching Watt is something totally different.

"You want to talk about DPOY?" he said. "There were a lot of great defensive players. (Aidan) Hutchinson was great, Micah (Parsons) was Micah. You know, some guys had some good days. But watching T.J. Watt," Long smirked as he failed to finish his sentence.

The compliments kept rolling on the show for Watt. Long's co-hosts discussed how much game planning goes into competing against the LB, only for most teams to struggle against the Steelers' pass rush regardless. The Steelers are hoping that their star defender can continue his reign of terror entering week two, and he can continue building his DPOY campaign.

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