We're getting closer and closer to Pittsburgh Steelers training camp, but the lists and rankings will continue until then. NFL.com's Kevin Patra selected each AFC team's non-quarterback MVP for the 2022 season and to no one's surprise, TJ Watt was the selection for the Steelers.
"Watt tied the single-season sack record with 22.5 in 15 games in 2021. What if he blasts past that benchmark to lead the league in sacks for a third straight season? No player has ever paced the NFL in sacks in back-to-back-to-back campaigns. Watt averaged 1.5 sacks per game in 2021, second all-time only to Hall of Famer Reggie White's 1.75 mark set in 1987 (min. five games)."
Watt has won the Steelers team MVP award in back-to-back seasons. His 2021 efforts were quite historic, as he tied the single-season sack record, despite playing in just 15 games as mentioned above. With a fully healthy and much-improved defense this season, teams won't be able to double-team Watt too often. Alex Highsmith on the opposite side, as well as Cameron Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi, gives the Steelers pass-rushing options from all over the defense.
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, TJ Watt (#90) celebrates a sack at Heinz Field on October 17, 2021. | AP Photo / Matt Durisko
Beyond winning Steelers MVP honors in 2021, Watt ran away with the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award. He finished with 42 of the 50 votes, as Dallas Cowboys' Micah Parsons and Los Angeles Rams' Aaron Donald accumulated the remaining eight votes.
Patra didn't stop there with his praise for Watt, though. He endorsed Watt for an award beyond just team MVP and Defensive Player of the Year:
"If Watt breaks the record while dragging the Steelers to the postseason again, he'd be a shoo-in for back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards. But he'd deserve more, like becoming the first defensive MVP since Lawrence Taylor in 1986."
How crazy would that be? TJ Watt winning the NFL MVP Award for 2022. It remains virtually impossible though, as Lawrence Taylor was the last defensive player to do so in 1986, as Patra mentioned. In fact, just two defensive players have ever won the award, with Alan Page in 1971 as the other one.
Additionally, despite his historic, record-breaking 2021 season, Watt didn't receive a single vote for MVP. Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers won the award, with Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Tom Brady and Rams WR Cooper Kupp receiving votes as well. Watt helped lead the Steelers to the playoffs, while racking up 22.5 sacks and DPOY honors in the meantime.
Credit: Sporting News
In other words, if Watt didn't even receive a vote for the NFL MVP in 2021, there's just no chance a defensive player will be able to do it again. That is, not with the gaudy passing stats that quarterbacks are putting up in the modern-era. Still, it's quite the praise from Patra. In the true meaning of "Most Valuable Player," TJ Watt has as good of an argument as anyone in football. Without him last season, the Steelers would have been below-.500.
Do you guys think there's any chance for Watt winning NFL MVP in 2022? Will a defensive player ever be able to win it again? Will Watt win Steelers MVP again in 2022, or will it be someone else? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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