The Pro Bowl rosters have been announced recently, and a pair of Pittsburgh Steelers defensive players have officially made the cut. There’s also always the potential for more with opt-outs and Super Bowl players unable to attend. The two players that made it are the usual suspects, but it does show that name recognition means a lot in this game, sometimes more than production.
Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation.com (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick received the most votes for a safety this year and has been sent to the Pro Bowl. Even if his stats don’t seem all that impressive to some, you have to take the fact that teams refuse to target him into account. Ever since he was traded to Pittsburgh, he has been the kind of player that changes the opposing offense's game plan just by his mere presence on the field.
During run-heavy games, he can play in somewhat of a linebacker role to help prevent big gains. In the passing game, QB's refuse to throw his direction. Wherever he is on the field, you can bet that the ball won’t go even close to that area. He’s an elite safety that’s proven to be worth his payday and deserving of all the votes he racked up. But that’s not always the case.
Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation.com (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
TJ Watt made it to the Pro Bowl, but it’s clearly due to the fact that he’s been known as a game wrecker for years. After he tore his pec in Week 1, he missed every game until after the bye week, and has been hampered by injuries and braces since then. That Week 1 game against the Cincinnati Bengals has been his only productive game of the season.
For future seasons, the hope is that he’ll go back to playing like a generational talent, but with injuries holding him out for half the season and more injuries hampering his production when he’s on the field, why did he get so many votes? The clear answer is the same reason why other underrated players miss the cut: name recognition. When healthy, TJ Watt is a generational talent that can single-handedly carry a problematic team to wins. At his peak, he needs no introduction. Unfortunately, this season has been far from peak TJ, which makes this vote surprising.
There are a couple of Steelers that might have deserved to make it in the Pro Bowl Games, and possibly could with all the opt-outs.
Potential Steelers Snubs
In TJ Watt’s absence, Alex Highsmith has taken over the role of premier edge rusher on the team. He has racked up 11 sacks and 5 forced fumbles through the first 15 games of the season. He’s not a complete game-changer like TJ Watt is when healthy, but he has developed consistently well over his three seasons in Pittsburgh. The team will have some very tough decisions to make, with 2023 being a contract-year for Highsmith. If he keeps playing as well as he has, he’ll soon get that well-deserved Pro Bowl nod, as well as a nice payday, even if it’s not from the Steelers.
Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation.com (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
With the NFL changing from 3-4/4-3 defenses to nickel packages, you’d think they’d start letting slot corners into the Pro Bowl. The AFC’s representatives would be former Steelers DB, Mike Hilton and current Steelers CB, Cameron Sutton. Sutton has had his share of struggles as an outside corner, but he turns into a lockdown player when he’s in the slot. He has been since Teryl Austin was hired in 2019.
While he doesn’t come up with the big plays all the time, he allows very little from the slot receiver. As a DB, not having your name called is typically a good thing unless it’s a big play, and Sutton is rarely heard from in the slot. He is very underrated in his position, despite being able to match up against the league’s best slot receivers.
Do you think anyone else was snubbed? Leave a comment and let us know.
#SteelerNation
