Pittsburgh Steelers' TJ Watt Disrespected Again; Major Media Outlet Is Latest To Drop An Insult

Pittsburgh Steelers superstar edge rusher, TJ Watt seems to be living in his own real-life version of Groundhog Day. For those who didn't see it, the movie, which starred Bill Murray, was about a reporter who woke up on February 2nd (Groundhog Day) over and over again. In the case of Watt, he seems to wake up every day to a new media source leveling the most ridiculous disrespect at him. The latest group to jump on the scorn bandwagon is a major football network and media outlet, CBS. 

In a list issued by CBS Sports and written by Jordan Dajani, about the top five quarterback threats, Watt barely made the cut. The piece is entitled Ranking the Top Five Most Feared Edge Rushers: Browns' Myles Garrett Leads A Scary, Versatile Group.

As mentioned in the title, the list is led by Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns. Ever since Garrett attracted the attention of Pro Football Focus which graded him higher than Watt, everyone has been jumping on the bandwagon. It is not to take away from the impact Garrett has on the game, he is a fierce competitor, but Watt, he is not. 

The other names ahead of Watt on the list are Micah Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys, Nick Bosa from the San Francisco 49ers, and then in the fifth spot is Maxx Crosby from the Las Vegas Raiders. All of these players are uber-talented and deserving of recognition. What is questionable however, is Dajani's ranking system. What he had to say about Watt and his work on the field makes it hard to understand why he is in fourth. 

"Watt is a sack artist, and just one away from his 88th QB takedown. If he secures that sack in the next six games, he will have recorded the second-most sacks in his first 100 career games since 1982 trailing only Reggie White (105.0). This season, Watt has recorded 9.5 sacks, which is tied for second in the NFL, and 18 QB hits, also tied for second in the NFL."

Watt is tied second in sacks with Garrett and Crosby. The sack leader with 10 is Danielle Hunter from the Minnesota Vikings. Neither the Vikings nor the Raiders have had their bye week yet, so they have both played one more game than Watt and Garrett. In addition, the Steelers have a more challenging strength of schedule than the Browns. 

"Watt's 0.92 sacks per game is the MOST by any player since 1982. He had a stretch of four seasons where he recorded at least 13 sacks, highlighted by his Defensive Player of the Year campaign in 2021, in which he tied Michael Strahan's NFL record with 22.5 sacks - in just 15 games played! That year, he led the league in sacks, quarterback hits (39) and fumble recoveries (three)," continued Dajani.

What is interesting about all of the shade that a lot of the national media has thrown at Watt lately is that so many others are stating he might potentially be one of the greatest football players ever. In making his case, earlier this season, Watt intercepted Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and joined Lawrence Taylor as the only player to record at least seven interceptions and 70 sacks in their first seven seasons. 

"If you want to know how dominant Watt has been, it took him just 89 games to become the Steelers' all-tie sack leader, surpassing James Harrison's 80.5 QB takedowns. Harrison recorded those 80.5 sacks over 177 games played for Pittsburgh," finished Dajani.

It certainly feels like Watt should have at least made the top three. While Dajani can claim that the PFF matrixes give Garrett the boost he needs to be first, they are having a remarkably similar season. On top of that, it is a bit hard to compare the two directly. They play different positions in different defenses, but that doesn't slow the comparisons down. 

Perhaps most surprising of all is the decision to put Bosa ahead of Watt. Thus far this season, Bosa, who was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, has been more quiet than normal. While again, Bosa is an exceptional player, so far through nine weeks, he has just three sacks, 22 combined tackles, and 19 quarterback hits.   

Steelers' T.J. Watt Can't Get No Respect

Much like Rodney Dangerfield, Watt has to be feeling a bit slighted by now. Not only did Tony Romo absolutely trash his name on national television, but now this list comes out and seems to be clearly picking favorites. Of course, there might have been a little bit of salt included when Dajani wrote this list. A quick peek at his Twitter/X account lets you know he's a Tennessee Titans fan. Maybe he's upset about the Week 9 loss, the sack, and two quarterback hits Watt had on Will Levis?

What do you think about the list?  Where would you objectively place Watt? Click to comment below!

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