The Pittsburgh Steelers have the best defensive player in football in TJ Watt, which he proved again in 2023 by leading the league in sacks for an unprecedented third time. As incredible as Watt is as a defender, certain players stand out to Watt as truly spectacular at what they do. During Super Bowl media week, Watt gave some insight into two players who have impressed the Pittsburgh pass rusher with their skills on the football field.
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Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher TJ Watt hit the ground running since being drafted and hasn't stopped producing since
Steelers' Watt Is A Fan Of Other Players Too
Watt has proven time and time again how impressive of an athlete he is. In 2023, he rose above the stifling challenges the Steelers faced to have another amazing year. His 19 sacks in 2023 led the NFL, which Watt has done in three seasons, putting him in rarified air.
On Pro Football Talk on Thursday, Watt sat down with Mike Florio and Chris Simms to talk about the year the Steelers had and what Watt took away from it. Despite a 2023 Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills, Watt was in good spirits. Simms asked Watt at one point if any respected players intimidated him, and Watt had his answers ready to go.
"I don't know if I'm ever, like, intimidated. I'd say a guy that is doing it at a really high level, I think Lane Johnson, I mean, being able to kick back as quickly as he is and he has great hands, feet...yeah, one of the best...Danielle Hunter had a great year...He has a lot of very unique moves. I mean, that guy is ripped up, he's got long arms, he has really unique moves. It's almost like a praying mantis, the way that he rushes you, really. He just grabs onto the arm, he has this jump through, and then he has this fake-grab where it looks the same, then he spins at the last minute. Tried that a couple times in practice, and it's not built for me."
When it comes to impressive players for Watt to respect, you would be hard-pressed to find more deserving athletes than Lane Johnson and Danielle Hunter. When it comes to defenders, Watt is one of the greatest to play his position, but it's nice to know that Watt still has that football fan part of himself. Already considered one of the hardest-working players in the league, Steelers' fans are eager to see what Watt will do to one-up his 2023 season.
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Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher TJ Watt is on another level where dominance is simply expected of him in every single game
Steelers Kept 2023 On Tracks Because Of Mike Tomlin
The 2023 season was not the easiest for the Steelers, to say the least. Stagnant offensive performances, fired offensive coordinators, rampant injuries, and a slew of other struggles made their 2023 campaign one of the more difficult to traverse in recent memory. There was plenty of doubt surrounding the Steelers, but it turned out to be Mike Tomlin who kept the locker room focused on the goal before them.
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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has found a way to navigate even the most challenging seasons in his head coaching career
During Watt's segment with Pro Football Talk, Simms asked how challenging it was to get through 2023 with all the outside noise. While Watt did admit that it was incredibly hard to avoid the distracting media and opinions, but Tomlin was the catalyst for the team's eventual upward trend. Turning a season that seemed to be lost into an AFC Wild Card berth was incredibly impressive, and according to Watt, no one else could have accomplished that but Tomlin.
"I mean, I'd be lying if I said we didn't hear at least some of it. Today's day and age you can't block everything out, it's just a matter of galvanizing everybody and understand that the only people that are gonna solve our problems are the people in this locker room, the people in that building, and that's why Mike T is so great at what he does...Being able to motivate us, keep us very even keel, whether we're too high, too low."
It has to be a huge boost of confidence when a player knows that their head coach can get the team through anything. While the standard in Pittsburgh is not playoff losses, getting the team to the point where they could even compete is something no one thought possible, with three weeks left to go in the 2023 season. With new Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith at the helm, 2024 is shaping up to be more hopeful - at least, that is the goal within the organization.
How many sacks will TJ Watt have in 2024? Will TJ Watt win the 2024 DPOY?
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