The Pittsburgh Steelers have always had big names on the defensive side of the football. From Mean Joe Greene to Jack Lambert, to Tony Dungy, Mel Blount, Donnie Shell, James Harrison and Troy Polamalu who was just recently inducted into the Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2020. Each year, they always have a guy on the defense that stands out above everyone. With the current Steelers, that’s T.J. Watt. Last year was his “allow me to reintroduce myself moment” as he terrorized offenses left and right a year ago. The big question was would he get paid? Even Ben Roethlisberger said to pay him whatever he wanted and that he even took less money for guys like him to get paid. Yesterday, the Steelers and their star defensive player agreed to a contract extension. A four-year deal worth $112 million and $80 million guaranteed. He’s now the highest paid defensive player in the NFL.
T.J. is a top three defensive player in our game. The speed is the first thing you immediately notice about him when you watch the tape. His quickness is what allows him to chase down ball-carriers and runners from the backside consistently. This is one of the major reasons why T.J. had 23 tackles for loss in 2020. His first step is so quick. To be successful off the edge, you must always have an electric first step. When you have that, there’s not a soul that can stop or limit you. Besides the get off, he’s great with timing the football. He just knows how to position himself to get to where he wants to get. T.J. knows how to work with the snap count. If you watch him closely, he’s always sitting on the line of scrimmage. It’s the way he reads the play first, then he reacts and attacks. He’s the definition of read and react. As a pass rusher, he’s no slouch in that department either. I remember a game last year against the Indianapolis Colts. Their defense needed a stop late in the game and who was in on it? Number 90 of course. T.J. stripped the ball out of Philip Rivers hand which turned into a fumble and the Steelers recovered it. This is just simply what he does on the field. Plain and simple.
He put together a great season in 2020. T.J. led the league with 41 quarterback hits, 23 tackles for loss and 15 sacks. Many felt he should’ve won the Defensive player of the Year award for his nice season. Of course, he took that personal. This guy deserves every penny of the contract he just received. He’s the Steelers best player and will only get better as the years go along.
