T.J. Watt
T.J. Watt
T.J. Watt is one of the best players in Pittsburgh Steelers history. He’s their all-time sack leader, and he has probably already secured his spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. However, Watt hasn’t been the same player in recent years. He only posted seven sacks last year. While he wasn’t bad, that’s not good enough considering how much the team is paying him. Former Steelers linebacker Vince Williams believes Watt’s doubters will only fuel him, though.
“I know he’s feeling that pressure, and I want him to feel that pressure,” Williams said recently on the Steelers Blitz podcast. “I want to poke him a little bit, I want to poke the bear…I don’t think he’s fallen off. I don’t think he’s taken [his] foot off the gas at all. I think he’s primed and he’s ready to go.”
Watt will turn 32 this season, so many people wonder whether he is declining. Last year wasn’t his first down season. Watt wasn’t as impactful in 2024, either. He still led the league in forced fumbles, but he only had 11.5 sacks. The Steelers expect more out of him.
Williams was Watt’s teammate for several years, but he isn’t afraid to try to motivate him, sending Watt a message during that same podcast.
“He’s gonna have to play harder… I don’t care if he’s getting double-teamed or he’s throwing alley-oops to other people. T.J. Watt is compensated to go and crush quarterbacks and destroy plays… He definitely does have to get back to form.
“He has to get his numbers back up… T.J., dominate your role. This is Vince speaking to you… You’re the best outside linebacker on this team, regardless of contracts or hype… You’re still T.J. Watt… Get back to being that guy, and we will have a tremendously dominating defense this year.”
Watt will make over $40 million this season. He’s one of the league’s highest-paid edge rushers. That means he can’t just be good; Pittsburgh needs him to be great.
Luckily, there are reasons to be optimistic about what Watt can accomplish this year. The biggest among them is that the Steelers’ defensive scheme has changed. Patrick Graham is the team’s defensive coordinator, and it looks like he’ll use Watt differently than Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin did.
The Steelers have suggested moving Watt around the defense several times in recent years. However, the team has never followed through. That’s likely part of the reason Watt has been less effective recently. It’s easier to predict where he’ll be and what he will do, allowing opponents to scheme him out of games.
However, it seems like Graham will finally move Watt around. The edge rusher has said that the new scheme doesn’t allow him to be as static in his role as he used to be.
Does that mean Watt will flirt with posting 20 sacks this season? Not necessarily, but he could have double-digit sacks again. Watt wants to win a playoff game finally, but he’s got to get through the regular season first. Having a bounce-back year would certainly help Pittsburgh compete for a postseason spot, though.